blog3dici

Jaap and family, having been in Italy for so long, speak better Italian than most Italians. We, however, did not speak a word beyond pizza. I was determined to at least be able to exchange some information with my neighbors while staying among the Italians. We soon learned to that besides ciao, a salve! works well, especially when you don't know people. I bought some teach-yourself-Italian books with incredibly boring CDs but was really pleased (mi piace molto!) to find My Daily Phrase Italian on the Internet. If you don't know any Italian this is an extremely nice way to get to learn some of the basics. From the website you get free access to 100 audio podcast lessons that only last about 4-5 minutes a piece. The great thing about it is that is educational, not boring and taught by a professore from Glasgow who must have some Italian heritage: When he speaks English he has a beautiful Scottish accent but his Italian is authentic. You can download all of the podcasts and listen to them while driving to Lezzeno. By the time you'll get there, you'll be able to say: Siamo arrivati, ora vorrei bere.