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29. The Island of Glass (Listen Up & Learn)

  Level: Listen Up & Learn

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Episode #29 of the fun-to-practice and extra-useful “Listen Up & Learn” lesson series is entitled “The Island of Glass” (L’Isola del Vetro). – According to recent news, the island of Murano and its worldwide famous glass making tradition are in real danger of disappearing soon. A decreasing labor supply and most importantly, the growing competition from China and Eastern Europe, are putting this “100% made in Italy” glass making industry on its knees. But the Venetian glass makers are not ready to surrender yet…

So, let’s pay a tribute to this fantastic artistic tradition by learning about its fascinating story and cultural aspects. – Then as usual, after listening to the story, take the “7 Question Challenge” to test your comprehension, speaking, and grammar skills. Enjoy!

[VIP Members Only Extra Bonus - Back To Basics: The Verb "Piacere" (To Like)] Login to the Learning Center to find, as a special extra bonus, a super useful audio file with PDF transcript entitled “Back To Basics: The Verb Piacere (To Like)“. This verb it’s not as easy as it seems (no worries, we’ve made it easier for you!) but it is a must-know if you really want to “Say It Like Italians Do!”

Listen Up & Learn – Episode #29

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• Level: Listen Up & Learn
• Topics: art, cities
• 2 Comments

47. The Food of The Gods (Culture Shot)

  Level: Culture Shot

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Learn Italian with LearnItalianPod. Chocolate has been considered “il cibo degli dei” (the food of the gods) since the beginning of time. Let’s face it: Italian or not, you will hardly find anyone that doesn’t like the taste of chocolate. But the good people from Perugia, Italy have taken the love of chocolate to the next level and every year they dedicate an entire week to this incredibly good food, by running “The European Fair of Chocolate!”

So, let’s dedicate this Culture Shot to “the food of the gods”, and let’s see how Italians’ creativity can transform a great food into an incredible celebration of life. Enjoy!

[Finger-Licking Italian Delights - LearnItalianPod VIP Members Extra Bonus!] Login to the Learning Center to find, as a special extra bonus, a super useful audio file with PDF transcript entitled “Finger-Licking Italian Delights”, containing the names of the most common sweets of the Italian cuisine, words like “cannoli, confetti, spumone, zuppa inglese”, and many more. – And if this isn’t making you drooling for sweets, then we don’t know what will!

Culture Shot – Episode Nr.47

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• Level: Culture Shot
• Topics: cities, food
• 1 Comment

14. Brava Gondoliera! (Culture Shot)

  Level: Culture Shot

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Learn how to speak Italian with Culture Shot! Today’s episode is about the end of a thousand-year-old Italian tradition. Our friend and listener William emailed us a very interesting article about it — we are not going to spoil the surprise and tell you what it is before reading the story — let’s just say it happened in Venice and it’s about what is considered the ultimate symbol of the city of Venice. On the grammar section, we’ll talk about adverbs and review the difference between active and passive sentences. Enjoy!

Culture Shot – Episode Nr. 14

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• Level: Culture Shot
• Topics: cities, traditions
• 2 Comments

13. My Beautiful Bologna (Culture Shot)

  Level: Culture Shot

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Learn Italian with Culture Shot! “Too many people, when they think of Italy, think only of Tuscany, Venice and Rome”, says our loyal listener and friend Garret on an email we’ve received a few days ago, and he goes on: “How about a series of culture shots that explore the culture of the less well-known regions or cities?” Garret, we love you idea! Today we’re telling a story about the beautiful city of Bologna, and we’ll dig into some important verb constructions, like “indicativo imperfetto” (imperfect indicative) and “indicativo passato prossimo” (past tense indicative). Enjoy!

Culture Shot – Episode Nr. 13

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• Level: Culture Shot
• Topics: cities
• 7 Comments

12. The Third Palio (Culture Shot)

  Level: Culture Shot

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Learn Italian with Culture Shot! Today we’ll talk about one of the most spectacular events in Italy: Il Palio di Siena! Kane from England sent us a nice email a few days ago – in the email, Kane says “every year I go to Siena to see il Palio, and I feel it is one of the most spectacular medieval traditions in Italy. I also believe it would be a very interesting podcast for all your listeners…” — Right on, Kane! — Today we’re telling a story about this great tradition, and a curiosity about it that you may not know. Enjoy!

Culture Shot – Episode Nr. 12

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• Level: Culture Shot
• Topics: cities, traditions
• 2 Comments

13. The Most Beautiful… (Intermediate)

  Level: Intermediate

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Some say it’s Rome, some say it’s Florence, some other says it’s Venice… so, what’s the most beautiful Italian city? And do you think big cities are more interesting than small ones? Let’s talk about it, while learning how to use comparative adjectives, like “piu’… di…” (more… than…), and other useful sentences.

Intermediate Level – Lesson Nr. 13

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• Level: Intermediate
• Topics: cities, places
• 10 Comments