LearnItalianPod

48. Hurrah for The Lantern (Culture Shot)

 November 8th, 2009

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Learn Italian with LearnItalianPod. When you think about a sea-bathing establishment right on the beach, you mentally picture men, women, and children all together enjoying their time outside. Not so if you enter the sea-bathing establishment “La Lanterna” in Trieste, Italy, where men and women cannot mingle together but are in fact separated by a wall!

What’s even more incredible is that “i Triestini” (the citizens of Trieste) love their wall, and no one wants to hear about knocking it down: in fact, the sea-bathing establishment is one of the busiest establishments in the entire area. So, let’s dedicate this Culture Shot to a peculiar piece of Italian culture: “il bagno La Lanterna”. Enjoy!

[The Imperfect Subjunctive - 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 “Il Congiuntivo Imperfetto”, containing the full conjugation of the imperfect subjunctive for the verbs “essere“, “avere“, “parlare“, “vendere“, and “dormire” (one sample verb for each of the three conjugations!) - That’s really the perfect tool you need to master the Italian imperfect subjunctive!

Culture Shot - Episode Nr.48

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• Difficulty Level Culture Shot
• Topics: places, verbs
• No Comments

45. Off The Beaten Path (Culture Shot)

 September 20th, 2009

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Learn Italian with LearnItalianPod. Maybe you’ve already been to Italy once, you’ve seen the monuments, visited the major museums, and stayed in the historic city center and now you’re looking for something different… Maybe you really aren’t that much into cities and don’t like the traffic and the noise… Or maybe your goal is to take your Italian to the next level and you want to meet some Italians you can talk to… If all or part of the above is true, then there’s one word you need to hear… “agriturismo”.

Agriturismo”, an Italian term for what we might call a “farm holiday” or “agricultural tourism”, is about experiencing rural Italian life and a slower-paced holiday. Sounds inviting, doesn’t it? So, let’s get “off the beaten path” and let’s dedicate today’s Culture Shot to a wonderful new way to experience Italy: the “agriturismo”. Enjoy!

[Getting Around The House Vol. 2: The Living Room - LearnItalianPod VIP Members Extra Bonus!] Login to the Learning Center to find, as a special extra bonus, an audio file and PDF transcript entitled “Getting Around The House, Vol. 2: The Living Room“, composed of an audio file and PDF transcript of some of the names of things you find in the living room (il soggiorno, il salotto) that you absolutely need to know if you ever travel to Italy!

Culture Shot - Episode Nr.45

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• Difficulty Level Culture Shot
• Topics: places, vacations
• 3 Comments

12. At The Newsstand (Upper Intermediate)

 March 1st, 2009

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Let’s do a little recap. In the first eleven episodes of this “Upper-Intermediate Level Series” we’ve followed our friend Italo during one of his days. Now, let’s go back in time, and let’s see what happened to his wife Lucia during the same day. In doing so, we’ll review and practice conversations on useful and practical subjects. Episode #12 of the “Upper-Intermediate Level Series” is entitled “At The Newsstand”. It’s early in the morning in Milan. Lucia leaves the house and like every morning, she stops at the newsstand around the corner to buy the newspaper. Let’s hear how it goes… On the grammar section, we’ll keep learning the hypothetical constructions - this time, the one called “no longer possible”. Enjoy!

Upper Intermediate - Episode Nr.12

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• Difficulty Level Upper Intermediate
• Topics: conversations, places
• 3 Comments

10. At The Internet Cafe (Upper Intermediate)

 February 8th, 2009

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Episode #10 of the “Upper-Intermediate Level Series” is entitled “At The Internet Cafe” - It’s 9:00 PM in Venice, and our hero Italo, after visiting Piazza San Marco, the famous Harry’s Bar, and other beautiful tourist places, decides to spend the last half hour of the day at an Internet Cafe, to check his email, and to write some notes for his business meeting the following day. So, let’s hear and practice quite a few useful sentences and expressions that you can use if you ever need to go to an Internet cafe in Italy, and in doing so, we’ll also begin learning the hypothetical construction, aka “if sentences”. Enjoy!

Upper Intermediate - Episode Nr.10

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• Difficulty Level Upper Intermediate
• Topics: computers, places
• 5 Comments

9. Is It Worth Going There? (Upper Intermediate)

 January 25th, 2009

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Episode #9 of the “Upper Intermediate Level Series” is entitled “Is It Worth Going There?” - Our hero Italo has finally made it to Piazza S. Marco. As he stands in the middle of the Piazza, enjoying the marvelous view of that timeless place, he hears a tourist guide talking about the mythical “Harry’s Bar” of Venice, one of the most famous bars in the world. Fascinated by what he hears, Italo decides to approach the guide and ask for an opinion: is it worth going there? So let’s hear, from the mouth of a tourist guide, some fascinating facts about a true icon of the Italian culture, all while learning how to ask for and how to give opinions. Enjoy!

Upper Intermediate - Episode Nr.9

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• Difficulty Level Upper Intermediate
• Topics: expressions, places
• 2 Comments

Phrasebook #7: Sightseeing & Entertainment

 March 23rd, 2008

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Gianni, one of the most active LearnItalianPod VIP members, sent us a terrific email. He says: “Jane and Massimo, I love your podcasts! It makes learning Italian so much fun, and easier than any other method I’ve tried, and I’ve tried many! - Now, I have a request: how about some useful words and sentences we can use to better enjoy our fun activities in Italy, like sightseeing a city, taking an excursion, going to a museum or to the theater, hiring a guide, and so on… I think it would be very useful.” - We think so too, Gianni, so here it is… Phrasebook #7: Sightseeing & Entertainment. Enjoy!

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• Difficulty Level Phrasebook
• Topics: culture, movies, places
• 4 Comments