With its musicality, sensuality, and rich expressiveness, Italian is one of the most beautiful languages in the world—as well as the gateway to of one of the world’s most iconic cultures. In these 24 dynamic lessons, you’ll not only gain a solid grasp of the fundamentals of spoken Italian, but you’ll also make a grand tour of Italy’s 20 regions, and you’ll practice the language itself through studying and exploring the glorious cultural riches of Italy.
Professor Olson, an expert language instructor, teaches you the building blocks of conversational Italian, such as these:
- Develop the tools to speak about the present, the past, and the future, by practicing the present indicative tense (as in “I eat”), the present progressive (“I am eating”), the basic past tense (“I ate/have eaten”), the imperfect tense (“I was eating”), and the future tense (“I will eat”);
- Discover how to describe people, places, and things by delving into Italian nouns, adjectives, and adverbs; and
- Learn vocabulary on numerous useful subjects, from social greetings, eating and drinking, and the calendar to geography and climate, art and architecture, sports and outdoor activities, the family, the human body, and more.
Throughout these lessons, Professor Olson introduces you to the rich diversity of Italian life. You’ll learn to speak about Italian cuisine and food products, from Ragù alla Bolognese (Emilia-Romagna) and Perugina chocolates (Umbria) to the celebrated wines of Piemonte.
You’ll also delve into Italian cinema by speaking about landmark films such as Ermanno Olmi’s Il Posto, Francesco Rosi’s Tre Fratelli, and Antonioni’s Deserto Rosso. And you’ll explore historical culture in ways such as describing Botticelli’s daily routine during the Renaissance and tracing the writing of Carlo Levi’s celebrated novel Christ Stopped at Eboli.
In Learning Italian: Step by Step and Region by Region, you’ll enjoy an unforgettable immersion into Italy’s splendorous language and culture. Andiamo! (Let’s go!)
