Learn Italian, one story at a time

Due amiche e un album di fotografie

Italian Short Stories for Beginners

Costanza is a young Italian woman from Sicily who decided to spend her summer vacation with her Milanese friend Anna in Alto Adige (the Dolomites’ region), in the heart of Italy’s Alpine region. Together they visit and learn interesting facts about the culture, geography, and food of this region, which is located in the far north of Italy’s peninsula, while also assisting a tourist who has dropped something on a trail.

Read "chapter 1" for free

buy the the story here

6 reasons why my Italian short story collection is different

1

You’ll have access to a slow audio for each chapter, narrated by me.

2

You’ll learn how to travel as a local in Italy.

3

You’ll learn culturally relevant history and details about the regions of Italy.

4

You’ll have access to content optimized for learning by a highly qualified instructor.

5

You’ll receive a study guide and flashcards you can review at any time on Quizlet.

6

Everything is on Gumroad, so you can read and listen anywhere and anytime!

What students have said

I am delighted with your Italian short stories. The vocabulary at the end of the story had exactly the words that I did not understand. I will look at the photos soon. This will make the experience unique and personal to my Italian teacher. I do not think that anyone has put their own pictures into stories written for teaching. How wonderful that you can be so creative, teach, write, take photographs, it all feels like magic and inspired. Thank you for being my Italian teacher, and thank you for your contributions to students who love Italy and the Italian language. You are a blessing to all of us.

Barbara

Psychologist

California

Serena guides your learning through the adventures of two companions, Costanza and Marina. In the process, you learn Italian as it is used during everyday life in Italy. Reading aloud, listening, and responding to questions help you learn and organize your thoughts in useful and culturally relevant ways. The result is internalization instead of memorization. Each lesson can be completed in a bite sized amount of time and is completely portable, even on your phone!

This method makes learning fun and it works. I have been using it with Serena and, during my 7 week trip to explore Italian culture, I was able to communicate almost exclusively in Italian, including meaningful conversations beyond simple travel language. If you are serious about learning Italian, don’t look any further, you have found a true language coach.

Aldo

Lawyer

Washington

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT FROM LEARNING ITALAN WITH OUR SHORT STORIES

ENJOYMENT

Our Italian short stories are easier to digest, but if they are filled with amusing anecdotes and fascinating facts about Italian culture, they are much more enjoyable, sucking you into that world.

A TIME EFFECTIVE WAY OF LEARNING ITALIAN

You’ll be able to read a complete story in the native language in no time, while also expanding your vocabulary. We estimate it will take only 10 minute to round up every chapter. And another 5-10 to complete the annexed exercises.

CULTURAL AWARENESS

You will learn to understand Italy better across its regional differences. This Italian short story series is set in various off-the-beaten-path locations throughout Italy. Our goal is to compel you to talk or experience what you’ve read.

GRAMMAR LEARNING

This Italian short story contains enough grammar to keep learning without becoming overwhelmed. Most chapters conclude with brief explanations of how to correctly use certain key aspects of Italian grammar and vocabulary.

A SMART WAY OF LEARNING

Science supports that learning languages through short stories is the best way to develop the brain for any language learning process. Even in our native language, we learned the majority of our vocabulary as children by reading. Similarly, we encourage reading in simplified Italian to absorb words and patterns in a fun and agreeable way.

Grammar content

present simple
present perfect (passato prossimo)
modal verbs
reflexive verbs
simple pronouns
simple prepositions
ci vuole / ci vogliono
c’è / ci sono
…and much more!

Cultural & Vocabulary Content

Traveling Alto Adige (South Tyrol) and Dolomites region
Ordering food and coffee in Italy
Buy tickets
Renting a bike
Visiting a tourist info point
Asking questions at a beginner / intermediate level while traveling in Italy

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Serena is the brain behind the blog www.italianpills.com, where she helps Italian learners find smart and creative ways to transform the students ability of learning Italian.

She was born on the most exotic European island, Sicily, some 30 years ago. She has graduated from two universities (in France and Italy) and studied in four countries (Italy, France, Spain and England). She speaks 8 languages.

Over the last eight years, she has focused her efforts on adult education and has worked as an Italian teacher in Spain, England, Slovakia, and Japan. She now runs an entirely online language school from the Eternal City of Rome.