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Why learn with Italian short stories?

The challenge

Having spent the last 10 years teaching Italian to native English speakers, I’ve come to realize that the most challenging part of learning Italian is putting all of the bits and pieces of grammar and vocabulary together to form flowing Italian sentences. In the early stages of my teaching career, I kept noticing a pattern: my beginner and intermediate students would tend to use recycled vocabulary and grammar, lingering on the same levels for months without significant progress.

The solution

A few years ago, after trying different teaching approaches, I decided to use Italian novels written in simplified Italian as a way to provide my students with new content to talk about during our classes. After a few classes using this method, I was shocked by the significant improvement all of my students made. Students would naturally develop their ability to construct longer sentences and expand their Italian vocabulary through the exercise of retelling the stories in their own words. They would also maximize the time spent with Italian outside the class, as the reading, listening, and writing related to the stories would be covered before the in-person class.

What happened next?

It took me a while, but eventually, I came up with the right ideas to write and record my own Italian language books for beginners and intermediate learners, which you can now purchase on Amazon in paperback version or in PDF copy on Payhip. All my Italian short stories are designed and optimized for beginners and intermediate learners and created with natives. They’re packed with retention exercises and provide useful material, common words, and sentences to train your Italian speaking skills in your class (or even on your own).

Improve your Vocabulary and Listening in Context 

Due Amiche e un Album di Fotografie (Beginners – Super Easy Italian)

  • Bite-sized chapters:  Go over a chapter in minutes. 
  • Bilingual wordlists: Ready to use for your flashcards.
  • Quizzes: Test your vocabulary and grammar comprehension at the end of each chapter. T
  • Speaking prompts: Train your spoken Italian alone or with your tutor.
  • Cultural insights about Rome: Learn about some of the prettiest neighborhoods of Rome, alongside things to do on your next trip.
  • Insights on common mistakes: Written with the most recurring mistakes Italian beginners and intermediate learners make in my classes in mind.
  • Modern adult stories: Using the 1000 most common Italian words and real-life dialogues you’re most likely to encounter when in Italy.
  • Audiobook available. 
  • Read a detailed review on this book here from Daily Italian Words.

Le Avventure di Paul a Roma (Beginners)

  • Short chapters:  Go over a chapter in minutes. 
  • Bilingual wordlists: Ready to use for your flashcards.
  • Quizzes: Test your vocabulary and grammar comprehension at the end of each chapter. T
  • Translation prompts: Translating from English to the Italian language is a potent learning activity, as it helps recall from your memory what you have absorbed from the stories.
  • Speaking prompts: Train your spoken Italian alone or with your tutor.
  • Cultural insights about Rome: Learn about some of the prettiest neighborhoods of Rome, alongside things to do on your next trip.
  • Insights on common mistakes: Written with the most recurring mistakes Italian beginners and intermediate learners make in my classes in mind.
  • Modern adult stories: Using the 1000 most common Italian words and real-life dialogues you’re most likely to encounter when in Italy.
  • Audiobook available. 

7 Romance Short Stories for Italian Intermediate Language Learners

  • Short chapters: 7 short stories divided into bite-size chapters.
  • Bilingual wordlist ready to go into your flashcards.
  • Modern stories with real-life dialogues and experiences.
  • Translation prompts  at end of each chapter
  • Conversation prompts to use train your speaking skills alone or with your tutor.  
  • Optimized for intermediate learners (A2-B2) by a teacher of Italian with over 10 years of teaching experience. 
  • Audio in slow Italian available. 

Incontri in Sicilia (Beginners and Lower -Intermediates)

  • Bite-sized chapters:  Go over a chapter in minutes. 
  • Bilingual wordlists: Ready to use for your flashcards.
  • Quizzes: Test your vocabulary and grammar comprehension at the end of each chapter. T
  • Speaking prompts: Train your spoken Italian alone or with your tutor.
  • Cultural insights about Rome: Learn about some of the prettiest neighborhoods of Rome, alongside things to do on your next trip.
  • Insights on common mistakes: Written with the most recurring mistakes Italian beginners and intermediate learners make in my classes in mind.
  • Modern adult stories: Using the 1000 most common Italian words and real-life dialogues you’re most likely to encounter when in Italy.
  • Audiobook available. 

What you can expect from my story learning method

A REWARDING SENSE OF ACHIEVEMENT     

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.

Italian online tutor

With a heart full of wanderlust, she has called eight countries home and embraced the beauty of learning over eight foreign languages. Now, as an online teacher, she pours her energy into empowering English speakers and adult learners to master Italian as a foreign language. From the eternally beautiful city of Rome, she is on a dedicated mission to achieve greatness as the world’s best Italian language teacher!