learning the language

On the site, Expatsinitaly.com, I read about a book club for Italian and French language learners. Linguality publishes 6 modern fiction and non fiction books a year in each language with annotations alongside the original text. When I first heard of it, I put it on the wishlist and today, I was given this a gift. I will tell you more about it as soon as I get my first book and have had a chance to read some.

This comes as a relief to me. It seems that we will be in Italy full time sometime this fall and I am concerned about functioning in the language. The Sicilian will be doing all the heavy lifting for the biz, but I will be asked to handle the paperwork and billing. I will be expected to write! And for anyone who has learned a language or attempted to, you all know how tough writing can be. In my experience, it comes last and reading makes writing possible. Linguality sounds like it might be just what I need.

There are some other things I have found to be a huge help.

• Pimseleur tapes - 30 minutes a day to honest to goodness conversational ease.
• Italian made simple by Cristina Mazzoni, Ph.D.- I love this book. It's published by A Made Simple Book of Broadway Books in NYC published in 2003. This book was first published in 1943! I can see why it's been a winner for so long.
• About Italian Language-- a great website with a helpful forum for understanding common uses of Italian that books and schools don't teach you.
• http://www.iluss.it/ this site has a subscription component which I found very helpful for vocab and verb drills. It also has lots of items available for the non subscriber .
• and when all else fails..... Translators Cafe. com--I have found terrific, fast translators that helped when I needed it most. Don't hire the first translator that responds to your post however. The prices vary from translator to translator and it's worth waiting to see who will offer the best deal.