Mamma Mia! a.k.a. Preparing for the Italian B1 Language Test
Plus a book giveaway of the new Mark Cecil novel!
I mentioned a while back that my husband, Joe, just received his Italian citizenship. While he's waiting for all that to be finalized so he can get his passport, I’ve been studying like a freak, 2-3+ hours a day. I’m going to be taking the CILS B1 test next week, and it’s not really a walk in the park. I’m so thankful I’ve been studying for the last decade.
Still, I’m realizing that a lot of my vocabulary isn’t quite there. I’ve never had a need to learn about recycling, how to schedule a doctor’s appointment, or how to return a broken item that was shipped to me. The test is geared toward making sure that the spouse (not the citizen…that person literally doesn’t need to know a lick of the language) can live and work using the Italian language.
Things I’ve been doing (and most of these things can be used to learn other languages too!):
I spend hours building my vocabulary using Anki, a free open-source flashcard system. Overall, this has been one of the best tools for me.
Using Beelinguapp to hear and read Italian news and stories.
Listening (in the car or the shower) to:
Pimsleur level 5, which has a lot of the vocabulary that I need for everyday things (like recycling!). I don’t recommend Pimsleur for learning a language from the beginning because you don’t learn any grammar rules, but it’s great for when you already have that foundation. Also, their new app is decent.
News In Slow Italian, which is SO good. Every week, you get to hear a podcast with the week’s top stories. There is a beginner, intermediate, and advanced level. They also have News in Slow other languages.
I learned that fellow author, Marco Rafala (who wrote the incredible novel, How Fires End), moved to Sicily recently, and his wife, Camellia, spared some of her time to talk about her experience taking the test. She also shares her wisdom about it here.
She suggested watching American shows in Italian, but with Italian subtitles, because Italian shows are filled with slang. She suggested simpler rom-coms, but I found that The Witcher in Italian has been a lot of fun to watch (or maybe it’s just Henry Cavill).
Also, I’ve been watching the detective show I Bastardi di Pizzofalcone on Yabla, which is a fantastic site for watching shows in other languages and learning as you are viewing.
I also subscribe to the RAI channel on cable (but you can watch a lot online for free), and I try to watch it as often as I can, but that’s harder (everyone talks too fast), and most shows don’t have subtitles.
I’ve been working through the CILS B1 Percorso workbooks. There are two, one for the longer CILS course, which is unnecessary for citizenship, and the Cittadinanza workbook. Both have extremely helpful exercises geared to the test.
I take the test next week, and I’m going to be cramming up to the moment, so forgive me if I don’t have a newsletter next week. I need all the extra time I can get. Wish me luck!
What’s Bringing Me Joy This Week
This ridiculous song about bread gives me so much silly joy.
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Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browserSubsonica, my fave Italian band, has a new album out!
When I can’t stomach studying Italian anymore, I’ve been playing Enshrouded. It’s in early access, but it’s fantastic. If you love RPG exploration and crafting/base-building games, definitely check it out.
It’s Time for Another Book Giveaway!
Mark Cecil’s debut novel, Bunyan and Henry: Or, the Beautiful Destiny is right up my alley. It’s a wild twist of a retelling of the American fable of Paul Bunyan and of “steel-driving man, John Henry.” Matt Bell, author of Appleseed, another author who understands the whole retelling thing, had this to say about the book: “With Bunyan and Henry, Mark Cecil has reinvented and reinvigorated two of America’s greatest mythic heroes, setting them loose in a thrilling romp through the pressing concerns of their time and of ours. There’s so much heartfelt joy and wonder here, so much true wisdom and pleasure too. A fantastic read.”
A large-hearted reimagining of beloved all-American legends, this epic debut novel brings men of myth Paul Bunyan and John Henry alive like never before, teaming up for an adventure quest with deeper interrogations of race, class, and industrialization.
Paul Bunyan—legendary larger-than-life American lumberjack—is a man down on his luck. With a load of family debts on his broad back, he ekes out a miserable miner’s life in Lump Town, a bleak hamlet controlled by famed industrialist El Boffo. When Bunyan's wife Lucette falls ill with a disease caused by the toxic mineral Lump, he embarks on a quest to save her. His only guide: the Chilali—a mysterious creature who speaks only in questions.
Bunyan’s path leads to The Windy City—and to John Henry. Henry is not yet the “steel-drivin’” man known to folklore, but a fugitive on the run from a rigged, racist prison system. As Bunyan and Henry strive to reunite with the families they love, they must work together to solve riddles, forge weapons, brawl with a behemoth, and confront at every turn the relentless, duplicitous El Boffo.
A richly imaginative reinvention of myth, Bunyan and Henry is at once a timeless quest, a fresh origin story, and an urgent modern fable that wrestles with the two sides of the American dream—its wild idealism and cruel underbelly—to inspire the awakening of the folk hero in us all.
This giveaway closed at midnight ET on 04/14/24.
Important to Note: you must be 18+ and a United States resident (pesky international laws make it tricky to do giveaways worldwide). If you are someone who loves rules, you can find the obligatory info here.
If you love food and love Italy, and haven’t read THE CHEF’S SECRET or FEAST OF SORROW, click the links to learn where to buy your copy! 🍒🍗🍷 And now you can pre-order IN THE GARDEN OF MONSTERS!
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" I Bastardi di Pizzofalcone " I knew one of the words : )
Haha! More like I had a few words in the general vicinity and that's about it! Did I tell you I spent 3 months in a convent outside of Florence when I was 15/16? It's been a long time since I've spoken Italian!