“The pack comprises of two CDs and is a two-hour Language Builder course that caters for those who have either done the Michel Thomas 8-hour course or for those who have never done one of his courses but want to revise what they have learnt….This is a practical and functional way of learning spoken Italian. By using the booklet as well you can improve your spelling, reading and writing too.”

Andrea Martins – Language Advantage   (JC Bookgrocer)

Paola Tite is a teacher of Italian and an author of Italian language books. At present she works as an editorial consultant and author for Hodder Educational, Oxford University Press, Macmillan Italia and Helbling Languages. As a native speaker of Italian, Paola attended Michel Thomas's Italian workshops and recording sessions at Hodder and Stoughton, and became an enthusiastic follower of his approach not only to language learning but to teaching in general.

Introduction: How this course came about, what it does and does not include, how it works, and how it is both faithful to and expands upon the Michel Thomas Language Courses. Course segment 1: Cognates Introduction -ible to -ibile: possible to possibile (an extra 'i'); horrible to orribile (no h); etc. -able to abile: probable to probable; acceptable to accettabile (double cc, double tt); etc. -al to -ale: canal to canale; cathedral to cattedrale; general to generale; etc. -ARE verbs to -abile: desiderare (to wish) to desiderabile (desirable); sopportare (to bear) to sopportabile (bearable); riciclare (to recycle) to riciclabile; etc. Add in to make a negative word: evitabile (avoidable) to inevitabile (inevitable; unavoidable); soppportabile to insopportabile; etc. Diminutive -ino, -etta: motore (engine) to motorino (moped); fratello (brother) to fratellino (affectionate, little brother); casa (house) to casetta (nice little house); Giovanni to Giovannino (nickname). Giulia to Giulietta (nickname) -ERE verbs to -ibile: credere (to believe) to credibile (believable); vendere (to sell) to vendibile (saleable); etc. -IRE verbs to -ibile: punire(to punish) to punibile (punishable); definire (to define) to definibile (definable); more -ible to -ibile: flexible to flessibile (no x in Italian); compatible to compatibile and incompatibile; etc. -ant to -ante: important to importante; restaurant to ristorante; etc. ARE verbs to -ante: allarmare (to alarm) to allarmante (alarming); affascinare (to fascinate) to affascinante (fascinating); etc. -ent to -ente: different to differente; evident to evidente; incompetent to incompetente; etc. -tion to -zione: condition to condizione; attention to attenzione; formation to formazione; etc. -sion to -sione: impression to impressione; decision to decisione; mission to missione; etc. -ence to -enza: influence to influenza; difference to differenza; preference to preferenza; etc. Words that look feminine but are masculine: the problem to il problema; the climate to il clima; a poet to un poeta; etc. -ance to -anza: importance to importanza; elegance to eleganza; distance to distanza; etc. -ly to -mente: personally to personalmente; probably to probabilmente; etc. Use 'realmente' for actually and 'attualmente' for nowadays. -ary to -ario: necessary to necessario; contrary to contrario; etc. No need for 'a' when talking about professions: Lavorava come missionario (as a missionary) -ive to -ivo: exclusive to esclusivo (no x in Italian); positive to positivo; constructive to costruttivo (change ct to double tt); etc. -ute to -uto: absolute to assoluto; institute to istituto; attribute to attributo; etc. -ical and -ic to -ico: practical to pratico; magic to magico; economic to economico; etc. -ure to -ura: temperature to temperatura; culture to cultura; etc. -ity to -ita: possibility to possibilita; humanity to umanita; liberty to liberta; etc. Require an accent over the stressed final a. -ist to -ista: artist to artista; dentist to dentista; optimist to ottimista; etc. -y to ia: irony to ironia; astronomy to astronomia; philosophy to filosofia; etc. -in or -ine to -ina: vitamin to vitamina; discipline to disciplina; medicine to medicina; etc. -id to -ido: solid to solido; valid to valido; timid to timido; etc. -ism to -ismo: organism to organismo; capitalism to capitalismo; heroism to eroismo; etc. Course segment 2: Verbs -ARE verbs: the 'good guys': evitare (to avoid); mangiare (to eat); usare (to use); inventare (to invent); parlare (to speak); raccomandare (to recommend); comprare (to buy) Using quel, quei, quegli - that, those Using qualcosa di (speciale) - something (special) Using Mi piace - It is pleasing / It pleases me Mi piacciono - They are pleasing / They please me; Gli piace - It pleases him; Ci piace - It pleases us; Non ci piace - It doesn't please us More -ARE verbs: gridare (to shout); guadagnare (to earn) Wing tense endings: -ARE Track and the Other Track (-ERE, -IRE verbs): are - avo (guadagnavo); ere - evo (vivevo); ire - ivo (capivo) Inventing -ARE verbs using -tion words in English. Remove the 'tion' and add -re: invitation to invitare (to invite); confirmation to confermare (to confirm); etc. More -ARE verbs: dimenticarsi (to forget); cenare (to dine); giustificare (to justify); immaginare (to imagine); installare (to install); adorare (to adore); considerare (to consider); ispirare (to inspire); studiare (to study); consolare (to console); or -ARE verbs (various tenses): comprare (to buy) Using 'se fossi' for 'If I were...' plus the conditional tense (-rei): Se fossi ricco, comprerei un appartamento a Portofino. (If I were richer, I would buy an apartment in Portofino.) When 'would' refers to the past: Quando ero ricco, compravo una macchina nuova tutti gli anni. (When I was a rich man, I would buy / I used to buy / I bought a new car every year.) More -ARE verbs (various tenses): lavare (to wash); chiamare (to phone; to call); guardare (to look at); prestare (to lend); lasciare (to leave); baciare (to kiss); scusare (to excuse) 'was in the process of' plus the dot past: Stavo lavando i piatti quando mi ha chiamato. (I was washing the dishes when you called me.) 'is in the process of': Mi sta guardando adesso. (She's looking at me now.) Using -i ending for formal commands: Non mi tocchi! (Don't touch me!); Mi lasci stare. (Leave me alone.); Mi scusi. (Excuse me.) Using -a ending and hooking pronouns to the verb for familiar commands: Baciami (Kiss me); Scusami (Excuse me) The Other Track: -ERE and -IRE verbs: bere (to drink); leggere (to read); capire (to understand); rispondere (to respond; to answer); scrivere (to write); ridere (to laugh); piangere (to cry) Reflexive verbs - When the Subject and Object are the same: think '...self': nascondersi (to hide oneself); svegliarsi (to wake up; to wake oneself up); sedersi (to sit down; to sit oneself down); alzarsi (to get up or stand up; to get oneself up); lava With added 'ne': andarsene (to go away from here); dimenticarsene (to forget abut it) The impersonal 'one': Si mangia bene qui. (One eats well here.); Si parla italiano qui. (Italian is spoken here.); Come si dice questo in italiano? (How do you say this in Italian?) More practice with -ERE verbs and reflexives: promettere (to promise); permetter (to permit); proteggersi (to protect oneself); difendersi (to defend oneself) More -ERE and -IRE verbs; future tense: bere (to drink); pulire (to clean); vendere (to sell); perdere (to lose) The future endings on all tracks: ro, rai, ra, remo, rete, ranno: Pratichero sempre il mio italiano. (I will always practise my Italian.) The -go -gono verbs: valere (to be worth); valere la pena (to be worth it); valgo to valga in command tense La, l' (it) and li (them): La chiave, l'ho perduta. (The key, I've lost it). I biglietti, non li ho perduti (he tickets, I haven't lost them.) More -ERE and -IRE verbs: diving into the past, the command tense: temere (to fear); tossire to cough); credere (to believe); crescere (to grow); riconoscere (to recognize); mettere (to place or put) Using -a ending for formal commands: Lo metta nella mia macchina. Using -i ending and hooking pronouns to the verb for familiar commands: Mettilo nella mia macchina. More -ERE and -IRE verbs; some special verbs: ammettere (to admit); insistere a (insist on); omettere (to omit); decidere (to decide); ricevere (to receive); descrivere (to describe); assistere a (to attend); dire (to say or tell) More -go -gono verbs: venire (to come), vengo, vengono; tenere (to keep, to hold), tengo, tengono Non credo che tengano animali nell'appartamento. (I don't believe they keep pets in the flat.) Two -IRE verbs that go from -u to -e: uscire (to go out; to leave): Esco tutte le sere.