Coffee Break Italian

We're back with another lesson of Coffee Break Italian, and in lesson 31 we're presenting the first episode of our Italian soap opera, La Mia Estate. You'll meet three of our characters: Mia, her friend Anna, and her overprotective father Riccardo. In each of the ten episodes of La Mia Estate, you'll be hearing Italian in context and you'll be able to build your knowledge and confidence, and Francesca and Mark are on hand to help you understand everything.This season of Coffee Break Italian features a total of 40 episodes. If you'd like to benefit from lesson notes, bonus audio recordings and video versions of the lessons featuring 'synchronised video flashcards' to help you understand how the words and phrases are written, you can access the premium version of Coffee Break Italian on the Coffee Break Academy.Don't forget to follow Coffee Break Italian on Facebook where we post language activities, cultural points and review materials to help you practise your Italian. Remember - a few minutes a day can help

This episode of Coffee Break Italian is a review episode, covering many of the topics discussed in lessons 1-29. With Francesca, Isla and Mark you'll review the pronouns ci and ne, how to form the perfect, how to choose between the perfect and imperfect, and much more.This season of Coffee Break Italian features a total of 40 episodes. If you'd like to benefit from lesson notes, bonus audio recordings and video versions of the lessons featuring 'synchronised video flashcards' to help you understand how the words and phrases are written, you can access the premium version of Coffee Break Italian on the Coffee Break Academy.Don't forget to follow Coffee Break Italian on Facebook where we post language activities, cultural points and review materials to help you practise your Italian. Remember - a few minutes a day can help you build your confidence in the language. Access the Coffee Break Italian Facebook page here.If you'd like to find out what goes on behind the scenes here at Coffee Break Languages, follow @

It's time to take a detailed look at a topic which, on the surface, can seem straightforward, but when you get into it in more detail it can get a bit more complicated. We're talking about adverbs: words which "describe" a verb, or which give more information as how quickly, effectively, badly etc., you're doing whatever it is you're doing! We'll look at the Italian equivalent of adding "-ly" to an adjective, but we'll also consider other types of adverbs, and we'll look at those tricky adverbs like molto. Are you 100% sure when to use molto and when to use molti/molte/molta? By the end of this lesson you'll be confident with all kinds of Italian adverbs!This season of Coffee Break Italian features a total of 40 episodes. If you'd like to benefit from lesson notes, bonus audio recordings and video versions of the lessons featuring 'synchronised video flashcards' to help you understand how the words and phrases are written, you can access the premium version of Coffee Break Italian on the Coffee Break Academy.

In this episode of Coffee Break Italian we're looking at two constructions which will help you increase your range of expression easily and effectively. You'll learn to use prima di + infinitive and dopo + past infinitive with both avere and essere verbs. Once you've mastered these expressions you'll be able to talk about "before doing something" and "after doing something", and understand the nuances of each of these expressions in their Italian translations.This season of Coffee Break Italian features a total of 40 episodes. If you'd like to benefit from lesson notes, bonus audio recordings and video versions of the lessons featuring 'synchronised video flashcards' to help you understand how the words and phrases are written, you can access the premium version of Coffee Break Italian on the Coffee Break Academy.Don't forget to follow Coffee Break Italian on Facebook where we post language activities, cultural points and review materials to help you practise your Itali

We're back with the second instalment of our two-part preposition marathon. In this episode you'll learn all you need to know about the prepositions di, da, con, per and tra/fra. Once again, there are some crucial nuances with certain prepositions which can completely change the meaning, so listen carefully in this lesson! As usual, Francesca and Mark provide plenty of examples to help, and Isla puts what she learns to the test with a translation challenge. By the time you've completed this lesson you'll be a preposition pro!This season of Coffee Break Italian features a total of 40 episodes. If you'd like to benefit from lesson notes, bonus audio recordings and video versions of the lessons featuring 'synchronised video flashcards' to help you understand how the words and phrases are written, you can access the premium version of Coffee Break Italian on the Coffee Break Academy.Don't forget to follow Coffee Break Italian on Facebook where we post language activities, cultural po

This is the first of our two-part preposition marathon! In this episode you'll learn all you need to know about the prepositions a, in and su. Using prepositions in Italian can be quite tricky, particularly because they don't work the same way as in English. There's also the fact that, when combined with the definite articles, the prepositions take on different forms. Through this lesson about (su) prepositions, you'll learn to (a) use the prepositions in (in) the correct way!This season of Coffee Break Italian features a total of 40 episodes. If you'd like to benefit from lesson notes, bonus audio recordings and video versions of the lessons featuring 'synchronised video flashcards' to help you understand how the words and phrases are written, you can access the premium version of Coffee Break Italian on the Coffee Break Academy.Don't forget to follow Coffee Break Italian on Facebook where we post language activities, cultural points and review materials to h

In this episode you'll learn everything you need to know about asking questions in Italian. We'll cover come, dove, quando, chi, perché, quale, quali, quanto/a/e/i and, of course, che, che cosa and cosa! By the time you've completed this lesson you'll be able to satisfy your curiosity in Italian by asking any question.This season of Coffee Break Italian features a total of 40 episodes. If you'd like to benefit from lesson notes, bonus audio recordings and video versions of the lessons featuring 'synchronised video flashcards' to help you understand how the words and phrases are written, you can access the premium version of Coffee Break Italian on the Coffee Break Academy.Don't forget to follow Coffee Break Italian on Facebook where we post language activities, cultural points and review materials to help you practise your Italian. Remember - a few minutes a day can help you build your confidence in the language. Access the Coffee Break Italian Facebook page here.If you'd like to find

Coffee Break Italian is the show which helps you learn Italian. Mark and Francesca are the teachers who teach Isla in Season 2. This is the episode in which we're looking at relative pronouns, and through which you'll master this new grammar point! See what we did there? All will become clear in lesson 24!This season of Coffee Break Italian features a total of 40 episodes. If you'd like to benefit from lesson notes, bonus audio recordings and video versions of the lessons featuring 'synchronised video flashcards' to help you understand how the words and phrases are written, you can access the premium version of Coffee Break Italian on the Coffee Break Academy.Don't forget to follow Coffee Break Italian on Facebook where we post language activities, cultural points and review materials to help you practise your Italian. Remember - a few minutes a day can help you build your confidence in the language. Access the Coffee Break Italian Facebook page here.If you'd like to find out what goes on behind the scenes he

In this lesson we're focusing on combining the Perfect and the Imperfect which together allow us to tell stories in the past. You'll consolidate what you already know about each of the tenses and you'll recognise certain words and expressions which trigger the Perfect or the Imperfect. Francesca also has some mystery Italian personalities for us to identify in the Caffè Culturale.This season of Coffee Break Italian features a total of 40 episodes. If you'd like to benefit from lesson notes, bonus audio recordings and video versions of the lessons featuring 'synchronised video flashcards' to help you understand how the words and phrases are written, you can access the premium version of Coffee Break Italian on the Coffee Break Academy.Don't forget to follow Coffee Break Italian on Facebook where we post language activities, cultural points and review materials to help you practise your Italian. Remember - a few minutes a day can help you build your confidence in the language. Access the Coffee Break Italian Fa

We've now learned both the Perfect Tense and the Imperfect Tense in Italian, but when do you use which tense? ​In this episode of Coffee Break Italian we'll be talking about "thtooms" and "dum-de-dum-de-dums". This is Mark's method of explaining how you can combine the Perfect Tense and the Imperfect Tense in one sentence to talk about what was happening when something else happened. You'll also learn an alternative translation of the Imperfect which involves beaches at sunset!This season of Coffee Break Italian features a total of 40 episodes. If you'd like to benefit from lesson notes, bonus audio recordings and video versions of the lessons featuring 'synchronised video flashcards' to help you understand how the words and phrases are written, you can access the premium version of Coffee Break Italian on the Coffee Break Academy.Don't forget to follow Coffee Break Italian on Facebook where we post language activities, cultural points and review materials to help you practise your Italian. Rem

In this lesson we're focusing on a new tense, the imperfect, which is used for descriptions and to talk about repeated actions in the past. It's a very straightforward tense, and Francesca shares some great news about the Imperfect in this episode! As usual, there are lots of examples and Mark and Francesca will test Isla on her understanding by the end of the lesson.This season of Coffee Break Italian features a total of 40 episodes. If you'd like to benefit from lesson notes, bonus audio recordings and video versions of the lessons featuring 'synchronised video flashcards' to help you understand how the words and phrases are written, you can access the premium version of Coffee Break Italian on the Coffee Break Academy.Don't forget to follow Coffee Break Italian on Facebook where we post language activities, cultural points and review materials to help you practise your Italian. Remember - a few minutes a day can help you build your confidence in the language. Access the Coffee Break Italian Facebook page h

In this lesson you'll learn to use four very useful adverbs: mai (ever), già (already), appena (just) and ancora (still/yet) to talk about what you've just done, what you've already done, what you've never done and what you've not yet done. This very useful lesson builds on what you've learned in previous episodes, and it marks the half-way point of our course.This season of Coffee Break Italian features a total of 40 episodes, published every two weeks. Lessons 21-40 will be published during 2018. Stay subscribed to the podcast to enjoy each episode. If you'd like to benefit from lesson notes, bonus audio recordings and video versions of the lessons featuring 'synchronised video flashcards' to help you understand how the words and phrases are written, you can access the premium version of Coffee Break Italian on the Coffee Break Academy.Don't forget to follow Coffee Break Italian on Facebook where we post language activities, cultural points and review materials to help you practise your Italian. Remember -

In this episode we're looking at how you say you liked something in the past using the verb piacere. This verb is conjugated with essere and you have to be careful with how you agree the past participle. We'll also be taking a look at how reflexive verbs work in the Perfect Tense in this lesson. Again, pay close attention to the past participles!This season of Coffee Break Italian features a total of 40 episodes. If you'd like to benefit from lesson notes, bonus audio recordings and video versions of the lessons featuring 'synchronised video flashcards' to help you understand how the words and phrases are written, you can access the premium version of Coffee Break Italian on the Coffee Break Academy.Don't forget to follow Coffee Break Italian on Facebook where we post language activities, cultural points and review materials to help you practise your Italian. Remember - a few minutes a day can help you build your confidence in the language. Access the Coffee Break Italian Facebook page here.If you'd like to f

So far we've been learning how to talk in the past by using the Perfect Tense with avere. In this lesson we'll be learning about a specific group of verbs which use essere in the Perfect Tense. There's something in particular we need to remember about these verbs, and all will become clear once you've listened to this lesson.This season of Coffee Break Italian features a total of 40 episodes. If you'd like to benefit from lesson notes, bonus audio recordings and video versions of the lessons featuring 'synchronised video flashcards' to help you understand how the words and phrases are written, you can access the premium version of Coffee Break Italian on the Coffee Break Academy.Don't forget to follow Coffee Break Italian on Facebook where we post language activities, cultural points and review materials to help you practise your Italian. Remember - a few minutes a day can help you build your confidence in the language. Access the Coffee Break Italian Facebook page here.If you'd like to find ou

In this episode of Coffee Break Italian, we're continuing to learn about the Perfect Tense, this time focusing on verbs which have irregular past participles. You'll learn to form past participles for irregular verbs and you'll also learn about the groupings of irregular verbs which form their past participles in similar ways.This season of Coffee Break Italian features a total of 40 episodes. If you'd like to benefit from lesson notes, bonus audio recordings and video versions of the lessons featuring 'synchronised video flashcards' to help you understand how the words and phrases are written, you can access the premium version of Coffee Break Italian on the Coffee Break Academy.Don't forget to follow Coffee Break Italian on Facebook where we post language activities, cultural points and review materials to help you practise your Italian. Remember - a few minutes a day can help you build your confidence in the language. Access the Coffee Break Italian Facebook page here.If you'd like to find out what goes on

It's time to think about the past. We've already seen examples of the Perfect Tense, one of the main Italian tenses used to talk about what happened in the past, but so far we've not learned exactly how to use it. In this lesson you'll be learning to form the past participle of -are, -ere and -ire verbs and how you combine these with the verb "avere" to form the Perfect Tense.This season of Coffee Break Italian features a total of 40 episodes. If you'd like to benefit from lesson notes, bonus audio recordings and video versions of the lessons featuring 'synchronised video flashcards' to help you understand how the words and phrases are written, you can access the premium version of Coffee Break Italian on the Coffee Break Academy.Don't forget to follow Coffee Break Italian on Facebook where we post language activities, cultural points and review materials to help you practise your Italian. Remember - a few minutes a day can help you build your confidence in the language. Access the Coffee Break Italian Facebo

In this lesson we're continuing our study of "ne" and introducing a new pronoun, "ci". Both of these words are small, but exceptionally useful, and you'll learn how to use them in many situations.This season of Coffee Break Italian features a total of 40 episodes. If you'd like to benefit from lesson notes, bonus audio recordings and video versions of the lessons featuring 'synchronised video flashcards' to help you understand how the words and phrases are written, you can access the premium version of Coffee Break Italian on the Coffee Break Academy.Don't forget to follow Coffee Break Italian on Facebook where we post language activities, cultural points and review materials to help you practise your Italian. Remember - a few minutes a day can help you build your confidence in the language. Access the Coffee Break Italian Facebook page here.If you'd like to find out what goes on behind the scenes here at Coffee Break Languages, follow @coffeebreaklanguages on Instagram, and check out our videos for language

In this lesson we'll be looking at the partitive article - the technical name for how to translate "some" in Italian. We're using the context of buying food so you'll learn how to ask for some cheese, "del formaggio", some cream, "della panna", and lots more. This topic also enables us to look at the word "ne", and we'll see how easy it is to use this tiny, but powerful, word.This season of Coffee Break Italian features a total of 40 episodes. If you'd like to benefit from lesson notes, bonus audio recordings and video versions of the lessons featuring 'synchronised video flashcards' to help you understand how the words and phrases are written, you can access the premium version of Coffee Break Italian on the Coffee Break Academy.Don't forget to follow Coffee Break Italian on Facebook where we post language activities, cultural points and review materials to help you practise your Italian. Remember - a few minutes a day can help you build your confidence in the language. Access the Coffee Break Italian Facebo

In this lesson you'll learn to use the demonstrative adjectives questo and quello, meaning "this" and "that". You'll also learn to use the demonstrative pronoun forms, meaning "this one" and "that one". There are a few things you need to remember, particularly with quello, because the forms change slightly depending on whether you're using the adjective or pronoun forms. You'll build on what you know already with this lesson, and there's further practise with the help of translations and a dialogue.This season of Coffee Break Italian features a total of 40 episodes. If you'd like to benefit from lesson notes, bonus audio recordings and video versions of the lessons featuring 'synchronised video flashcards' to help you understand how the words and phrases are written, you can access the premium version of Coffee Break Italian on the Coffee Break Academy.Don't forget to follow Coffee Break Italian on Facebook where we post language activities, cultural points and review materials to help you practise your Itali

Paying compliments is a key part of Italian culture and society, and in this lesson of Coffee Break Italian you'll learn to compliment native speakers on their beautiful clothes, their delicious ragù, and their delightful children using the tricky adjectives bello and buono. You'll discover a trick which will help you to know exactly which form of these adjectives to choose for any noun, and Francesca explains the very Italian concept of la bella figura in the Caffè Culturale.This season of Coffee Break Italian features a total of 40 episodes. If you'd like to benefit from lesson notes, bonus audio recordings and video versions of the lessons featuring 'synchronised video flashcards' to help you understand how the words and phrases are written, you can access the premium version of Coffee Break Italian on the Coffee Break Academy.Don't forget to follow Coffee Break Italian on Facebook where we post language activities, cultural points and review materials to help you practise your Italian. Remember - a few mi