About the Author

Olly Richards, author of the Teach Yourself Foreign Language Graded Readers series, speaks eight languages and is the man behind the popular language-learning blog: I Will Teach You a Language.

Olly started learning his first foreign language at age 19, when he bought a one-way ticket to Paris. With no exposure to languages growing up, and no special talent to speak of, Olly had to figure out how to learn a foreign language from scratch.

Fifteen years later, Olly holds a master’s in TESOL from Aston University as well as Cambridge CELTA and Delta. He has also studied ten languages and become an expert in language learning techniques. He collaborates with organizations such as The Open University and the European Commission, and is a regular speaker at international language events and in-person workshops.

Olly started the I Will Teach You a Language blog in 2013 to document his latest language learning experiments. His useful language learning tips have transformed the blog into one of the most popular language learning resources on the web. Olly has always advocated that reading is one of the best ways to improve your language skills and he has now applied his expertise to create the Teach Yourself Foreign Language Graded Readers series. He hopes that Short Stories in Italian for Beginners will help you in your language studies!

For more information about Olly and his blog, go to www.iwillteachyoualanguage.com.

For more information about other readers in this series, go to readers.teachyourself.com.

Introduction

Reading in a foreign language is one of the most effective ways for you to improve language skills and expand vocabulary. However, it can sometimes be difficult to find engaging reading materials at an appropriate level that provide a feeling of achievement and a sense of progress. Most books and articles written for native speakers can be too long and difficult to understand or may have very high-level vocabulary so you feel overwhelmed and give up. If these problems sound familiar, then this book is for you!

Short Stories in Italian for Beginners is a collection of eight unconventional and entertaining short stories that are designed to help high-beginner to low-intermediate level Italian learners* improve their language skills. These short stories create a supportive reading environment by including:

•  Rich linguistic content in different genres to keep you entertained and expose you to a variety of word forms as well as the 1000 most common words in Italian!

•  Interesting illustrations to introduce the story content and help you understand what happens.

•  Shorter stories in chapters to give you the satisfaction of finishing stories and progressing quickly.

•  Texts written at your level so they are more easily comprehended and not overwhelming.

•  Special learning aids to help support your understanding including:

    •  Summaries to give you regular overviews of plot progression.

    •  Vocabulary lists to help you understand unfamiliar words more easily. These words are bolded in the story and translated after each chapter. In addition, the vocabulary builds from Story 1 to Story 8 to help you expand your vocabulary the more you read.

    •  Comprehension questions to test your understanding of key events and to encourage you to read in more detail.

Also, the passato remoto (simple past) can be a source of frustration for new Italian learners, as it is a difficult verb form found mostly in literary Italian. This book instead chooses to use the passato prossimo along with other common narrative forms as appropriate. This editorial decision not only removes a barrier to reading enjoyably in Italian, but also helps you perfect verb forms that will be immediately useful in your speaking.

So perhaps you are new to Italian and looking for an entertaining way to learn, or maybe you have been learning for a while and simply want to enjoy reading and expand your vocabulary, either way, this book is the biggest step forward you will take in your studies this year. Short Stories in Italian for Beginners will give you all the support you need, so sit back, relax, and let your imagination run wild as you are transported to a magical world of adventure, mystery and intrigue – in Italian!

* Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) level A2-B1

How to Read Effectively

Reading is a complex skill. In our first languages, we employ a variety of micro-skills to help us read. For example, we might skim a particular passage in order to understand the general idea, or gist. Or we might scan through multiple pages of a train timetable looking for a particular time or place. While these micro-skills are second nature when reading in our first languages, when it comes to reading in a foreign language, research suggests that we often abandon most of these reading skills. In a foreign language we usually start at the beginning of a text and try to understand every single word. Inevitably, we come across unknown or difficult words and quickly get frustrated with our lack of understanding.

One of the main benefits of reading in a foreign language is that you gain exposure to large amounts of words and expressions used naturally. This kind of reading for pleasure in order to learn a language is generally known as ‘extensive reading’. It is very different from reading a textbook in which dialogues or texts are meant to be read in detail with the aim of understanding every word. That kind of reading to reach specific learning aims or do tasks is referred to as ‘intensive reading’. To put it another way, the intensive reading in textbooks usually helps you with grammar rules and specific vocabulary, whereas reading stories extensively helps show you natural language in use.

While you may have started your language learning journey using only textbooks, Short Stories in Italian for Beginners will now provide you with opportunities to learn more about natural Italian language in use. Here are a few suggestions to keep in mind when reading the stories in this book in order to learn the most from them:

•  Enjoyment and a sense of achievement when reading is vitally important. Enjoying what you read keeps you coming back for more. The best way to enjoy reading stories and feel a sense of achievement is by reading each story from beginning to end. Consequently, reaching the end of a story is the most important thing. It is actually more important than understanding every word in it!

•  The more you read, the more you learn. By reading longer texts for enjoyment, you will quickly build up an innate understanding of how Italian works. But remember: In order to take full advantage of the benefits of extensive reading, you have to actually read a large enough volume in the first place! Reading a couple of pages here and there may teach you a few new words, but won’t be enough to make a real impact on the overall level of your Italian.

•  You must accept that you won’t understand everything you read in a story. This is probably the most important point of all! Always remember that it is completely normal that you do not understand all the words or sentences. It doesn’t mean that your language level is flawed or that you are not doing well. It means you’re engaged in the process of learning. So, what should you do when you don’t understand a word? Here are a few steps:

    1.  Look at the word and see if it is familiar in any way. Remember to look for vocabulary elements from your first language that may be familiar. Take a guess – you might surprise yourself!

    2.  Re-read the sentence that contains the unknown word several times. Use the context of that sentence, and the rest of the story, to try to guess what the unknown word might mean.

    3.  Think about whether or not the word might be a different form of a word you know. For example, you might encounter a verb that you know, but it has been conjugated in a different or unfamiliar way:

parlare – to speak

(loro) hanno parlato – (they) have spoken

(lui) ha parlato – (he) has spoken

You may not be familiar with the particular form used, but ask yourself: Can I still understand the gist of what’s going on? Usually, if you have managed to recognize the main verb, that is enough. Instead of getting frustrated, simply notice how the verb is being used, and carry on reading. Recognizing different forms of words will come intuitively over time.

    4. Make a note of the unknown word in a notebook and check the meaning later. You will encounter more and more new words as you read through the stories in order. You can review these words over time to make them part of your active vocabulary. If you simply must know the meaning of a bolded word, you can look it up in the glossary list at the back of the book or use a dictionary. However, this should be your last resort.

These suggestions are designed to train you to handle reading in Italian independently and without help. The more you can develop this skill, the better you’ll be able to read. Remember: learning to be comfortable with the ambiguity you may encounter while reading a foreign language is the most powerful skill that will help you become an independent and resilient learner of Italian!

The Six-Step Reading Process

In order to get the most from reading Short Stories in Italian for Beginners, it will be best for you to follow this simple six-step reading process for each chapter of the stories:

1  Look at the illustration and read the chapter title. Think about what the story might be about. Then read the first chapter of the story all the way through. Your aim is simply to reach the end of the chapter. Therefore, do not stop to look up words and do not worry if there are things you do not understand. Simply try to follow the plot.

2  When you reach the end of the chapter, read the short summary of the plot to see if you have understood what has happened. If you find this difficult, do not worry. You will improve with each chapter.

3  Go back and read the same chapter again. If you like, you can focus more on story details than before, but otherwise simply read it through one more time.

4  When you reach the end of the chapter for the second time, read the summary again and review the vocabulary list. If you are unsure about the meanings of any words in the vocabulary list, scan through the text to find them in the story and examine them in context. This will help you better understand the words.

5  Next, work through the comprehension questions to check your understanding of key events in the story. If you do not get them all correct, do not worry, simply answering the questions will help you better understand the story.

6  At this point, you should have some understanding of the main events of the chapter. If not, you may wish to re-read the chapter a few times using the vocabulary list to check unknown words and phrases until you feel confident. Once you are ready and confident that you understand what has happened – whether it’s after one reading of the chapter or several – move on to the next chapter and continue enjoying the story at your own pace, just as you would any other book.

Only once you have completed a story in its entirety should you consider going back and studying the story language in more depth if you wish. Or instead of worrying about understanding everything, take time to focus on all that you have understood and congratulate yourself for all that you have done so far! Remember: The biggest benefits you will derive from this book will come from reading story after story through from beginning to end. If you can do that, you will be on your way to reading effectively in Italian!