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2006 Features

11/15/06 - Getting Limoncello
Enjoying her last night in Rome, Bonnie receives a compliment and makes a promise to return to Italy. Only next time maybe she'll stay a long, long time and finally become fluent.

11/01/06 - Getting Beautiful
Emboldened by her language successes and shocked by her shaggy reflection in the salon window, Bonnie decides to brave a haircut. Will the hairdresser slip clients in front of her? Will she sit wet-headed forever?

10/18/06 - Immersing Myself
Shopping for lotion in her no-tourist neighborhood, Bonnie discovers the dangers of full-immersion. She becomes immersed in Italian, all right, but not in the way her Italian teachers had in mind.

10/04/06 - Eavesdropping
Overhearing conversations, the author understands more than she should. Why was that Italian woman greeting her lover good evening at nine o’clock in the morning? And why hadn’t he known she was in Rome?

09/20/06 - Xke No-ing? Or Connecting With Friends
Wanting a social life, Bonnie struggles to master her cell phone and text messaging in Italian. It seems as if SMS is the new way of writing and communicating in Italian.

09/06/06 - Fearing Numbers
Avoiding, then confronting, and finally mastering numbers, Bonnie orders theater tickets over the phone. Will she have seats close to the stage, or will she be need binoculars to see the performance?

08/23/06 - Learning To Chat
Ignoring her embarrassing first attempts, the author seizes the chance to talk to her neighbors, and in the process learns everything she ever wanted to know about the weather in Rome.

08/09/06 - Making Hamburgers
Thinking she has figured out how to shop in the outdoor market, the author ends up with a surprise. When Bonnie discovers that she's actually bought ground meat and buns, she makes hamburgers—not what she expected to be eating in Italy.

07/26/06 - Taking A Tour
Feeling more confident in her Italian, Bonnie is embarrassed by mistaking Spanish for Italian. Down in the Roman catacombs, she discovers that she's joined a Spanish-speaking tour group and can't decide which language to respond in.

07/12/06 - Finding My Bar
Learning to order coffee correctly, the author finally fits in, but not before conquering double consonants.

06/28/06 - (Not) Learning Italian
Struggling to understand Italian as spoken in Rome, Bonnie makes mistakes and learns a new language. Little did she know that the Roman dialect chews up familiar words and spits out new ones.

06/14/06 - Being Naïve
Determined to finally speak Italian fluently, the author heads to Rome and is shocked at how little she knows. A trip to the supermarket introduces her to rapid-fire two-word exchanges instead of familiar classroom dialogs.

05/31/06 - Italian SMS
Just when you thought you figured out which direction the accent points in the word perché comes a new 21st-century way of writing Italian. Popularized by young people via SMS and e-mail communication, the new spelling uses mathematical symbols, homonyms, numbers, and abbreviations to speed up the transfer of messages.

05/17/06 - Italian Tattoos Are Forever (That's Per Sempre!)
Italian language tattoos have a certain cachet - many people don't know what they say, lending the tattoo a certain sophistication or flair. But that's the point. Many people, including the tattoo artist, don't understand what the tattoo says, and a simple slip of the needle can turn love (amare) bitter (amaro).

05/03/06 - Tell Me More Premium: Italian CD
For those who prefer studying Italian in front of a PC, the Tell Me More Premium: Italian program offers cutting-edge technology in an interactive software package for all levels.

04/19/06 - Top 10 Myths About Learning Italian
Do you want to learn Italian, or do you want to spend your time coming up with excuses for why you can't learn Italian? Like other self-improvement activities you can convince yourself with a multitude of excuses why you can't pronounce Italian words or conjugate Italian verbs - or you can use that time and energy to learn la bella lingua.

04/05/06 - Corso di Formazione per Uomini
There's a course for everything, and now there's a course in Italian for becoming a man. The objective, of course, is to become as intelligent as a woman (that is, become perfect). So get ready to study, men, because this class requires a lot of work.

02/08/06 - Italian Café
The songs on the Italian Café CD recall a time before rock and roll began to dominate popular music culture. This collection of classic and contemporary Italian songs includes the legends of the golden age as well as newer artists who draw on a wide range of influences.

01/11/06 - Italian Audio Flash Cards
Interested in an easy way to improve your Italian vocabulary? Want to listen to Italian and work on your pronunciation at the same time? The Acquerello Italiano program has Italian audio flash cards to complement their audio magazine.

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