Short Stories in Italian for Intermediate Learners

I bought this book after reading through the beginners book a few times, the stories are, with no doubt, strange, but they are great for language skills. I read these out loud with my husband who is fluent, and we can have whole conversations now in Italian just from adding these books into my study routine. Short simple stories with real dialog.

I had already read the authors other two books of Italian short stories for beginners and listened to the corresponding audiobooks, so when this book was released, I bought it right away. These stories are definitely more challenging, as they use more sophisticated vocabulary and there is much more frequent use of the remote past tense. I read the whole book on plane home from the Virgin Islands, about five hours, interrupted periodically by the beverage services and a chatty child sitting next to me. I would guess that's the level is about B1-B2. There are more adult themes than in the prior two books, not that the book deserves any sort of a parental advisory, but there is action, violence, relationship struggles, and stalkers. The introduction explains how these books are to be read, a simple six step process to promote maximal comprehension and absorption of the language. I plan to go back and re-read these stories a few times in order to get the most of this book, but with the exception of two chapters near the end of the book where I had to do a little re-reading because I didn't quite grasp the beginning of a story. However, the first two books had so improved my reading in Italian that I found these intermediate stories to be at just the right level, the chapters in short, digestible chunks, and the vocabulary useful to me at this point in my learning. I hope a set of advanced stories comes out next, I would eagerly buy such a product!

Was not sure how useful this book was going to be. I wanted to read more in Italian so I was commiting myself to additional work. The book has been a very important addition to my continuing my mastery of Italian. The addition of new vocabulary, the ability of the stories to hold my interest and the brief length of the stories makes working with the material very beneficial.

It's my third book by Olly Richards, I read also Italian gor beginners 1 and 2. That's the most fun I had learning Italian. My level is not enough to read Italian books, but the adapted stories of my level are very boring. This book is both fun and adapted to my level. The quality of stories is good , it's proofread very well (have to emphasize this because i've bought similar book by another author and threw it into trash after 3 pages, such bad was the quality of writing). Totally loved this book and would recommend to those who start learning Italian! The stories are all different and interedting, with unexpected twists so it is interesting to read, and the method when you just read it like in your own language without checking each word in the dictionary is really great!!! Thank you Olly Richards! Please publish more stories!

There are a bunch of short stories in here across several genres. The language level is more advanced than previous beginner books and they are great study and practice for Italian.

Good grammar, good stories all in Italian. Now I wish they had them in Greek as well

This book is a pleasure to read. I used a Kindle version along with an Italian dictionary on the kindle for looking up words instead of looking at the mini glossary at the end. I feel my reading comprehension has improved greatly. I look forward to reading other books by Olly in Italian and other languages.

Great way to learn and challenge yourself in Italian. As well Olly's web materials are fantastic!

A good way to learn a language. The book does a good job of offering challenges for someone at a B1 level

Ótimo para estudantes do nível intermediário.

Excelente opcion para practicar vocabulario y comprensión.

The stories are a mixed lot. I suppose that means there’s something for everyone, but it’s no great succession from start to finish. I’ve definitely found other collections of intermediate stories from alternate publishers to be more entertaining. One major flaw, at least to my eyes, is the use of hyphens instead of quotation marks to indicate direct speech. Were this system in place in a book written in my first language it would be fine, but to have a system of dashes and half-dashes used to indicate direct speech in a language you’re attempting to improve in is chaotic. It interrupts fluency. Lastly, the accompanying audio is no highlight either. The cadence and intonation seem ‘forced’ and it’s not the Italian language I expected to hear.

Me gustó, porque es una lectura fácil y lo ocupo para seguir aprendiendo italiano