Where Pinocchio (Pino for friends) realizes that his good friends, "il Gatto e la Volpe" (the Cat and the Fox), are not very good friends. But what is friendship after all?

Objectives:

In the Beginner level, you meet Pino and his friends, and you start to get involved with the Italian language and culture.
You learn how to greet someone, introduce your self or your family, express opinions, describe objects, places or situations, order at the restaurant, prepare a famous Italian dessert (Tiramisù), ask for directions, make a phone call, book a hotel room, go shopping, use the simple past, sing in Italian and much more!

What is Pinocchio doing on CyberItalian?

Program:

• Lesson 1 Ciao Pino!
  (Ciao Pino!)
  Learn how to greet someone and introduce yourself. Subject pronouns; "Essere" (to be).
  Activities:
  Get ready for Italian conversation: 3 steps - listen,test
  Your Renaissance - read
  Memorization techniques - read,test
  The puzzle of Italian regions - play
  Practice your pronunciation: greetings - listen,test
  

• Lesson 2 Chi sei?
  (Who are you?)
  Learn to describe and give information about yourself. Feminine and masculine nouns and agreements; description (part 1): nouns and adjectives (plus c'è and ci sono); indefinite articles.
  Activities:
  Get ready for Italian conversation: 3 steps - listen,test
  Practice your pronunciation: Italian words in other languages - listen,test
  Home: vocabulary and crossword puzzle - listen,play
  What's in your fridge today? (c'è and ci sono) - read,test
  Practice your pronunciation: presentazioni - listen,test
  

• Lesson 3 Ecco i miei amici!
  (Here are my friends!)
  Learn to describe your friends and tell what your profession is. Nouns, adjectives, colors; description (part 2): singular/plural; definite articles; "Avere" (to have).
  Activities:
  My friends and I (adjectives) - listen,play
  Colors of the Italian flag and Italian colors - read,test
  Are you nervous? (Verb Essere and Adjectives) - read,test
  Avere o Essere? This is the question. (Verb Avere and nouns) - read,test
  Articles and agreements - test
  

• Lesson 4 Cosa Preferisci?
  (What do you prefer?)
  Learn to express preferences, ask questions and answer in a negative way. Present indicative of regular verbs; interrogative sentences; negative sentences; irregular verbs: "Preferire, Capire, Piacere".
  Activities:
  Adjectives and verbs - listen,write
  Trucchi per imparare i verbi (Tricks to learn verbs) - read,test
  I like, I don't like (verbs) - listen,play,test
  Can you say "no" in Italian? (Negative sentences) - read,test
  Il bar (essere, avere, and regular verbs) - read,test
  Basic use of the verb Piacere (to like) - read,test
  

• Lesson 5 Conta e canta!
  (Count and sing!)
  Learn to count in Italian, say your age and introduce your family. Numbers; possessive adjectives and pronouns; double meanings and false friends.
  Activities:
  Let's sing in Italian - sing
  

• Lesson 6 Al ristorante
  (At the restaurant.)
  Learn how to ask for something and order at the restaurant. "Vorrei" and other forms of courtesy; position of the adjectives, form of certain adjectives; "avere fame, avere sete"; irregular verbs: "Mangiare, Bere".
  Activities:
  Let's cook together! (with puzzle) - cook,play
  Three legends about Italian cuisine - cook,read
  Il ristorante (verbi essere, avere, mangiare, bere) - read,test
  A carnival recipe - cook,read
  

• Lesson 7 Quando ci vediamo?
  (When are we going to see each other?)
  Learn to make or postpone an appointment. Time, days, months; irregular verbs: "Dovere, Volere, Potere, Uscire, Venire"; weather.
  Activities:
  Memorization techniques - read,test
  Weather and seasons - listen,play
  

• Lesson 8 Dov'è la scuola?
  (Where is the school?)
  Learn to ask for and give directions, tell your address and say where you are from. Simple prepositions; irregular verbs: "Fare, Andare".
  Activities:
  To stay or to go? (irregular verbs: andare, venire, restare) - read,test
  Terrible prepositions (part 1) - read,test
  Our body (vocabulary and crossword puzzle) - play
  

• Lesson 9 Pronto chi parla?
  (Hello, who's speaking?)
  Learn to make a phone call and give your phone number. Combined prepositions; irregular verbs: "Sapere, Conoscere, Dire, Dare, Stare".
  Activities:
  Terrible prepositions (part 2) - read,test
  Telephone call - play
  

• Lesson 10 Hai fatto la spesa?
  (Did you go grocery shopping?)
  Go shopping. Learn to report a fact happened in the past. "Participio passato" and "passato prossimo"; irregular verbs: "Pagare". Difference between grocery shopping and shopping.
  Activities:
  Fare la spesa o fare shopping? - read,test
  Getting Dressed (vocabulary, anagram and crossword puzzle) - listen,play
  Verbs: change words into actions - test
  Vieni via con me (irregular verbs andare, venire, restare) - sing,test
  

• Lesson 11 Viva le vacanze!!!
  (Three cheers for vacations!)
  Learn to make a reservation (restaurant, hotel). "C'è, ci sono"; review of interrogative expressions; negative expressions.
  Activities:
  L'aeroporto e i verbi italiani - read,test
  Alla stazione - read,test
  Che c'è? - read,test
  Verbs: present, PAST and future (passato prossimo) - play,test
  Invite your friends to your home! - cook,read
  August in Italy - read
  Recipes from cinema: meringues - cook,read
  

• Lesson 12 Buon viaggio!
  (Have a good trip!)
  Pack the suitcase for a trip to Italy, work on your listening skills and review the basic structures of the Beginner level. Verbs; basic structure of a sentence; use of description; partitives. Listening development.
  Activities:
  Word search: articles, prepositions, verbs - play
  Play with the Italian language - play
  L'edicola (essere, avere, and irregular verbs) - read,test
  A brief history of art - read,test
  Anagrammi e altri esercizi (Anagrams and other exercises) - play
  

• Lesson 13 Ordinare al banco
  (Order at the counter)
  Experience a real Italian bar and brush up on the use of Italian verbs. Present conjugation of regular verbs. Irregular verbs: "Preferire, Capire, Agire, Reagire, Mangiare, Bere, Piacere".
  Activities:
  Granita a colazione - cook
  Practice your pronunciation: il caffè italiano - listen,test
  

• Lesson 14 Buon appetito!
  (Enjoy your meal!)
  Experience an Italian pizzeria and review the construction of an Italian sentence. Basic elements and basic structure of a sentence.
  Activities:
  Vignette (cartoons) - read
  

• Lesson 15 Il ritratto
  (The portrait)
  Analyze a Renaissance portrait and sharpen your inquisitive mind. Critical thinking development. Interrogative sentences. Position of the subject in a sentence.
  Activities:
  Flash cards - la casa - listen,write
  

• Lesson 16 Armonia
  (Grammar and harmony)
  Get to know a very famous Renaissance painting and reflect on harmony and balance. Harmony in a sentence: agreements. Use of the definite article.
  Activities:
  Is Grammar scaring you? (Structure of the Italian phrase) - test
  

• Lesson 17 Il negozio di scarpe
  (The shoe store)
  Reflect on buying shoes and on fashion, and practice how to memorize verbs. Review of regular verbs - present indicative. Review of irregular verbs - how to memorize them.
  Activities:
  Trucchi per imparare i verbi (Tricks to learn verbs) - read,test
  10 tips on watching movies in Italian - watch
  

• Lesson 18 Il negozio di vestiti
  (The clothing store)
  Experience clothes shopping and reflect on dressing. Review of simple prepositions. Position of prepositions with interrogative adverbs.
  Activities:
  Fare la spesa o fare shopping? - read,test
  The history of pizza - cook,read,test
  

• Lesson 19 Forma di cortesia e l'individuo
  (Form of courtesy and the individual)
  Review the formal approach and complete the review of prepositions. Use of Lei. Combined prepositions.
  Activities:
  To stay or to go? (irregular verbs: andare, venire, restare) - read,test
  

• Lesson 20 Passato, presente e futuro
  (Past, present and future)
  Reflect on present, past and future, and get an in-depth study of some aspects. Passato prossimo. Participio passato. Use of "tempo" and "volta".
  Activities:
  Verbs: present, PAST and future (passato prossimo) - play,test