Click play on the player at the bottom to listen to this podcast or find it on Apple Podcasts.
As soon as I started talking to Gail about her story, the passion she had for writing, Italy and adventure was obvious.
If you are the kind of person who wants to view Italy in a more authentic way (and wants to avoid being the “ugly tourist”) and be able to share your story of what you’ve experienced, I have a feeling you’ll love this episode with Gail Mencini, author of the fictional novel To Tuscany with Love.
You’ll learn:
— What inspired Gail to start writing her very first fiction novel about Italy
— How she viewed Italy before she started writing and how she views it now
— What she loves most about Italy that keeps her coming back for more
— Three things she has to do whenever she goes to Italy
— Which two methods never worked for her with learning Italian (One is all too common!)
— What she’s planning next for her writing career (&yes, Italy is involved)
— Four pieces of advice she has for you if you’re interested in becoming a writer
My favorite articles from Gail Mencini
— The Wine Regions of Italy: Part 1
— DOCG, DOC, IGT, and VDT Italian Wines – What do these mean?
Resources Mentioned
— To Tuscany with Love – Gail’s book!
— Small towns in Tuscany – San Gimignano, Siena, Volterra
— David by Michelangelo at the Accademia Gallery
Get to know Gail
— Site: http://gailmencini.com
— Twitter: @gailmencini
— Facebook: Gail Mencini
Want ridiculously helpful support when learning Italian? Use Italki.
Italki is an online community of language learners and teachers to help you take whatever foreign language you’re learning to the next level.
What’s cool about it is that you can learn directly from home via Skype on your own schedule and skip the traditional school curriculum – which I love because I’ve always been a rebel.
It’s totally affordable, too. I spend $10 with my tutor Giulia – a native speaker – for each 45-minute session, and the lessons are based on what I want to learn, which helps me retain information because I’m genuinely interested.
This style also encourages me to take note of the areas I need to strengthen throughout the week when I watch Italian movies, read books or newspapers, and talk to friends from Italy.
Signing up with Italki is completely free, and you can use the site to find language partners for free until you feel ready to hire an informal or professional teacher.
Go to Italki and start tackling those problem areas you’ve been dealing with alone, like those pesky prepositions, the endlessly confusing sentence structure, and that subjunctive tense that’s been driving you crazy.
Visit Italki now and sign up for a free account.
All links above are referral links.
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