Tutto italiano - From Italy for learners of Italian

“I love Tutto. I love Italy. I love the Italian people. Through this magazine I discover so many things about Italy I just wouldn’t know about otherwise. Like, for instance, the recent article on the two antiquarian libraries in Verona and Rome, or the feature in Tutto 58 on the impressionist artist, Giuseppe De Nittis. And Tutto is excellent covering interesting personalities too, for example, the article on the political rivals, Elly Schlein and Giorgia Meloni. I also loved the recent review of the film about women getting the vote, C'è Ancora Domani. I went to see the film immediately it came out in Heidelberg—without Tutto I wouldn’t have known about it. There’s so much in the magazine that it’s a real challenge to read and listen to it all. Every time I receive it, I want to get on a train and go to Italy. Every time I see the magazine in the letter box, I get excited. My life wouldn’t be the same without it! I think Italy often gets a very bad press, whereas it’s a very important country that doesn’t get the credit it deserves. Tutto redresses that deficit. As a practical observation I find the glossary in the magazine a big help, particularly, as it covers so many words that don’t come up in ordinary everyday conversation; so, for me, the English annotations are a real time saver. Also, lastly, I would like to say that I enjoy the book reviews in the magazine as I read a lot of novels in Italian. I’m a member of my local Dante Alighieri Society and, here again, Tutto has over the years deepened my knowledge of this founding father of Italian literature. With every issue of Tutto there are so many articles I want to read, so many things I want to explore further.”

Mary Holmes, Heidelberg, Germany

“I love the variety of content in Tutto—the articles are truly interesting and informative. As an Italian I find the features about politics and the media well portrayed. The long story in issue 58 of how the national broadcaster, the RAI, has changed the country was fascinating—I learnt so much! As a teacher of Italian, I really appreciate the authenticity and up-to date nature of the content in Tutto. My students are getting a measured, first-hand account of what is going on in Italy, the sort of coverage that is difficult to find in the UK media. One comment from my early-intermediate students is that they feel that the articles labelled at CEFR Level B1 are quite challenging; I wonder if it might be an idea to either simplify the Italian further or provide even more vocabulary glossing for this level. Speaking of pedagogy, I find the grammar and comprehension exercises that follow certain features excellent—they also make lesson planning so much easier. The main thing for me is that Tutto is a fantastic resource that really brings Italy and Italian to life!”

Futura Mazzucco, Inverness, UK

“I love the magazine—it’s perfect for what I want. I don’t go to Italy very often and I really enjoy the way Tutto italiano keeps me up to date with what’s going on while also helping me to improve my Italian. I particularly like the fact that many of the articles are offbeat and not at all obvious, while the features on Italian politics and society provide coverage that you just don’t get in the English press. I’m a scientist, so perhaps it would be nice to see one or two more articles to do with science; overall, though, I think the editorial balance is spot on. I enjoy listening to the articles on the CD and then reading them in the magazine. Having the glossary of difficult words on the facing page helps me to stay in the rhythm of reading while, at the same time, fully understanding what is said.”

V. Collett, UK subscriber (18/01/16)

It is a fantastic product. I have been learning Italian for 13 years and probably have over 40 different text books etc. Plus I travel to Italy every year, so am enthralled by the language. But I love Tutto italiano and the range of reading and activities it offers at various levels. I’ve recommended it to others in my Italian class here in Australia and look forward to each edition arriving.

Julie Holmes, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (07/06/2015)

“Tutto fa brodo!” one of my first Italian teachers used to say. Just as everything goes into the broth to make a rich soup, every form of Italian—books, newspapers, magazines, CDs, movies, podcasts—goes into learning the language. The aptly named TUTTO ITALIANO, a bi-monthly audio magazine for people who love Italy and the Italian language, does indeed offer a little of everything. Lively articles cover topics ranging from travel to the arts to sports to cuisine to politics. You can read them in a handsome glossy magazine along with vocabulary and grammar tips or listen to them on an audio CD. (I recommend both). [...] The publication lives up to the promise its editors make: not only to significantly improve fluency, but also “help you understand this beautiful and diverse country and what it is to be Italian”.

Dianne Hales, author of the bestselling novels La Bella Lingua: My Love Affair with Italian and Mona Lisa: A Life Discovered

Tutto italiano is unlike all the other Italian language courses on the market. I should know! In the past 20 years, I have purchased most of the others in my quest to improve and maintain my language skills.

What makes Tutto italiano different from all the rest is also what makes it so interesting. For example, you won’t find a section teaching you how to get to the train station. Think about it! You can get to Stazione Termini in Rome just fine without knowing one word of Italian—train, treno, a few charade motions, and you’re on your way to catch the 9:06 Eurostar to Napoli.

Tutto italiano, on the other hand, brings you right into the heart of Italy in an entertaining and informative way.

Each bi-monthly shipment includes a glossy full-color magazine. Articles focus on every aspect of Italian culture and current events— from the state of Italian fashion to the political state of affairs, from the national soccer mania to the countrywide obsession with food, and more.

The accompanying CD, spoken by professional narrators, allows you to tune your ear to the various regional accents and intonations. Going back and forth between the text and the audio versions puts you confidently on that road to Rome or Bologna or Palermo, enhancing your travel experience with an in depth understanding of the country and the people who speak this beautiful language.

It’s not enough to just see Italy. You want to know Italy, in an intimate way, and that only happens when you can speak the language. No other program teaches you that language like Tutto italiano.

Carol Coviello Malzone - flavorsofrome.com

Reviews – Tuttitalia, spring 2014
A ‘feel’ for the culture and insights into current events are some of the benefits that a foreign language learner can bring home from reading a magazine in the target language. If you add an aural support that would improve your listening comprehension skills, plenty of opportunities for vocabulary building, reinforcement of grammar, and, last but not least, consistency of exposure to the target language, an audio-magazine is certainly a resource that cannot be missed by language learners, teachers, and language education providers.
Tutto Italiano is a recent entry on a language resource market in Italian that is not particularly rich with audiomaterials. First published in March-April 2014, Tutto Italiano is a bi-monthly glossy audio-magazine for intermediate and advanced learners of Italian. Targeting both adult self-learners and teachers of Italian, it contains up-to-the-minute news and feature stories, covering a wide range of Italian life topics including travel, music and art, cinema, politics, sport, cuisine, popular culture and profiles of Italian personalities who have hit the news. Examples of content covered in the first two issues are a behind-the-scenes piece on the Accademia della Crusca and their role in supporting the Italian language; an article on the Sicily of Andrea Camilleri, the author of the bestselling Montalbano detective books and TV series; a feature on the Salento of the director Edoardo Winspeare’s latest film In grazia di Dio; a feature story on mozzarella di bufala, one of the most renowned Italian food exports; sections on topic specific vocabulary (Le parole) and on trends (Un po’ di numeri). This is content that accommodates a variety of interests as well as learning and teaching needs. Articles progressively vary in length, from shorter articles, in the initial sections (Le Brevi), to longer pieces, in the final and central sections, with interspersion of two-page spreads on vocabulary (Italiano visivo) and functional language sections (Il dialogo) throughout. This format is suitable for both snappy and focused reading as well as for both conversational and/or more structured lesson segments focusing on current issues.
The level of difficulty of each article is graded by reference to the levels of the Common European Framework (CEFR) and the Certificazione di Italiano come Lingua Straniera (CILS), one of the four Exam Boards recognised by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for testing the proficiency of Italian as a foreign language. The CEFR level is color-coded at the top of the relevant page. In each single article, the key vocabulary, which includes single words, collocations, and idiomatic expressions, is highlighted and listed in English. Selected articles are followed by graded activities of reading comprehension (open and closed questions) and vocabulary (find the definition/the opposite/the synonym, matching). The last pages of the audio-magazine contain grammar references and targeted exercises to test and reinforce some of the grammar points covered by the articles (L’angolo della grammatica). These final pages also contain the keys to the comprehension and grammar exercises ( Soluzioni degli esercizi di grammatica e comprensione).
Tutto Italiano is accompanied by an audio CD, the tracks of which cover most of the features of the audiomagazine, including the Editoriale. The tracks are read out by professional speakers – a good balance of male and female narrators – in a variety of regional accents against a base of standard spoken Italian. The pace of the reading is, indeed, graded, according to the level of the text. Tutto Italiano is not, however, short of challenges. The issue I viewed had a listening text in which the reader spoke Neapolitan. The written text was mirrored by its simplified version in A1 (CEFR) standard Italian (In un mercato… a Napoli, level C1 and C2, pp.28-29, n.2. maggio-giugno 2014): an excellent 'spunto' to explore the vernacular variety of Italian language. The CD contains, also, additional content to practice pronunciation and intonation.
Tutto Italiano is certainly welcomed, since its format is needed. And the publication has room for developing so that it can provide readers with a really thorough language resource that covers the gaps on the language resources market. Despite Tutto Italiano expressly targeting intermediate and advanced learners, it does attempt to introduce content targeting lower levels (A1-A2). In order to reach an even broader readership, it would be just a matter of increasing the number of content for beginners, displaying the already proven high-quality of the editing.
ANNA COSTANTINO
Editor, Tuttitalia
© 2014 All Languages