And so our series, and our soap opera, reach their conclusion and we’re delighted to bring you episode 40 of Coffee Break Italian Season 2. In this episode you’ll enjoy the finale of La Mia Estate and, as ever, Mark and Francesca are on hand to help you understand everything. We hope you’ve enjoyed this second season of Coffee Break Italian!
radiolingua
Learn French in your Coffee Break, and save 20% at this year’s France Show
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: 25 January 2019
Radio Lingua Ltd is pleased to announce that it is exhibiting at this year’s France Show at London’s Olympia. Visitors to the show will be able to experience first hand how it is possible to learn French in their coffee break. The Radio Lingua team will be on hand to demonstrate the resources which make learning a language as easy as pouring yourself a cup of coffee. An exclusive 20% discount on all courses is being offered to visitors to stand L91.
“We’re delighted to be back at the France Show this year, and are looking forward to meeting many visitors who are passionate about all things French,” said Mark Pentleton, Managing Director or Radio Lingua. “The key to appreciating French culture is, of course, learning some of the language, and we’re looking forward to demonstrating our Coffee Break courses, and helping people realise that learning a language does not necessarily mean attending an evening class on a cold winter’s evening. With Coffee Break French you can learn where and when it suits you. It’s like having a teacher in your pocket.”
Coffee Break French is part of the family of Coffee Break Languages courses. Learners can download free podcasts or use a paid online course which features bonus audio materials, video content and lesson notes. The Coffee Break Languages podcasts are consistently in the top education podcasts on iTunes, and every month over 2 million free language lessons are delivered to learners around the world who want to learn a language in their Coffee Break.
An exclusive 20% discount on all courses including Coffee Break French, the Reading Club and the High Five French course for younger learners is available to learners who purchase on the stand during the France Show 2019.
In addition to exhibiting at the France Show, Managing Director and host teacher Mark Pentleton will be presenting in the Language and Travel Forum on Friday at 3pm, Saturday at 12:00pm and Sunday at 2:40pm. Mark’s presentation will give learners tips on how they can “turn their downtime into their ‘do’ time”, using opportunities throughout the day to learn and practise their French. Mark said, “learning a language can change your life, but it need not take over your life. We want to encourage learners to use the short periods time they have available throughout the day to introduce the language into their lives.”
To find out more about Coffee Break French visit http://coffeebreakfrench.com.
About Radio Lingua
Radio Lingua Ltd (https://coffeebreaklanguages.com) has been delivering languages education since 2006. Based in Glasgow, Scotland, Radio Lingua produces Coffee Break courses in French, Spanish, German, Italian and Mandarin Chinese, and other short courses in over 30 languages. Working in conjunction with experienced teachers and native speakers, the small core team of 10 employees are dedicated to helping language learners around the world develop a passion for language learning.
CBG 2.40 | Wie wäre es mit Donnerstagabend?
It’s time for the final lesson in our series, and the last instalment of our soap opera. Listen to the lesson to find out what comes of our friends in the Wohngemeinschaft, and whether Phillip and Hanna ever get together! As usual, the episode is rich in complex German and Andrea is on hand to help you understand everything. We hope you’ve enjoyed this series!
En Marcha con Coffee Break Spanish: Season 1 Preview
Join Mark and the Coffee Break Spanish team “en marcha” in the south of Spain. In this season preview, Mark introduces the new show and you’ll hear excerpts from some of the many interviews we’ve carried out in the area surrounding the city of Málaga in the region of Andalucía. We’ll be talking to people who live or work in the area, and to people who are visiting the area. These conversations feature authentic Spanish, with a whole range of different accents and speeds of delivery, so it’s the perfect way to improve your listening comprehension.
For the full online course which includes transcripts, bonus audio materials, exercises, vocabulary lists and exclusive video content, please click here.
Meet Barbara, a Coffee Break French and Italian learner
Tell us who you are, where you live, your nationality and how long you’ve been learning a language with us.
Tell us who you are, where you live, your nationality and how long you’ve been learning a language with us.I am Barbara, I live in Idaho, USA. I started studying the free Coffee Break episodes in 2010 when I retired from my career as a speech-language pathologist. Going back to work a few years later put my lessons on hold. Three years ago I started Coffee Break Italian, but again, work intervened. Last month I started French again and subscribed to get the bonus materials. As much as I love learning Italian, I was frustrated that I have no one with whom to speak in my small, rural town. With French, I can speak with my sister long distance and a friend in the neighbourhood.
Which language or languages are you learning with Coffee Break?
French and Italian
What experience have you had speaking and learning other languages?
French (fourth grade), German (two years in high school), American Sign Language (ASL) in college, Spanish (community classes and work site). My mother and sister also studied French, my brother studied German in college and during a semester in Kiel, Germany. My own family has had five exchange students and have visited them in Germany and Denmark. My son now lives in Münich, Germany and since my daughter-in-law is from El Salvador, my two grandsons are attaining tri-lingual skills. My husband and I have been on tours in Austria, Austria, and northern Italy.
What are your favourite memories of learning a language?
Since my skills are at such a basic level, being able to order food and ask for directions has been important in our travels. (No chicken pizza for us!) Learning the grammar and vocabulary patterns and discovering similarities between them is delightful! My confidence in speaking is low but I want to take these endeavours to a higher level!
Where would your ideal coffee break be, and with whom?
Good question! For Italian, I want to return to I Dolomiti in northern Italy, meet my grandsons for a week of hiking and exploring! For French, to spend a week in Provence with a friend, sampling foods, wines, scenery.
What’s the best language-learning tip you have found works for you?
Reviewing each lesson at least twice, writing a short dialogue with those vocabulary items and incorporate previous lessons.
Quick Fire Round
- Your favourite language: Italian
- Your favourite word or phrase in the language: Ho bisogno …
- Do you have a favourite film, TV show, book or singer in the language? Not yet!
- Your favourite destination to practise your language: Bolzano, gateway to I Dolomiti, such beautiful mountains!
Any final comments?
Learning a new language is such an epic experience, whether one travels or not! The Coffee Break Academy with Mark and his talented crew is a fun and challenging way to bring the world to you!
Would you like to be featured?
We’re always interested to hear about learners have been using Coffee Break. If you have an interesting story, please let us know. We’ll get in touch and we could possibly feature you in a future “Meet the CoffeeBreakers” post or Coffee Break Conversations episode.
CBC 1.35 | Nín xūyào shénme bāngzhù?
One of the most common experiences for any tourist visiting a foreign country is having to ask for information. In episode 35 of Coffee Break Chinese, Mark and Hongyu go to a tourist information office to ask for for information about a particular tourist attraction in Beijing, practising vocabulary learned in previous lessons. As usual, Crystal is on hand in the studio to help us understand everything.
CBI 2.39 | Che scenetta romantica …
In the previous instalment of La Mia Estate which featured in episode 38 of Coffee Break Italian, we left our characters at a dramatic point. In episode 39, it’s time to see if the night of Ferragosto will help to thaw relations and if the stars finally align for Riccardo and Maria – and for Giorgio and Mia! As usual Francesca and Mark are on hand to discuss the language contained in the episode.
Meet Stephen, a Coffee Break French learner
Stephen, a 68 year old retired fine arts teacher from California, has been long term member of the Coffee Break community. He recently told us all about his language learning journey, starting with where his love of French began: “I’m an amateur wine maker and I started out just being a wine lover and I like French-style wines. As I neared the point of retirement, I said to my wife, ‘I really wanted to go to France and taste wine’. And she said, ‘alright, the Fall after you retire, we’ll go’. So, within the year I got retired and sure enough we went. As soon as my daughter heard we were going, she sent me a package of 5 Pimsleur lessons. I’ve been learning French ever since. We’ve been back to France twice now. The first time I went I wanted to be able to speak French to French winemakers but I was pretty much limited to bonjour and au revoir. I’ve fallen in love with French and I love French culture”.
Stephen reveals that Coffee Break French is now the main resource he uses to learn the language.“If I had to say one source for learning French, it would be CBF … I keep sending people there. I’m dabbling a little bit in Spanish because in southern California we’re almost bilingual. Basically, my major focus is on French. I belong to a French Meet-Up. That’s a formalised group that meets a couple of times a month to go back and forth in French. It was kinda fun because a couple of the members are native French speakers. I use that, but it always goes back to the same thing, CBF teaches me and challenges me above my current performance level, and, as a teacher, I know if you want somebody to grow, you gotta make’em reach. So, I’m always stretching to keep up”.
He also uses an number of other resources to compliment the podcasts: “CBF is my primary instructional source for French. … I read my niece’s High School French textbook and I subscribe to TV 5 Monde on Cable TV. I listen to the News in Slow French and I read a few children’s books. I translated my grandson’s copy of The Cat in the Hat. Right now I’m wading through ‘Le Petit Prince’”.
Stephen explains how he discovered Coffee Break French: “I went searching for French-speaking clubs and found the Meet Up and and then found CBF. I did 1, 2 and 3 and at the end of 3, I realised I needed the extra content that they’re giving in the bonus, in the premium version. So, I bought the premium version and it was well-worth the purchase. I realised, I’ve got these things permanently, I don’t need to print them out! I can just pull’em up and look at it! The thing that got me to CBF was when I stumbled across ‘Walk, Talk and Learn French’”.
Stephen often listens to the podcasts while he is walking his dog: “I’m taking a walk that’s usually the same route and it’s always the same number of people that I see and know, and I’m blathering away in French or listening to it at least,….I also have it rigged so that I can play it on the Bluetooth in my car. I will occasionally, with the Masterclass, plug it in and listen to it on my desktop computer. I find that my attention focuses better if I’m engaged in some other activity. If what I’m doing doesn’t have variety in it, then I start to get bored and my attention drifts”.
Stephen has to head off to do some supply teaching, drawing our chat to a close. However, before he leaves, he positively sums up his experience with Coffee Break: “I really, really value the in-depth explanations of various grammar issues. It allows me to put it in the context of a sentence. And it’s very useful, the little brief asides that are made culture and the cultural context of the language. When I was in meetings with the Meet Up group I ran into one woman from South Africa so, she has a way of speaking French and I have connections-in-law that are Québecois and they’ll correct me. But mostly having Mark’s commentary on cultural context, how this fits in the culture and why this means something in French culture, really matters to me. He made a comment just the other day on the latest episode of Masterclass, when. He did episode 6 about leaving ne out of negations, je sais pas like that. I feel like I have made terrific progress and I give the credit to Mark because he makes it entertaining. It’s got variety, it suits me in a place, it seems real. I think his instincts and the directions he’s going are the right directions”.
CBG 2.39 | Wie viele Punkte muss man haben, um zu bestehen?
We’re back with another episode of Coffee Break German, the penultimate lesson of this season, and the penultimate instalment of our soap opera. This week Carola and Hanna are stressed about their exam preparation and enlist the help of their friend Sybille. Carola also has some words of wisdom to share with Hanna following the latest meeting with Phillip and Alex. As usual, this episode provides plenty of opportunities to investigate interesting language, including some tricky aspects of grammar!
CBC 1.34 | Zhèr de bāozi hěn hǎochī!
In this episode of Coffee Break Chinese we join Hongyu and Mark at breakfast in the hotel where they get talking to another hotel guest and her son. We’ll take the opportunity to review vocabulary associated with ordering food and learn about some cultural aspects of eating breakfast in China. Crystal is on hand in the studio to help Mark understand everything.
CBI 2.38 | Adesso, esprimi un desiderio!
In this episode of Coffee Break Italian, the big day has arrived, La Notte di San Lorenzo. Mia, Anna and Giorgio are full of expectations for the romance of the evening ahead and hope that it will be the perfect opportunity for Maria and Riccardo to get together. Not only that, but Mark and Francesca are joined by a very special guest in the introduction to this episode…
CBG 2.38 | Was ist denn passiert? Hier ist überall Polizei!
Alex has to deal with a break-in at the Pub this week and is being interviewed by a police officer. This gives us the opportunity to hear a different style of German, and we’ll also be looking at the verb werden in detail. As usual, Andrea is on hand to explain everything.
Give the Gift of Language!
We’re delighted to introduce our brand new Gift Card system where you can purchase any of our Coffee Break courses or the Reading Club for a friend or loved one. Until now the Gift Card system was a manual process where we had to create a Gift Certificate for you and send you the link. It’s now fully automated and you can simply choose the language and season you’d like to give, choose the date on which the Gift Card will be sent, and the recipient will receive a code to get 100% off the price of a course.
If you’d like to give the Gift of Language to someone this festive season, you can now buy your Gift Card on the Coffee Break Academy.
Please note that we currently offer Gift Cards for single seasons of Coffee Break French, German, Italian, Spanish and Chinese. We also offer Gift Cards for the premium version of the Reading Club in all four languages. If you are purchasing for someone who resides within the European Union, please use the correct “including VAT” option to ensure that they will not be charged anything when signing up for the course.
Here’s an outline of the process:
- Go to https://coffeebreakacademy.com/p/giftcards/
- Choose the language and season (taking care to choose including or excluding VAT, depending on the location of your recipient).
- Click “buy”.
- Enter the name and email address of the recipient.
- You can choose to send the Gift Card immediately, or on a specific day.
- Enter a message if you wish.
- Provide your email address and payment details.
- Either immediately or on the day you have identified, the recipient will receive the Gift Card by email. This email will include a code. The recipient should visit https://coffeebreakacademy.com/courses/ and find the correct course. They should then go ahead and click on “sign up”, and enter the code they have received in the appropriate area at checkout.
CBI 2.37 | Chissà quali sorprese ci regaleranno le stelle!
In the latest lesson of Coffee Break Italian, it’s the day of preparation for the famous Notte di San Lorenzo, and it’s all hands on deck at the campsite. This episode provides further practice of direct object pronouns, and we’ll also learn the verb servire which is used in a similar way to piacere. As usual, Francesca and Mark are on hand to explain everything.
CBG 2.37 | Philip sitzt ja dort wie ein Häufchen Elend!
It’s time for another episode of Coffee Break German, and another instalment of our soap opera. This time we’re joining Carol, Miriam and Philip at the party where Philip is hoping to get to know Hanna a bit better. But will the arrival of Alex put a spanner in the works? As ever, the episode provides lots of opportunities to experience new and interesting vocabulary and grammar points in German, and Andrea guides us through any difficult language included.
Our Black Friday Sale is now on – save 30% on all courses
We’re delighted to announce that our Black Friday Sale is now on and you can save 30% on all our premium courses. It’s the perfect time to take your language-learning to the next level in our biggest ever sale. Here at Coffee Break Languages we want to help you make your downtime into your “do” time, and maximise the opportunities to build your language skills, fitting your lessons around your busy day. And with our Coffee Break courses you can do just that.
Each course features a range of bonus materials including audio, video and text content which will help you make faster progress with your learning. You can save 30% by using the coupon code BF2018 at checkout when you buy any course on the Coffee Break Academy this weekend. The sale is on until Tuesday 27th November at 12 noon, UK time.
For full details of the sale – and news of a fantastic competition in which you could potentially win over £2,000 worth of language courses, click here.
CBC 1.33 | Zhè shì nín de fáng kǎ.
It’s time for another episode of Coffee Break Chinese and in this lesson Mark is checking into his hotel in Beijing, using many of the structures covered in previous lessons. Hongyu is on hand to help Mark in China, and Crystal is in the studio “after the event”, discussing the language used in the lesson. This is a great opportunity to review vocabulary and grammar points associated with the topic of checking into a hotel.
CBI 2.36 | Incredibile, sembrano due piccioncini!
In the latest lesson of Coffee Break Italian we’re listening to episode 6 of our soap opera, La Mia Estate. Riccardo and Maria seem to be getting on well, much to the surprise of Mia, Anna and Giorgio, and Riccardo has some exciting news regarding his search for a house. The episode provides an opportunity to look further into imperatives and there is more practice of the pronouns ci and ne, and how they affect different verbs.
CBG 2.36 | Ich würde das gleich kaufen
In our latest episode of Coffee Break German we’re continuing our soap opera and joining Carola, Hanna and Miriam on a shopping trip. The dialogues provide an opportunity to look closely at a number of interesting language points, including the use of adjectives as nouns and the use of nouns as verbs! Andrea is on hand to explain everything to Mark and to our learners.
CBI 2.35 | La Mia Estate ep5 – Perché non ci diamo del tu?
It’s time for a new episode of Coffee Break Italian, and the latest episode of our soap opera, La Mia Estate. In this instalment Riccardo and Maria are on their way to Vipiteno, but they end up missing the train. Is this a recipe for disaster, or is it the perfect opportunity for them to get to know each other a little better? As ever, the episode is rich in complex grammar and useful vocabulary, and Mark and Francesca discuss everything to help you build your language skills.
