Now that I’m on a three-day workweek (lucky me!), I have more time to think about my approach to learning foreign languages, its implementation and execution. I came up with the table below to map out the days, languages and methods.

Here’s my very brief Italian review: Mi è piaciuto molto la storia. È bella e i gattini sono carinissimi! Mi è piaciuto anche l'avventura. C'erano la gente gentili e un vecchio gatto bravissimo che ha aiutato i gattini persi. Mi manca Roma... (In English: I really liked the story. It is beautiful and the kittens are so cute! I also like the adventure. There were nice people and a great old cat that helped the lost kittens. I miss Rome...)

OTTAVIA E I GATTI DI ROMA (Octavia and the Cats of Rome) by Claudia Cerulli and beautifully illustrated by Leo Lätti is [...]

I started reading COLLINS EASY LEARNING ITALIAN CONVERSATION a moment ago and loving the “Introduction.” Here are some of my my thoughts (emphasis mine).

”Becoming proficient in a foreign language means being able to use and understand a number of different aspects—vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, and so on. However, it takes a while to be able to put all these elements together and be sure that what you are saying sounds like natural Italian.”

Or, any language for that matter. […]

In October this year, I was privileged to be invited by Maristella Tagliaferro to participate in the @MarcoPolo_Pinocchio a Gedda Project. I'm elated to be able to use my knowledge of Italian to translate one of my favorite childhood stories: Pinocchio! The whole experience has been gratifying and I love interacting with the group members, and getting to know more new Italian friends. I dedicate this post to you—my dearest Maristella. More about the project below.

My copy of SANDOKAN from the Institut Terjemahan & Buku Malaysia (ITBM) has arrived—I’ve read the book and enjoyed it. I’m usually not fond of pirates but this time I'm seeing things from another point of view and that is from the pirates’.

In this story, the fearful Sandokan, known as Harimau Malaysia (Tiger of Malaysia) is a famous and powerful pirate. He is the leader of the Mompracem pack. Together with his good friend, a Portuguese man named Yanez de Gomera, they set out to rescue the ill-fated Tremal-Naik.

My heartfelt thanks to a very dear friend, Maristella Tagliaferro, for bringing SANDOKAN to my attention. The legendary author Emilio Salgari never set foot in Malaysia, but he’s written an awesome series about the fictional character Sandokan through sheer research that became very famous in Italy.

I think I hit the jackpot there (the quote above) with Italian. The said quote was taken from Benny Lewis’ newly released book, FLUENT IN 3 MONTHS. Italian, which is such a beautiful language completely consumed my life for a year and then more. Everything I did and do revolve around it.

My love and passion for Italian was triggered by my first ever Italian friend from Milan, […]