Join Marika as she walks around the city pointing out different kinds of shops. Learn where to get that flat tire on your bicycle fixed. And discover the unlikely name of the place you go to get your dry cleaning done.

Do you have shoes that need repair? Or maybe you need new sunglasses? Marika walks around a residential neighborhood, pointing out the different shops.

Daniela shows her class how to use the verb, rimanere(to remain, to stay) and she also conjugates this partly regular, partly irregular verb.

Whose keys are these? Marika explains how to answer this kind of question and more. Occhio! (look out!): his and hers are the same!

Marika and Daniela discuss their problems with friends and neighbors, and go on to plan their vacation. At the same time, they discreetly conjugate the verb chiedere (to ask) in the past perfect, future, and conditional.

With her students, Daniela shows us how to conjugate the verbs aprire (to open) and chiudere (to close).

Daniela and Francesca talk about the different meanings of "sentire" (to feel or to hear) and give us examples as they conjugate the verb in various tenses.

Daniela finishes explaining about the opening hours of shops, comparing those of Italy with those of Germany.

Marika and Daniela are chatting in Rome, with the Colosseum in the distance. The focus of their chat is the word chiedere (to ask) in its different conjugations.

Daniela and her pupils compare the opening hours of shops in their country to those in Italy where, traditionally, the midday break has always had particular importance. Over the past ten years, tradition has gradually given way to convenience, and the rules governing opening hours have become less and less strict.

Daniela talks about verbs having to do with shops, and whether they close at lunchtime or not.

We are at the beautiful botanical gardens of Rome. Marika and Anna are sitting on a bench talking. In their conversation they take us through the different conjugations of the verb pensare (to think).

When we speak of an unspecified quantity of food items, objects, etc. we use the indefinite or partitive article, which changes according to the gender of the noun in question (singular: del, della, dello, and plural: dei, delle, degli). In the second part of the lesson, you'll notice that Italian uses the equivalent of "of" or "of it" where English doesn't. Feel free to absorb the first part of this lesson before tackling the second part.

Marika and Anna present the verb avere (to have) in the subjunctive mood, which, in Italian, as you'll see, is used when the word che is used as a conjunction. This mood has practically disappeared from the English language.

Daniela started out dubbing films. Now she works as a voice-over artist, narrating documentaries. Marika and Daniela talk about common errors in pronunciation and how much of a difference they can make!