The Ugly Duckling realizes that he isn't so ugly after all.

La luna di traverso (the moon on its side) is a way of saying "bad mood." Dixi got up on the wrong side of the bed, but being a magical little elephant, he has the actual sidelong moon on his hands. What to do?

By popular request, Marika has a great lesson on dividing words into syllables.

Vasco Rossi in his hit song Un senso sings about the meaning of life. He's accompanied by an orchestra in Reggio Emilia's Teatro Municipale.

The adjective forms learned in the earlier two lessons are used for a wider selection of nationalities.

Marika has a nice group of Italian idiomatic expressions using the verb prendere (to take).

Hans Christian Andersen's classic fairy tale, "The Ugly Duckling", is presented in Italian. These fairy tales are so familiar that they allow us to fully concentrate on the words and spare us the worry of not understanding what's happening in the story.

Where are you from? Michela explains how to answer the question in Italian, whether you're a man or a woman or in a group.

Here is Tiziano Ferro with another breakup song. This is from the album Nessuno è solo (Nobody Is Alone), 2006

There are plenty of idiomatic expressions connected with certain verbs. Marika tells us about expressions with dire (to say).

"Puss in Boots" underscores what we all know—cats have everything figured out.

Michela's lesson on nationality also concerns intonation, which is so important in signaling a question.

In many languages, animals are used to describe human characteristics, but not every language uses the same animal for the same characteristic! Marika shares with us the Italian point of view.

Anna and Marika finish explaining the tenses of the verb "avere" (to have). They give examples of present and past participles, present and past gerunds, as well as the simple future and future perfect.

Daniela concludes this very important lesson about direct object pronouns. This time she explains about the feminine singular, and the plurals of both genders: Did you eat the apples? Yes, I ate them.

Usually associated with Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm, the tale of "Puss in Boots" was, instead, first written down by Giovanni Francesco Straparola in the 1550s. It is not known whether he invented the tale or whether it reflects an older oral tradition.

Dixi goes to a party to celebrate spring, where his hungry little tummy gets plenty of attention. In Italian, a hungry tummy growls, using the verb "brontolare." Both a "growl" and a "brontolio" are onomatopoeic.

Francesco De Gregori's inspiration for La donna cannone [The Cannonball Lady] came from a newspaper article about a circus performer who quit the circus for love.

You won't want to miss this lesson, where Daniela introduces direct object pronouns, as in: I buy the book - I buy it.

Daniela goes over the very important words and phrases that help you to understand directions and navigate around Italy. She covers verbs such as "to cross," and adjectives such as "opposite," and "behind," as well as the simple and articulated prepositions used with place names.

In this song from 1979, Lucio Dalla sings of two young people who wish they could change their lives for the better.

Daniela teaches us the essential verbs and phrases for asking directions in Italy.

Tiziano Ferro's breakup song, "Troppo Buono" ("Too Good"), was released on his 2011 album, L'amore è una cosa semplice (Love Is a Simple Thing).

Lisetta and Alessio show us how they like to taste their new, freshly pressed olive oil. Since oil can be used uncooked to dress salads, or used as cooking oil, they call the uncooked oil olio crudo (raw oil).