Marika teaches us some other Italian sayings, regarding time; working on one's own, instead of being assisted; and even about people who drink too much, who might let down their guard, saying things they wouldn't say while sober.

A lady calls a travel agency for information about planning a trip to the Valley of the Temples [Valle dei Templi] in Agrigento and the agent offers a few recommendations.

Anna and Marika are seated in an historic park, and reflect upon the meaning of life. In the end, they arrive at the conclusion that despite what's bad, life is marvelous and should be lived to its fullest.

Francesco goes about explaining philosophy to children using a jar. Philosophy is like magic, but while magic involves objects, philosophy involves ideas.

Is the jar full or empty? Let's see what Francesco and the kids have to say about it.

Everything you need to know about buying a used car! Join Francesca as she talks to the dealer, and get up to speed on your automobile vocabulary.

Francesca finds a note on the windshield of her car. Her driving instructor has to explain that it's not a note, but a parking ticket.

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).

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 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.

Francesca and Daniela have fun demonstrating the different conjugations of the verb mangiare (to eat) in context. You'll have fun learning them!

Several Yabla users asked about elisions and contractions, and how, when, and where they're used. This is Marika's first of three videos on this essential topic.

Marika's first of three lessons on truncation, where she compares elision to truncation. There are many useful examples, such as: mar, san, buon, ben, and signor.

Marika outlines exceptions to the rules governing truncation, and provides many useful examples.

The final segment on truncation covers imperative mood verbs that take apostrophes, as well as expressions concerning maladies.

What in English is called a tongue-twister, in Italian is a scioglilingua, or tongue loosener. The Trentine one, with the alliterated Ts, is the most successful in English translation.

Marika, in response to Yabla user requests, begins her 3-part lesson on those pesky little words (Me plus lo, la, li, le, and ne, together with Ti plus lo, la, li, le, and ne), otherwise known as combined pronouns or double pronouns.

Marika covers these super tricky combined pronouns: glielo, gliela, glieli, gliene, and gliele.

Marika wraps up her lessons on combined pronouns in which ci acts as a stand in for places.

Lorenzo Baglioni, a Tuscan pop star, sings a tune on il congiuntivo (the subjunctive). He remarks that the subjunctive is particularly useful for lovers. Note that the Italian subjunctive, out of context, can have various different solutions in English, and sometimes doesn't correspond at all.

Marika discusses adverbs of time, including: subito [immediately], mai [never], and talvolta [sometimes].

Anna and Marika provide the list of necessary ingredients for this Calabrese specialty. This recipe calls for sheep's milk ricotta. When you go to buy ricotta in Italy, storekeepers will ask if you want cow, sheep, or goat ricotta. You can also specify a mix.

All the ingredients are ready, and Anna and Marika go to work, making the ricotta ball mixture. They share with us a common saying about prezzemolo (parsley).

Anna and Marika form the Calabrian ricotta balls and cook them in tomato sauce. The ricotta balls can also be fried and served without sauce.