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.

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.

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.

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

Marika shares some of her childhood with us, specifically, her experience of having a puppy grow up beside her as part of the family. Now she has children of her own, and wants to give them that same special experience.

Adopting a dog means going through several steps. Marika describes what she and her family went through in attempting to realize their dream of having a puppy.

What accessories do we need when we take a kitten into the family? Some are just for kittens themselves, and others are for us humans. Marika makes introductions.

Marika shows us a series of items that make it easier to have cats in the house. In order to discourage the cats from destroying the furniture, rugs, and curtains, there are some handy remedies.

Adopting an animal is a serious undertaking! Marika is fully aware of that fact and in this final segment, she gets down to the nitty-gritty of keeping cats at home.

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.

The popular TV series Commissioner Manara takes place in Tuscany, so in this video, Marika explains some of the peculiarities of Tuscan speech. She also gives some important tips about using articles when referring to family members.

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.

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.

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.