Marika prepares the eggplant slices by baking them in the oven—a much lighter way of preparing the eggplant layers than the traditional frying method.

It's time to check the eggplant in the oven. And what about the slices that were a bit too sottili (thin)? Will they have burned? Note that English mostly uses eggplant as a collective noun (in the singular) but Italian, unless referring specifically to a single eggplant, uses the plural le melanzane when referring to eggplant in general, and to the slices themselves.

We've finally reached the last part of this recipe. Now you can make this dish yourself. Don't forget to pre-heat the oven to two hundred and twenty or two hundred and forty degrees (428-464°F). If you happen to have any leftover afterwards, you can safely freeze it. Buon appetito!

Marika shows us the entryway of her apartment, from the intercom to the coat rack.

Marika shows us her children's cozy bedroom. You may notice that there is an emphasis on drawing and coloring. Italian students are graded on their drawings.

We continue getting acquainted with Marika's apartment. This time she shows us the hall with its furnishings.

It's time for the grand tour of a very important room in Marika's apartment, the bathroom! You'll notice she gets a little mixed up between hot and cold water faucets! Don't worry--the position is the same in Italy as in other countries!

Marika shows us her apartment's master bedroom.

Marika shows us around her kitchen, the heart of the household. We can bet it's her favorite room of all!

Marika gives us a tour of her living room, where the family is entertained, and where she has lunch and dinner parties for guests.

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.

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

The verb fare (to do, to make) is used in lots of expressions. Marika talks about some of the most common ones.

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

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

Marika has more tips on how to divide syllables and some fun practice words, too.

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 tells us more about the use of elisions in Italian.

In some cases using an elision is not grammatically correct. Marika explains some of these cases.

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.

Marika's opening segment on accents and accentuation in Italian.

Marika covers the grave and acute accents, providing examples of words that have entirely different meanings because of their accentuation.