January 15 -- Italian classes have begun.

Italian class started today at the Italian Cultural Institute near UCLA. I only have one class. I'd love to take two classes concurrently on Saturday, but unfortunately my budget won't allow it. The cost is $350 for 10 weeks of two hour lessons. Class size is 5-6 participants.  Each attendee arrives with varying skill levels. English is rarely spoken.

These lessons are my weekly treat to myself. My conversation class is with Michele, a handsome guy in his 30s. This is my fourth class with him. It was difficult to understand him at first, but now his Roman accent feels just fine to me. We don't specifically study grammar rules, but Michele gently corrects when necessary.

My speaking continues to lag behind my comprehension and reading skills. I read daily for a least one hour and I'm really enjoying my books on tape which I bought in Firenze in November.  I am reading along with the audio book and I'm self-correcting my accent as often as I can.

I was disappointed today when Michele said this class will not be reading a novel. During the first and second classes, we read contemporary novels by Fabio Volo, who is also an Italian actor. Last fall, a friend of Michele's allowed us to read his 150 page screenplay, which was based on the true WWII love story of his parents.

I love a challenge. I remember opening Un posto nel mondo (Fabio Volo, 2006) and thinking it was too early for me to graduate from reading children's books to adult material. But the story captured my interest. The more I read, the better my comprehension became. Then, I fell in love with Fabio Volo and I bought all his books at Edison Libreria in Firenze.

When Michele assigned Il giorno in più (Fabio Volo, 2007), I eagerly devoured it. It was so good, I had to read the last chapter right away to make sure it had a happy ending. Michele made me promise not to repeat THAT for the screen play.

When I first told Leo I was reading the works of Fabio Volo, he was not impressed for a second. He told me Fabio Volo was (only) a television personality and an actor, but certainly not a writer to be taken seriously. Sometimes Leo is so hard headed. But he always listens to me attentively and then gives his facts-based opinion. Loving Leo as I do, I gifted him Il giorno in più in spite of his preconceived prejudice and to his surprise, he really enjoyed it.

So, the reason we're not reading a novel in Michele's class this session? Apparently I was the only one who read the reading assignments. Those students don't know what they missed.

"Il giorno in più by Fabio Volo is one of Italy's most recent best selling novels. The novel is light-hearted, funny, moving, and it makes for a change from some of the "heavier" writing that has come out of Italy the past year"  italyinliterature.com

Romanzi di Fabio Volo  (Books by Fabio Volo)

Esco a fare due passi (2001)
È una vita che ti aspetto (2003)
Un posto nel mondo (2006)
Il giorno in più (2007)
Il tempo che vorrei (2009)

Films with Fabio Volo

Casomai (2002), regia di Alessandro D'Alatri
Playgirl (2002), regia di Fabio Tagliavia - Cortometraggio
La febbre (2005), regia di Alessandro D'Alatri
Manuale d'amore 2 - Capitoli successivi (2007), regia di Giovanni Veronesi
Uno su due (2007), regia di Eugenio Cappuccio
Bianco e nero (2008), regia di Cristina Comencini
Matrimoni e altri disastri (2010), regia di Nina Di Majo
Figli delle stelle (2010), regia di Lucio Pellegrini
Niente Paura (2010), regia di Piergiorgio Gay
Il giorno in piu' (2011), regia di Massimo Venier