I've really let my reading comprehension drop in the last decade or so, I don't like the pleasure being sucked out reading cos it feels like such hard work, but then I remembered how I learned to read in the first place and how much I giggled while I was doing it.
I was trapped for my very first (endless, ENDLESS I tell you !) summer here staying with MIL2b and FIL2b, BIL2b and SIL2b, Nephew2b and the Brand New Boyfriend aka The Sock Dropper, at Celle Ligure.
In desperation, because I had run out of books and couldn't find anything in English in the nearest cities, The Sock Dropper bought me a couple of Lupo Alberto comic strip collections just to make me stop me talking to him all the time on the beach and distracting him from cooking himself.
I loved them, not so simple that I lost interest, not so complicated that I found it impenetrable. Funny, sardonic and a very good light shone on "the Italians" which was just as well because I was finding them somewhat confusing at the time. Huge volume of of visual/contextual clues to aid comprehension.
Too many years later and our pet names for each other are still Enrico and Cesira.
Well worth a try if anybody else finds breaking into reading a joyless pain in the bum.
Lupo Alberto - You can find it in your bog standard edicola.
Which is where I am going tomorrow morning to pick up some recent ones, brush up my half forgotten skills, laugh like a drain and indulge in some nostalgia for the days when we were young, carefree and didn't really think we'd end up quite so much like the married couple in the comic who are our "namesakes" LOL
I was trapped for my very first (endless, ENDLESS I tell you !) summer here staying with MIL2b and FIL2b, BIL2b and SIL2b, Nephew2b and the Brand New Boyfriend aka The Sock Dropper, at Celle Ligure.
In desperation, because I had run out of books and couldn't find anything in English in the nearest cities, The Sock Dropper bought me a couple of Lupo Alberto comic strip collections just to make me stop me talking to him all the time on the beach and distracting him from cooking himself.
I loved them, not so simple that I lost interest, not so complicated that I found it impenetrable. Funny, sardonic and a very good light shone on "the Italians" which was just as well because I was finding them somewhat confusing at the time. Huge volume of of visual/contextual clues to aid comprehension.
Too many years later and our pet names for each other are still Enrico and Cesira.
Well worth a try if anybody else finds breaking into reading a joyless pain in the bum.
Lupo Alberto - You can find it in your bog standard edicola.
Which is where I am going tomorrow morning to pick up some recent ones, brush up my half forgotten skills, laugh like a drain and indulge in some nostalgia for the days when we were young, carefree and didn't really think we'd end up quite so much like the married couple in the comic who are our "namesakes" LOL
Last edited by sarahfonto on 17th January 2010, 3:12 am; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : waffled and forgot to mention my point)