Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Short Stories in Italian for Intermediate Learners: Read for pleasure at your level, expand your vocabulary and learn Italian the fun way! (Readers)

Rate this book

An unmissable collection of eight unconventional and captivating short stories for young adult and adult intermediate learners of Italian.

Olly's top-notch language-learning insights are right in line with the best of what we know from neuroscience and cognitive psychology about how to learn effectively. I love his work - and you will too! - Barbara Oakley, PhD, Author of New York Times bestseller A Mind for Numbers

Short Stories in Italian for Intermediate Learners has been written specifically for students from a low-intermediate to intermediate level, designed to give a sense of achievement, and most importantly - enjoyment! Mapped to B1-B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference, these eight captivating stories will both entertain you, and give you a feeling of progress when reading.

What does this book give you?

· Eight stories in a variety of exciting genres, from science fiction and crime to history and thriller - making reading fun, while you learn a wide range of new vocabulary
· Controlled language at your level to help you progress confidently
· Realistic spoken dialogues to help you learn conversational expressions and improve your speaking ability
· Beautiful illustrations accompanying each story, to set the scene and support your understanding
· Accessible grammar so you learn new structures naturally, in a stress-free way
· Pleasure! Research shows that if you're enjoying reading in a foreign language, you won't experience the usual feelings of frustration - 'It's too hard!' 'I don't understand!'

With intriguing plots that will spark your imagination and keep you reading, Short Stories in Italian will take your grasp of Italian to the next level with key features to support and consolidate your progress, including:

· A glossary for bolded words in each text
· A bilingual word list
· Full plot summary
· Comprehension questions after each chapter.

As a result, you will be able to focus on enjoying reading, delighting in your improved range of vocabulary and grasp of the language all without ever feeling overwhelmed. From science fiction to fantasy, to crime and thrillers, Short Stories in Italian for Intermediate Learners uses reading as the perfect tool to not only delight in learning Italian, but to accelerate your journey towards fluency.

221 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 28, 2019

173 people are currently reading
178 people want to read

About the author

Olly Richards

157 books268 followers

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
45 (32%)
4 stars
58 (41%)
3 stars
25 (17%)
2 stars
10 (7%)
1 star
1 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
Profile Image for Dak.
305 reviews13 followers
November 5, 2022
These stories feel like they were written by bad AI, but at least I'm learning Italian...
Profile Image for Jake Markarian.
50 reviews1 follower
May 24, 2024
allora non mi è piaciuto, a dir la verità. sto libro era leggibile, ma le storie non erano interessanti come quelle del primo libro. anche, penso che ci siano degli errori ma io non sono un’autorità.
Profile Image for Gary Lavenia.
52 reviews1 follower
June 13, 2024
È stato buono leggere in italiano per continuare ad imparare.
Profile Image for Lisa Lucie.
96 reviews1 follower
February 4, 2024
The content of this, in terms of storytelling, was quite out there! 😅 While I did enjoy the process of learning new words, and I'm quite proud that I managed to read I'm Italian at an intermediate level, I did not enjoy the stories whatsoever.
Buuut... it has helped in terms of language skills, so it does the job!
95 reviews
August 21, 2020
I enjoyed this book a lot more than the beginners book, the stories were more interesting and engaging probably because there was more vocab and the stories were more developed. more interesting plot lines and plenty of new vocabulary for the learner to get stuck into.

With my approach i am going for mass readings this book being quite brief did not take me long to get though, but if you can read at this level you can certainty enjoy simple children's books such as Harry Potter (at least the first two).
Profile Image for Gary Conachan III.
71 reviews3 followers
July 14, 2023
This is my third time reading one of Olly Richards’ “Short Stories” books, the first two being the beginner level stories, also in Italian. I’ve really enjoyed making this part of my language learning. I’ve found that my language ability, especially reading and comprehension, improve very quickly when I don’t get caught up on every word and use context to help me understand what’s happening. Additionally, the book offers key vocabulary, chapter summaries, and quizzes to boost your learning. I’d highly recommend these books if they have them in a language you’re looking to improve in!
Profile Image for Marc.
294 reviews6 followers
November 6, 2023
Dit boek helpt heel goed bij het leren van nieuwe woorden. Vreemd genoeg worden er ook veel ongebruikelijke termen niet uitgelegd, maar daar heb je Reverso.com voor.

Wat wel irritant is dat de verhalen nogal kinderachtig zijn. Over graaf Dracula en zo, of datende jong volwassenen.

De meeste mensen die Italiaans willen leren zijn al lang van de middelbare school af, maar in de taalonderwijswereld heerst het onuitroeibare idee dat mensen met het taalniveau van een kind ook de hersens en de emotionele ontwikkeling van een kind hebben.
88 reviews
July 4, 2023
More difficult than I thought it would be because the verb tenses used in the stories are not simply present tense and past tense. I did follow Olly Richards's recommendations to not use the included glossaries or a dictionary before or during the reading of each section. Surprisingly, I was able to correctly answer almost every one of the multiple choice questions by getting the main ideas of each story.

I learned from this book that I am somewhere between Beginner and Intermediate.
Profile Image for Julie.
733 reviews6 followers
April 19, 2023
Giving this 5 stars because it's the best intermediate level book I've come across that helps to teach Italian learners the language.

Each short story is constructed of 3ish chapters complete with a summary, new vocab and a few questions at the end to gauge comprehension. I'm bummed there's only one intermediate level of this!

Recommend to anyone looking for this type of book.
Profile Image for Aura.
104 reviews12 followers
June 1, 2025
Just as entertaining as the beginners' collection I read before this, and not at all too challenging for someone who has only just started on B1 level courses. I found the vocabulary and grammar to be just right, easy enough to follow and also good for picking up new words naturally while reading. Makes for good supplementary reading material while revising stuff from my textbooks.
Profile Image for Sarah Smith.
66 reviews1 follower
November 3, 2023
Ho imparato molte nuove parole italiane mentre leggendo questo libro, ma le storie non erano interessanti per me a parte di una storia che si svolge in una fabbrica. È per questo motivo che leggevo questo libro così lentamente.
140 reviews
February 10, 2023
The stories themselves aren't all necessarily the most interesting, but that isn't really the point of this kind of book. It does what it promises to do, and does it well.
Profile Image for Shacoria.
538 reviews6 followers
April 21, 2023
I enjoyed reading this book. The stories were actually entertaining and unique.
Profile Image for Alexander.
151 reviews
September 2, 2024
The stories are at an intermediate level, and in Italian. The narrative, however was not at the same level.
57 reviews3 followers
June 12, 2025
Molto bene. Era non facile perche estremamente informativo.
Profile Image for Adrienne.
176 reviews
December 27, 2022
4.5 - This one is fun! The layout for learning to read in another language was excellent. The stories are sometimes silly but kept my attention. The only note I have is that some of the stories employed sexist tropes and/or didn’t include female characters.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.