Le Avventure di Paul a Roma: Graded Italian Reader (for Beginners A1, A2 CEFR Levels)

by Serena Capilli

Are you looking for a fun and rewarding way to make Italian words and phrases stick?

Reading a short story is a brilliant way to achieve this. When you read a simple Italian story, you get novel exposure to all the words, phrases, and grammar that you've studied, but in different contexts and through an engaging, adult story.

This is not only a way to immerse yourself in Italian but also to improve your Italian sentences, vocabulary, and grammar all at once.

Features of the

Short Go over a chapter in minutes. The vocabulary and grammar used are optimized for beginners and intermediate learners.

Bilingual Useful vocabulary and expressions ready to use for your flashcards.

Test your vocabulary and grammar comprehension at the end of each chapter. The quizzes have been designed to help you retain the information you have gone through in the stories.

Translation At the end of every chapter, you'll find translation exercises. Translating from English to the Italian language is a potent learning activity, as it helps recall from your memory what you have absorbed from the stories.

Speaking Train your spoken Italian alone or with your tutor.

Cultural insights about Learn about some of the prettiest neighborhoods of Rome, alongside things to do on your next trip.

Insights on common Written with the most recurring mistakes Italian beginners and intermediate learners make in my classes in mind.

Modern adult Using the 1000 most common Italian words and real-life dialogues you're most likely to encounter when in Italy.

The Plot

Paul is a Londoner who's visiting Rome on his own for a week. While walking and the iconic roman neighborhood Testaccio, he stumbles upon a flier that will change his vacation forever.
This short novel in Italian has been designed and optimized by a teacher of Italian with over 10 years of teaching experience, specialized in teaching adult Italian language learners.

Genres: Italian Literature

106 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 11, 2022

About the author

Serena Capilli is an Italian author and certified language teacher (University of Venice) who has been helping adults learn Italian through comprehensible input since 2016. She writes fiction (garden readers) in simple Italian — and increasingly in Spanish and French — built around comprehensible input, so learners absorb the language naturally through engaging stories instead of grammar drills.
A polyglot who speaks seven languages, Serena is the creator of the Paguro Method and publishes under the Paguro Languages imprint, with more than a dozen titles and over 30,000 copies sold worldwide. Her books range from cozy mysteries to travel-set tales across Italy — Rome, Sicily, Venice, Bologna, and beyond — written for beginner to intermediate readers (A1–B1).
Based in Rome with Sicilian roots, she also hosts the Piazzetta Italiana slow-Italian podcast and runs Italian Pills, a brand and newsletter for English-speaking learners. Find her books and free resources at italianpills.com.

Reviews

[Yasmin]

PRIMEIRO LIVRO EM ITALIANO!!
Muito bom para quem já tem uma base.

[Maria Pisani]

Easy and educational read

As an Canadian of Italian descent, I learned to speak a dialect from a town in southern Italy. So speaking and reading proper Italian, while easier for me than for a non-italian - was always a challenge. I really enjoyed this book. I was able to read and understand 95% of it but also learned the proper way to say and write so many words and terms. Thank you

[Charlotte]

Picked this up to pair with self learning I am doing through Duolingo and some Italian text books.

I really enjoyed the simple stories and the exercises at the end of each chapter. It was fun to stop having to stop to look up every single word/phrase as I built my understanding around tenses and conjugations of irregular verbs. I also appreciated the cultural insights!

[Stephen Barker]

Engaging and educational

I tried and failed to read regular Italian fiction written for madrelingua so I was delighted to discover Serena Capilli’s books. The stories are not going to win any Pulitzer Prizes but I find them all quite engaging and I have finished every one I have bought so far and it has helped my Italian a LOT! I hope Serena Capilli keeps writing.

[Valerie]

good practice for intermediate Italian

I really enjoyed the story and the Italian was at the right level for me. The best thing about this book is that it includes explanations of common phrases, has cultural highlights and little nuggets of information about visiting Roma.

[East West Notes]

I bought this book to read alongside the Italian Duolingo course. I especially enjoyed reading the Italian food and culture notes.

[Bob Willis]

I'm using this to supplement my Duolingo app studying Italian.

[Leonor]

Very good graded reader, I wish it wouldn’t mix different cefr levels but that’s only a detail.

[Sara]

4 stars. Interesting information about different neighborhoods in Rome.

[neti ♡]

Great book for practising reading in beginner Italian. It explains grammar, new words and even cultural things.

[Macarena Danze]

Gran libro para empezar a leer en italiano, me encantó que al final de cada capítulo hable del vocabulario usado y haga los multiple choice. Me encantaría leer más de la autora

[David DiLoreto]

Helpful in progressing beyond Duolingo Italian

Using language apps helps build vocabulary but this series of short stories strengthens reading and writing skills. Well-designed format.

Having to toggle back to the website for the answer keys was a bit annoying but not overly so.