ITALIAN CULTURE TALKS
ONLINE WITH DAVID TORDI

A NEW & FUN APPROACH TO LEARNING!

This is different than a language course!

This program provides insights, facts and information about the Italian lifestyle, together with many more aspects about Italy and its multi-colored multi-millenary culture.

During each talk, David Tordi - a native Italian tour guide, musician and language teacher - will speak and teach about one or more subjects of the Italian culture, such as its language, cuisine, history, cultural differences between US & Italy, art, the famous "Italian Gestures" and much more. An entertaining way to learn and understand the "Italianità" (Italianity), a new approach to better understand and enjoy Italy.

Through food, art, history, politics, music, geography and more David tries his best to show you how Italian people have been living, thinking, behaving and coexisting for centuries in harmony.

ALL AVAILABLE SERIES (3)

Season One

Ep. 1) La Dolce Vita! Meet Italy and the Italian Way - Sign Up & Watch Anytime!
Italy, the Italians, La Dolce Vita: why is that? Why are Italians seen as the ones who live a "sweet life"? Let's understand it and discover it together through this first episode of my talk series about Italian Culture and Lifestyle. It's not "dolce" (sweet) only because we love our sweets. But that helps!

Ep. 2) Italian & the Romance Languages - Sign Up & Watch Anytime!
"Ciao", "Buongiorno".... but also "Bonjour", "Buenos días"! They all look and sound similar coming directly from Latin, their mother language. Let's discover how Italian and the other Romance languages developed individually after the end of the Roman Empire and the birth of modern times.

Ep. 3) The "other" Italian Language: Gestures! - Sign Up & Watch Anytime!
You cannot fully understand Italian language if you don't understand Italian gestures. They are an attachment, an appendix, an extension to the spoken language, like an amplifier of our voice. Gestures, facial expressions, body posture and much more is used every moment by Italians to communicate effectively.

Ep. 4) History of Italy & Italian Peninsula (3000 years) - Sign Up & Watch Anytime!
Yes - 3000+ years of continuous civilizations in an area smaller than California. Incredible but true! Pre-Roman civilizations, the clever Etruscans, the mighty Romans, the educated Greek, the genious Arabs, the organized Normans are only a few of the cultures that at times dominated parts of Italy bringing their knowledge and lifestyle into the peninsula and nowadays Italian culture.

Ep. 5) Authentic Italian Family Cuisine: Cook & Eat! - Sign Up & Watch Anytime!
Narrow kitchens, small pantries, tight basements, outstanding ingredients and cuisine. Let's learn how Italians conceive their food, approach their ingredients, recipes and meals. The quintessential "soffritto", base to most Italian dishes, how to properly prepare an Italian plate of pasta or roast meat like Italians do at home.

Ep. 6) 20 Italian Regions: Differences & Specialties! - Sign Up & Watch Anytime!
Did you know that Tuscany, Sicily, Rome and Venice belonged to FOUR different countries until 1860?!? That starts telling you a bit why Italian regions are still today so diverse and appealing! Let's find out more about it, about each region's unique features, history and development from society to the table.

Ep. 7) Italian Dialects & Accents - Sign Up & Watch Anytime!
"Namo", "Annamo", Ammuninni", "Jamme": they ALL mean Andiamo (Italian) in several Italian dialects. The diversity of Italy is strongly reflected in hundreds local accents, dozens of dialects and a few languages completely different than Italian! Un impressive richness in idioms, ways of saying, proverbs and exclamations.

Ep. 8) The Evolution of Italian Art - Sign Up & Watch Anytime!
Where else could you find 30 centuries (3000 years) of worldwide recognized top level art? I guess in Italy only. Classic, Early Christian, Byzantin, Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Rococò, and many more styles and periods seen through the eyes of their artists masters like Michelangelo, Botticelli, Bernini, Raphael, etc...

Ep. 9) Italy Today: Politics, Healthcare, Education & more - Sign Up & Watch Anytime!
It's fun, but also inspiring and interesting to compare political systems, as well as how schools and universities work abroad, how Italians retire, invest and are taken care of by their national healthcare system. All these features are the result of a society that has been continuously developing and shaping itself.

Ep. 10) The Italians & the Social Lifestyle - Sign Up & Watch Anytime!
Join me for a "passeggiata" (stroll), an "aperitivo con gli amici" (pre-dinner drink with friends), a "pranzo della domenica" (Sunday lunch) with the whole family. These and many more aspects and habits that Italians have in their daily routine and life, all designed to make their lives more fun in good company.

Ep. 11) 200 Years of Italian Migration & Immigration - Sign Up & Watch Anytime!
History moves like a wave, at times a population is in desperate need of a better life, at other times the same population prospers and welcomes other people in need. This is the cycle of migrations and immigration, that has also happened to Italians between the end of the 1800's and today. A better understanding about tolerance and about of how-why-when Italians left their country and the have welcomed thousands of people in need.

Ep. 12) The Italian Obsession for Wine & Food Pairings - Sign Up & Watch Anytime!
Please do not drink a glass of Chianti Classico red wine with your zucchini pasta. Why? I will try explain how pairings work between food and wine during an Italian meal. How fat, acidity, flavor play a major role in our personal choice of a wine or beer for a specific meal. Especially useful when you have to buy a bottle of wine to go to dinner with your friends!

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Season Two

Ep. 13) All About Italian Olive Oil - Sign Up & Watch Anytime!
The base for most of the Italian cuisine, a healthy energetic and delicious ingredient that has been in use in Italy since the beginning of times, through wars, famines, guaranteeing an excellent source of energy and flavour to most Italian dishes. But did you also know that the Romans used for bodycare?

Ep. 14) World War II: The Italian Perspective - Sign Up & Watch Anytime!
Thousands books, movies, documentaries, articles have been produced about this incomparable historical event in human civilization. My grandparents most likely never read or watched them, but lived and survived during the war and luckily shared their stories and memories only with a few people, including me. I will share some incredible adventures of their lifetime during the most dramatic war ever.

Ep. 15) The Art of Italian Pasta & Pizza - Sign Up & Watch Anytime!
If you think "Italy", in your top 5 things that come to your mind there must be "pasta" and/or "pizza". Am I correct? But how are pasta and pizza made, cooked, prepared? There are tricks and tips that most people do not know, secrets to make your best pasta or your most delicious pizza for your friends and family!

Ep. 16) A Journey through Italian Music - Sign Up & Watch Anytime!
Italian Music is today as diverse as Italy itself, coming from Medieval Music, Opera and centuries of Traditional Popular Music. Its richness reflects the characters of the Italian people from each area and regional culture. A fun and entertaining way to travel through the country.

Ep. 17) How Italians Grow Their Fruit & Vegetables - Sign Up & Watch Anytime!
Why is Italian cuisine so appreciated all over the world? Why - everywhere you are, when you meet an Italian abroad, they grow their own fruit and vegetables, even in a half square-inch space in their backyard on in a vase on their balcony? Simply because to Italians food is culture, it is what makes their daily engine run smoothly.

Ep. 18) 1860-1870: The Unification of Italy - Sign Up & Watch Anytime!
Most believe that Italy is an ancient country. False! Italy as a country is a "baby", much younger than USA. Incredible to believe, huh? But that is true. The country only united in 1870, after being a wonderful myriad of different states for many centuries. This is also what gives Italy its unique diversity and colorful culture.

Ep. 19) Chef for a Day: Inside an Italian Kitchen - Sign Up & Watch Anytime!
Let's see and understand how Italians use their kitchens daily, how food is prepared, stored, how simplicity rules in an Italian family cuisine. "A little bit of this, some of that, stir as much as you need...". Centuries of recipes, habits and traditions put in one place: LA CUCINA.

Ep. 20) Italy VS USA & Canada: Cultural Differences - Sign Up & Watch Anytime!
Being married to an American and having lived in the US for over four years really helped me a lot understand and share the incredible (and sometimes quite funny) cultural differences between North Americans and Italians. You will be shocked seeing how different for instance the concepts of "large" or "quick" can be!

Ep. 21) Italian Books & Cinema - Sign Up & Watch Anytime!
"La Commedia all'Italiana", "Gli Spaghetti Western", the incredible art of Totò, Federico Fellini, Andrea Camilleri and many more outstanding writers, cinema and theater actors and directors of all times. Italian literature and visual arts have provided masterpieces to the world, to be watched today and always.

Ep. 22) Italian Festivities - Sign Up & Watch Anytime!
Every day is a good day in Italy to celebrate something! Sometimes something important, some other times a bit less... but let's party! Throughout the year, from January to December, many are the dates that "require" a proper Italian celebration, party and therefore special meal.

Ep. 23) Italian Wines: Types & Appellations - Sign Up & Watch Anytime!
IGT, DOC, DOCG, table wines, house wines. Appellations and styles of wine explained in order to better understand why a bottle must be more expensive than another one. A journey through the vast world of Italian wines, their regions, varieties, "terroir", and much more.

Ep. 24) Italian Food & Its Many DOP Specialties - Sign Up & Watch Anytime!
Hundreds of "protected" food specialties that can only be produced in specific areas, using unique ingredients and processes. This is the unknown world of Italian DOP products. The most famous are Parmigiano Reggiano, Modena Balsamic Vinegar, Bufala Mozzarella Cheese from Campania, etc... Over 300 DOPs in Italy, providing the best quality according to tradition!

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Season Three

Ep. 25) Italian Crafts - Sign Up & Watch Anytime!
Traditionally Italians have always been creative people, and through centuries have developed interesting techniques for the production of ceramics and pottery, lace, textile & clothes, as well as wood carving, artistic iron working, and much more. Many are the "arts & crafts" that still today are in use, still according to the medieval guilds called "corporazioni".

Ep. 26) 4 Regions: Val d’Aosta, Piedmont, Liguria, Lombardy - Sign Up & Watch Anytime!

This is the first episode of 5 specifically centered on the main areas of Italy. In this episode David talks about the Italian North West, land of mountains, sailors, industry, wine and a strong French and Swiss cultural influence.

Ep. 27) Late Middle Ages & Renaissance in Italy - Sign Up & Watch Anytime!
The peak of the Italian legacy: "Il Medioevo" and "Il Rinascimento". Between 1200 and 1600 Italy has been one of the most important areas in the world regarding art, architecture, new discoveries and much more. We will "travel" with our talk meeting many fundamental personalities for the Western civilization (and not only). From Dante to Michelangelo, Christopher Columbus to Leonardo Da Vinci and more.

Ep. 28) 4 Regions: Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Trentino-Alto Adige, Veneto, Emilia-Romagna (San Marino) - Sign Up & Watch Anytime!
This is the second episode of 5 specifically centered on the main areas of Italy. In this episode David talks about the Italian North East, land of the Dolomites, the Republic of Venice, Bologna "the educated" and the oldest universities in Europe, a strong Austrian and slavic influence, as well motors and food delicacies.

Ep. 29) Italian Poetry - Sign Up & Watch Anytime!
In this episode David will explain the art of some of the best Italian poets of all times, like Dante, Petrarca, Boccaccio, Foscolo and many more.
In poetry, the Italian language finds its strongest expression thanks to its musicality and versatiliy. David will recite some of the most important Italian poems and musical ballads.

Ep. 30) 4 Regions: Tuscany, Umbria, Marche, Lazio (Vatican State) - Sign Up & Watch Anytime!
This is the third episode of 5 specifically centered on the main areas of Italy. In this episode David talks about its own area: Central Italy. The history of the Medici and the Papacy, the rolling hills of Siena, Orvieto, Chianti and Assisi, the numerous hidden gems, specialties and attractions, of a territory mostly yet to be discovered like Marche, Lazio, Tuscia and Maremma.

Ep. 31) The Italian Language - Sounds, Proverbs, Idioms & Grammar - Sign Up & Watch Anytime!

In this episode David will explain the unique features, sounds and curiosities of the Italian language, through proverbs, idioms, and a bit of basic grammar. A talk that will show you why Italian language is the language of Opera, and is considered one of the most melodic and expressive ones in the world.

Ep. 32) 4 Regions: Abruzzo, Molise, Campania, Basilicata - Sign Up & Watch Anytime!

This is the fourth episode of 5 specifically centered on the main areas of Italy. In this episode David talks about "the Northern part of Southern Italy". The breathtaking colors of the Amalfi Coast, the yet undiscovered and stunning regions of Abruzzo, Molise and Basilicata, the land of Matera, the high mountains of the South, its famous food and millenary traditions.

Ep. 33) Being a Kid in 1980s Italy - Sign Up & Watch Anytime!

An episode about David's childhood incredibly playing among "rubble and ruins" still from the war, but mostly a talk about Italy and an Italian family in the 1980s and 1990s. Anecdotes, events, differences, but also snapshots of a time that's passed and helped create the prosperous Italy that we all know today.

Ep. 34) 4 Regions: Puglia, Calabria, Sicily, Sardinia - Sign Up & Watch Anytime!

This is the fifth episode of 5 specifically centered on the main areas of Italy. In this episode David talks about "the deep South and the big Islands" of Italy. A journey through three thousand years of history and civilizations, the magic of Sicily and Sardinia (also called the "Italian Caribbeans"), the neverending beauties of Apulia (Puglia) and the gorgeous wilderness of Calabria, with its spicy food.

Ep. 35) The Post WWII Rebirth of Italy - Sign Up & Watch Anytime!

The so-called "Il Miracolo Italiano" or "La Rinascita", the Italian miracle and the rebirth after the darkness of the Second World War. Learning from their own mistakes, embracing modernity and rebuilding a new political system all brought Italy to a never-seen-before wealth and lifestyle in the 1960s and 1970s.

Ep. 36) Italian Hill Towns - A Lifestyle - Sign Up & Watch Anytime!

A panoramic up and downhill view over some of the most spectacular and beautiful hill tops of Italy: from the Tuscan San Gimignano, Volterra, Montepulciano to the Umbrian Gubbio, Assisi, Orvieto, through the historic sytes of Taormina, Erice or the wine towns in the Langhe of Piedmont.

SIGN UP HERE!

COSTS

20€ per person per single talk
200€ per person for one season package (12 talks)
375€ for two seasons package (24 talks)
500€ for three seasons package (36 talks)

Payment Method: PayPal (PayPal also allows credit card payments if you do not have a PayPal account).

LIVE SESSIONS RULES
When talks air live, they are held via YOUTUBE on Wednesdays at 7PM Italian Time (10AM PST / 1PM EST).
Each live participant can interact via Youtube chat with David (if logged into Youtube) or simply be a viewer and send Emails for questions.
During the sign-up process, you can also submit one ore more questions (3 max) using the form. Some selected questions will be answered during the live talk.

MORE AVAILABLE ACTIVITIES WITH DAVID TORDI

1) Book or join a private Italian & Mediterranean Music concert by Bartender, David Tordi's acoustic guitar trio - CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO

2) Book one or more private online Italian language lessons with David Tordi. All lessons are fully customized and tailored to your own level, needs, interests and schedule - CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO

3) Book a guided tour with David Tordi around his area of Italy: Orvieto and Civita di Bagnoregio - CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO