Lettere di viaggio: an Italian book for beginners (A2)
Colombo e Vespucci · adapted by Alessio Insegnante · CEFR level A2
Colombo e Vespucci's classic (1493–1505), rewritten for learners of Italian at level A2: calibrated sentences, footnotes, a final glossary and comprehension questions in every chapter.
In production · soon in 6×9 paperback and on Kindle
The plot of Lettere di viaggio
Genoa, 1492. Christopher Columbus crosses an ocean everyone still calls «the Dark Sea», with three small ships and ninety frightened men. He is looking for Asia; he finds something else — and never fully understands what.
A few years later, a Florentine named Amerigo Vespucci repeats the crossing with different eyes: he measures, he compares, he doubts. And he writes the forbidden sentence: this is not Asia, it is a new world. The real voyages retold from their own letters — the wonder and the courage, and also the chains, and the Taino who had known those islands all along.
Why read Lettere di viaggio to learn Italian
True story, real dates, names you already know: memory does half the comprehension work. The vocabulary of sea and travel is concrete and useful, and the short letter-shaped chapters are a natural model for writing your own first letters in Italian.
Inside this reader
CEFR adaptation
The text is fully rewritten for level A2, with controlled vocabulary and syntax, while staying faithful to the original plot.
Footnotes and glossary
Footnotes on difficult words and a final glossary, so you can read independently without a dictionary.
Comprehension questions
Every chapter ends with questions to check understanding, just like in class.
Paperback and ebook
6×9 paperback on cream paper, or Kindle ebook. The same text also lives in the ti app.
Language focus: what you practise
In this level-A2 edition you mainly practise imperfetto versus passato prossimo, the simple future, direct and indirect pronouns. The vocabulary revolves around the sea, travel and discovery: the key words, with translations, are in the glossary below and recur throughout the text, so you learn them in context.
Essential glossary (Italian · English · Dutch)
| Italian | English | Dutch |
|---|---|---|
| la nave | ship | het schip |
| l'oceano | ocean | de oceaan |
| la lettera | letter | de brief |
| la scoperta | discovery | de ontdekking |
| la tempesta | storm | de storm |
| l'isola | island | het eiland |
| la rotta | course | de koers |
| il mondo | world | de wereld |
About the author: Colombo e Vespucci
Christopher Columbus (1451–1506), from Genoa, and Amerigo Vespucci (1454–1512), from Florence, described their crossings in letters and logbooks that changed the map of the world — and gave the continent the name of one of them.
Details and difficulty level
A2 is solid elementary Italian: still simple sentences, but with the imperfetto, the future tense and a wider vocabulary. This reader suits learners with a few months of Italian who want to finish their first complete story. Format: 6×9 paperback on cream paper or Kindle ebook; 20 chapters with footnotes, a final glossary and comprehension questions. All level A2 books →
Frequently asked questions
What level of Italian do I need to read Lettere di viaggio?
This edition of Lettere di viaggio is rewritten for CEFR level A2. A2 is solid elementary Italian: still simple sentences, but with the imperfetto, the future tense and a wider vocabulary. This reader suits learners with a few months of Italian who want to finish their first complete story.
Is this Colombo e Vespucci's original text?
No, it is an adaptation: the plot and spirit of Colombo e Vespucci's original remain, but vocabulary and syntax are rewritten for level A2, with footnotes, a final glossary and comprehension questions at the end of every chapter.
When is it coming out?
The book is in production and will be on Amazon soon, in paperback and as a Kindle ebook. The same text already lives in the ti app.
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