So on to July's prize - a $10 gift card from ll Gelatiere on Mount Pleasant not too far from Eglinton, a really good gelato place (great way to beat the heat we've been having).

You know how to enter - just answer July's Italian culture trivia challenge...

Which Italian city were jeans named after?

Email your answers to pino@tutorino.ca by Saturday July 31 at 23:59:59 EST. Remember, tutorino students who participate automatically get entered three times. La fortuna aiuta gli audaci!

Now on to June's free Italian swag - a free ticket to see Accattone by Pasolini at the Cinematheque on Friday July 9 at 7 PM. All you have to do to enter is email me your answer to this month's Italian culture trivia challenge:

Who is Dario Argento and what is he famous for? (Just check wikipedia.)

Email your answers to pino@tutorino.ca. Deadline for entries is Wednesday June 30 at 23:59:59 EST. Remember, tutorino students who participate get entered three times for the edge over non-students (Tom from Brampton notwithstanding). Chi non risica non rosica!

Now on to another prize, a $20 gift certificate for Terroni.

To win, just email your answer to this month's tutorino Italian culture trivia challenge: What was modern Italy's first capital city?

The address to submit your entries to is pino@tutorino.ca and you have until 23:59:59 EST on May 31. Remember, tutorino students who answer get entered three times to increase your odds of winning. In bocca al lupo!

To those of you who lost, there's only one solution - enter this month's draw!

The prize this time around is a free tutorino Chest Professor, the only shirt in the world that teaches you Italian while you wear it.

To enter, just email me your answer to this month's tutorino Italian language and culture trivia challenge: Who was Sandro Pertini and what are some things he was famous for? The email address once again is pino@tutorino.ca. Deadline for entries is 23:59:59 on Sunday February 28. Remember, tutorino students who participate get entered three times. In bocca al lupo!

You know the rules. To enter, just email me your answer to this month's Italian language and culture trivia challenge (pino@tutorino.ca). Tutorino students who participate get entered three times. Deadline is 11:59:59 EST on January 31, 2010. Here's the question:

Who was Pasquale Villari and what are some things he was famous for? (As usual, just check wikipedia!)

In bocca al lupo! La fortuna aiuta gli audaci!

Salutoni until November!

Thanks to everyone who entered, sorry you couldn't all win but good news - you have another chance right now! On to this month's prize...

So what's up for grabs? One ticket to La rabbia di Pasolini, playing at the Cinematheque on Sunday November 8 at 6 PM, a political essay film director Carlo di Carlo calls, "A text in poetry expressed through images, and overwhelmed by anger. Against the bourgeoisie, barbarism, intolerance, prejudices, triviality, respectability."

You know how to win, just email me your answer to this month's Italian culture trivia challenge: Who is Antonio Di Pietro and what are some things he's famous for? (Just google it!)

Send your answers to pino@tutorino.ca by 23:59:59 EST on Wednesday September 30 for your chance to win. Remember tutorino students who participate get entered three times for better odds over non-students. La fortuna aiuta gli audaci!

Well July's prize was a ticket to see Le notti di Cabiria by Fellini at the Cinematheque. We had a flood of entries so it was kind of sad to pick only one lucky winner but the person who won really seemed to have her heart set on this prize so I was glad when I saw her name, la carinissima, la simpaticissima...

Elena!

Complimenti Elena! Ferdinando should be back soon so I can send your prize through him or mail it if you prefer, just let me know. The screening is on August 21 so there's time.

And now on to August's premio, a brand new copy of my all-time favourite book which I've literally read like 10 times, Lives of the Saints by Nino Ricci. It's written in English (Nino is italocanadese, and lives right here in Toronto), but it's about life in a small town in Italy in the 60s and one boy's journey to Canada.

To enter the draw, just email me your answer to this month's Italian culture trivia challenge...

What is the capoluogo of Basilicata (also known as Lucania)?

As always, if you don't know just google it and send your answer to pino@tutorino.ca by 23:59:59 EST on Monday August 31, 2009. In bocca al lupo!

Let's see if Ele's students can keep their lucky streak alive in July. Our prize this time around is one of the best ever in my opinion, a ticket to see Le notti di Cabiria (Nights of Cabiria) by Fellini (in Italian with English subtitles) at the Cinematheque on Friday August 21 at 8:45 PM, la storia di un angelo con le ali nel fango (the story of an angel with her wings in the mud). For more on the film go to the Cinematheque website or watch the Youtube clip below.

To enter the draw, just answer July's Italian culture trivia question: Who was Sandro Pertini and what are some things he was famous for? (As always, just google it). Remember, tutorino students who answer correctly get entered three times. Send your answer to pino@tutorino.ca by 23:59:59 EST on Friday July 31. In bocca al lupo!

Thanks to everyone who entered, sorry you couldn't all win.

But you have another chance this month. Let's announce the prize...

A brand new from Librital copy of Io speriamo che me la cavo, a collection of sixty writing compositions by school kids in a town near Naples published in 1990. It was a huge success in Italy and inspired the popular film Ciao, Professore.

If Mario at Librital is sold out at the time of the draw you'll be getting my copy which is ever so slightly used, practically new. It's not available online anywhere that I know of, except used from amazon.

This is a great book for beginners because the compositions are all short, just a few paragraphs each, and since they were written by school kids they're fairly easy to understand. You can also have fun noticing the spelling and grammar mistakes. But best of all, the kids are really candid and paint a vivid and very moving picture of childhood near Naples in the eighties. To read more about Io speriamo che me la cavo go here.

Now on to our Italian culture trivia challenge...

Where was Enrico Berlinguer born and what's at least one thing he was famous for? (Check wikipedia!)

To enter this month's draw, just email your answer to pino@tutorino.ca by Tuesday June 30 at 23:59:59 EST. Remember, tutorino students who participate get entered three times. In bocca al lupo and ciao for now!