An illustrated Italian course

Il Treno per Roma

Learn Italian by riding along. One hundred chapters of connected story carry you from ciao to real conversation — grammar and vocabulary arrive exactly when the journey needs them.

  • 101 chapters
  • 100 illustrations
  • ~455 pages
Get the full book — €7 Read chapters 0–5 free

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Painting of two travellers talking across a table on a train at Roma Termini, books between them and a red Frecciarossa at the platform outside the window.

Why this one

Reading is the lesson

Most courses give you rules and hope a story turns up later. This one is the other way round.

  • A story, not a textbook

    One hundred and one chapters of connected narrative. You keep reading because you want to know what happens — the Italian goes in on the way.

  • A glossary every chapter

    Each chapter closes with a twenty-word Italian–English glossary drawn from the page you have just read. Nothing to look up elsewhere.

  • Illustrated throughout

    One hundred original paintings, one per chapter. Each sets the scene before you read a word, so the context is there before the language is.

Written with Anthropic’s Claude and illustrated with Microsoft Copilot.

Painting of two men reading a book together at a marble café table in Rome, coffee cups beside them and a waiter approaching.
Chapter 23 — Al caffè. Every chapter opens on a scene like this.

Look inside

One hundred scenes

One painting opens every chapter. Six of them, from across the journey.

  • Painting of a couple walking beside the Tiber at sunset, a basilica dome behind them.
    Ch. 13 Sul lungotevere On the Tiber embankment
  • Painting of shoppers buying fish and produce at a covered Roman market hall.
    Ch. 14 Al mercato At the market
  • Painting of two visitors talking in front of the Colosseum on a bright day.
    Ch. 19 Il Colosseo The Colosseum
  • Painting of two people sharing pizza at an outdoor trattoria table lit by string lights.
    Ch. 22 Una pizza fuori Pizza outdoors
  • Painting of three people making pasta together at a floured kitchen table.
    Ch. 28 In cucina In the kitchen
  • Painting of a couple walking barefoot along the shoreline carrying their shoes.
    Ch. 35 Al mare At the seaside

Free sample

Read the first six chapters

Chapters 0–5, typeset exactly as they appear in the full book — illustrations, glossaries and all. No sign-up, no email address. If the style does not suit you, you have lost nothing.

Download the sample

PDF · ~41 pages · 3.3 MB

The full book

Il Treno per Roma

€7.00 one payment

  • 101 chapters, ~455 pages
  • 100 original illustrations
  • A glossary at the end of every chapter
  • PDF, delivered by email within a minute

Price includes VAT, shown at checkout for your country.

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