The problem all language learners are faced with, sooner or later, is time. Actually, the lack of time. So what can you do if you only have 15 minutes to study Italian? Even as little as 15 minutes a week. If you are wondering if 15 minutes a week are enough to really learn Italian, …
If you only have 15 minutes to study Italian: make a zine Read More »
What a title! You might think I’m a crazy teacher, thinking I can tell you to stop studying and just use creativity? Isn’t it the only way to truly make progress? What else can you do to learn Italian if not studying it? And studying it as much as you can? What does creativity have to …
3 creative activities to learn Italian without studying Read More »
Your night table is about to collapse under its own weight. You keep stacking Italian book on top of Italian book because you are going to read them. One day. They won’t be furniture. One day. I suppose this is how you see it: reading a book in Italian (from the first page to the last) …
When you start learning a language you have high expectations, more than you would care to admit. A new language opens up a new world and you would just dive into it, head first. I have always had extremely high expectations every time I have learned a new language and I can honestly say that, …
From overwhelm to zen: how to learn Italian in a stress-free way Read More »
A couple of months ago I happened to find an old diary that I wrote when I was in high school. Reading it was quite the experience: my life was all there, a punctual analysis of major and minor events that I wanted to fix on paper to… I don’t really know why I had …
Do you ever think of objects as masculine or feminine, like chair, cloud, flower, sea? If you speak Italian you won’t notice anything strange. If you speak English, you probably won’t have a clue on how to know if an Italian word is masculine or feminine. The gender of a word is just a fact …
Many would think that, in order to speak a language correctly, your grammar has to be impeccable. I was one of them, and to a certain extent I still am. I have studied 4 languages so far, and for years I have tormented myself with perfect grammar. What would people think of me if I …
Listen to this blog post (18 min) Omg! I have spent months studying the language and now that I’m in Italy I can’t understand a single word, how is that even possible? I’ll have to nod, pretending I agree with everything when in reality I have no idea what they are talking about! Don’t bother …
What to do when no one speaks the Italian you learned in class Read More »
Listen to this blog post: Social relationships work because there is a mutual knowledge of certain elements like status and age, that require different degrees of politeness. The way we express politeness and formality in Italian is clearly marked by the use of tu and lei. Being able to discern when it is appropriate to …
Which is Italy’s official language? That’s an easy one, Italian! This is what most of us would say, but if you think about it for a minute I am sure you would come up with at least two or three examples of different accents or dialects you’ve heard in Italy. So, how many “Italians” are …