beginner-eng

In how many countries around the world is Italian spoken? If the answer that comes to mind is “just one, Italy”, get ready for a surprise. You could order a cappuccino in Italian in Switzerland, in Croatia, even in a small corner of Argentina or the United States. Our language travels much more than you think and, when it goes abroad, it leaves surprising traces in the local languages.

Adding a small syllable in front of an Italian verb can completely change its meaning. With this article, you will learn something fundamental to truly understand Italian: how a prefix — that is, a small part added to the beginning of a verb — can transform its meaning, helping you read, listen, and speak with greater precision and naturalness.

Have you ever walked into a shop in Italy without knowing how to ask for a discount? Or found yourself stuck because you couldn’t remember how to say «me lo incarta, è un regalo» [could you gift-wrap it for me?]? In this article you will find all the expressions Italians really use when they go shopping — at the market, in the boutique, in the sales, at the till — with the most useful grammatical explanations and cultural curiosities that will make you feel at ease straight away.

Expressions like “c’ho fame!” [I’m hungry!] or “Vieni qui che ti dico una cosa” [Come here, I need to tell you something] are very common in spoken Italian, but you’ll hardly find them in a grammar textbook. In this article we analyze two phenomena typical of spoken and informal Italian — the CI ATTUALIZZANTE and the CHE POLIVALENTE — to help you recognize and understand them in real contexts.

Have you ever noticed that on June 2nd everything in Italy is closed? No school, no offices, banks shut and, along the streets of the big cities, soldiers in full uniform, marching bands, and even planes leaving tricolor trails in the sky. But what exactly is celebrated on this date? In this article you’ll discover the history of the Festa della Repubblica, the vocabulary linked to Italian history, and some surprising trivia.

How many times a day do you say «va bene» [okay/that’s fine]? To agree, to accept, to fill the silence — it seems like the solution for everything. The problem is that always using the same expression sounds repetitive and unnatural. In Italian there are much more natural and precise alternatives, each suited to a different context.