In Six reasons to learn a foreign language I talked about some of the reasons why you should start learning a foreign language. Today, I want to share with you eight reasons why you should learn Italian. 1- If you plan to visit Italy, knowing Italian can come in handy. Indeed, not many Italians speak …
Sos Italian
Visiting Italy? A not-to-do list
They say when in Rome, do as Romans do. However, travellers know quite well that there are also some behaviors they should avoid if they don’t want to be labeled as tourists. So, for those of you visiting Italy, I’ve decided to write a brief not-to-do list: 1. Don’t use ciao to greet someone you …
Eight common stereotypes about Italians
Every country has some stereotypes about other countries and their citizens. And it’s said that each stereotype contains at least a grain of truth. So, in today’s article I want to focus on eight of the most common stereotypes about Italians, and give you my opinion about them. 1. ITALIANS GESTURE A LOT That’s true. …
Italian comparative – comparativo di minoranza e uguaglianza
In a past article I introduced the Italian comparative, talking about the comparative of superiority – il comparativo di maggioranza. Today, I explain instead the formation rules of the Italian comparative of minority and equality – il comparativo di minoranza e uguaglianza. COMPARATIVO DI MINORANZA – EXPRESSING MINORITY FORMATION To express minority Italian uses the …
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Learn Italian color idioms
Idiomatic expressions are one of the most problematic areas for any language learner. The difficulty arises from the fact that these sentences don’t have a literal sense. This means that both their composition doesn’t come natural to learners, and their meaning isn’t easy to guess. For these reasons idioms are usually taught when students already …
Learn the comparativo di maggioranza – the comparative of superiority
As the word suggests, the comparative is a construction that allows to compare two or more entities – verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives or adverb – expressing some degree of superiority, inferiority or equality. The first entity is the primo termine di paragone (first term of comparison), while the second is the secondo termine di paragone …
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Learn Italian false friends
Who’s never used a word assuming it meant something else and, in so doing, s/he has created misunderstandings or awkward situations? Don’t worry, this is perfectly normal. In fact, it’s typical of the language learning process: learners rely on what they know to try to communicate into another language. One of the nightmares par excellence …
Twelve Italian words you won’t learn from coursebooks
The most common way to start learning a foreign language is at school with some coursebooks. Coursebooks are generally well thought out. Indeed, they focus both on grammar and vocabulary, and they also give you an insight into the foreign culture. However, people who’ve learnt Italian on books and have then had the chance to …
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