Instantly Italy

Italian language, culture and travel tips

[Italian Books] Ties by Domenico Starnone

If you want to Be Italian For A Weekend, you can join the Vespa ride and get a three-day email crash course about Italian culture! You will also get full access to Your Italian Toolbox, a library of Italian learning materials.

I didn’t know much about this book when I started reading it.

Actually, I did this on purpose. I had read so many positive comments about the book that I decided to give it a go without doing much research about it. I just wanted to dive in and enjoy it. And that’s exactly what happened!

[Read more…]

[Hidden Italy] The Gardens of Villa della Pergola in Alassio

If you want to Be Italian For A Weekend, you can join the Vespa ride and get a three-day email crash course about Italian culture! You will also get full access to Your Italian Toolbox, a library of Italian learning materials.

Even if I am not an expert gardener, I have a sincere passion for plants and gardens.

In particular, I really like visiting gardens and I am very lucky to live in Italy because there are a lot of very beautiful Italian gardens to visit and enjoy.

[Read more…]

Tips for Visiting Italy: An Interview with Kathy McCabe of Dream of Italy

I will never be grateful enough for Instagram and all the beautiful people I have met on that platform.

You know, we always hear many complaints about social media but so far I only have positive things to say about them – and about Instagram in particular. Social media are made by people and being able to connect to people who share your passions, your interests, your way of thinking, no matter where they live, is truly awesome.

[Read more…]

[Italian Phrases] Ne parliamo a settembre!

If you want to Be Italian For A Weekend, you can join the Vespa ride and get a three-day email crash course about Italian culture! You will also get full access to Your Italian Toolbox, a library of Italian learning materials.

There are some popular Italian phrases that have more meaning than it may seem.

If you are not a native Italian speaker or if you haven’t been living in Italy for a while, you may hear and understand them, but you may lose some of its meaning.

[Read more…]

Italian Language For English Speakers: The Word ‘Time’ In Italian

I have prepared saved this post on a downloadable pdf file. You can find it in Your Italian Toolbox, a section of Instantly Italy where you’ll find Italian learning materials. You can get access to it by subscribing here.

When I write about the word ‘time’ in Italian, I am not referring to how to ask and tell the time in Italian, but to the actual English word time. 

As a matter of fact, most of my students are English speakers and after working with them for a while, I noticed that most of them show the same weaknesses and struggle with the same topics, when it comes to speaking Italian: one of them is undoubtedly the word time.

[Read more…]