Instantly Italy

Italian speaking practice and grammar tutoring

How Are Weddings Celebrated In Italy? Some Authentic Italian Wedding Traditions

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During our language chats, my students and I talk about many different topics.

Depending on what each student likes, we talk about sports, books, movies, daily life, politics, travels, and lots of other fun stuff. I have to admit that, if the student is interested in the topic, I love chatting about Italian wedding traditions because I always find it fun to compare them to those of other countries.

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[Hidden Italy] A walk around the Cimitero Monumentale in Milan

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One of the goals of this section of the blog is to help you discover off-the-beaten-track Italian locations.

I have specifically created this ‘Hidden Italy’ series to write about places that you might not know or that might not be on the usual not-to-miss list of Italian destinations.

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[Italian Vocabulary] Common Latin Phrases Used in Everyday Italian

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My husband has developed a small obsession with Latin, lately.

He is not a scholar nor has any knowledge of the language, he just finds that Latin is a more elegant and austere language than Italian so he throws Latin words here and there, in his conversation.

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Are Italians really superstitious? A fun article about superstition in Italy

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I am not very superstitious, but it seems that a lot of Italians are.

It seems that many people in Italy strongly believe that some things might bring bad luck and it is a common belief that people are generally more superstitious in the south of the country.

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Italians You Should Know: Photographer Letizia Battaglia

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If you have been reading this blog for a while, you may remember that I have a series of posts focused on Italians whose lives are absolutely worth knowing.

The first post of the series was about Libereso Guglielmi, a very important figure in Italian gardening who is famous for being the gardener of Italo Calvino, while the second one was about Lisetta Carmi, a photographer from Genoa who says she has lived five different lives.

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Expats in Italy: A Chat With Pree About The Struggle of Moving to Italy During Covid and Adjusting to a New Life Here

I am really happy today because it’s time to chat with an expat again!

I have been following today’s guest on Instagram for a long time and I knew she would be perfect for this section of the blog. Pree moved to Italy in 2020 and I have read her Instagram posts about the many challenges she had to face while moving to Italy during such a difficult time.

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10 Italian Comedy Movies to Watch if You Want to Get to Know Italians Better

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Comedy movies are definitely a big part of Italian pop culture.

Our language and everyday conversations are full of references to some Italian comedy movies that everybody has watched at least once in their lives.

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A Week in Friuli Venezia Giulia: What We Did and What We Saw

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At the beginning of August, we spent a week in Friuli Venezia Giulia, the easternmost region in Italy and one of the country’s most ignored ones, especially by tourists. 

The fact that Friuli is not a popular tourist destination is a real pity because the region is so nice that it really deserves to be more famous but it is also a blessing for those who visit it because Friuli is beautiful, authentic, genuine, and not crowded at all.

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[Italian Books] Nives by Sacha Naspini

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One of my favorite Italian books of 2020 has been translated into English and I couldn’t be happier!

I am happy because the English translation of the book means that I can recommend it in this section of my blog. In fact, as you may know if you have been reading my blog for a while, when I recommend an Italian book I always make sure it is available in English too.

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[Family Recipes] Zucchini and pumpkin flower fritters

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When it comes to holidays and festivities, in my family everything revolves around tradition.

We have been celebrating Christmas in the same way and with more or less the same food for years. Every year we gather around the same table, with the same people, and we eat more or less the same dishes.

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