Instantly Italy

Italian speaking practice and grammar tutoring

[Italian Books] The Story of an Italian Family, of a Business, and of a Whole Town

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For this series of posts I normally pick Italian books that have an English translation as well. I do it to give people the opportunity to read good Italian books even if they can’t read in Italian.

However, I’ve decided to make an exception today because the book I want to tell you about tells a true Italian story that is really worth knowing even though you won’t read the book.

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[Hidden Italy] The Eclectic Italian House of a World-Famous Swiss Clown

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Discovering and visiting hidden places in my region is one of my favorite pastimes.

Liguria is a wonderful region and, even though some of its areas are quite famous among tourists (ever heard of Cinque Terre?), there are still a lot of hidden gems that very few people know of. Sometimes even locals have no idea certain places exist and so it’s always a pleasure to discover them.

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[Italian Books] The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante

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The Lying Life of Adults (La vita bugiarda degli adulti in Italian), one of Elena Ferrante’s most recent books, has been made into a Netflix series. 

Before Christmas, I read that this new show based on Elena Ferrante’s book would debut on Netflix on January 5th and I thought I had better read the book before watching the tv series.

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How Do I Translate This? English Words That You Can Use In Italian Too

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A very common question I get from my students is: “How do you say this in Italian?”.

They want to know what the Italian equivalent of certain English words is and they seem quite surprised when sometimes I tell them that we don’t have an Italian equivalent so we just use the English word. And they are even more surprised when I tell them that sometimes we prefer to use the English word even if the corresponding Italian word exists!

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[Hidden Italy] Discover Seborga, An Old Village in Liguria With A Unique Character

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Visiting old Ligurian villages is one of my favorite pastimes and I have been to a lot of them over the years.

I have been to Triora, which is famous for being il paese delle streghe, to Apricale and Perinaldo, two lovely perched villages in the west of the region, to Verezzi and its scenic beauty, to Bussana Vecchia and its unique story, and to many other interesting places but there was one village I still had to cross off my list: Seborga.

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[Italian Books] The Passenger: Rome

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What I have chosen as the topic for today’s post is probably one of the most honest books about Rome I have read recently. 

Actually, it is not exactly a book because of its very unique format but it can absolutely be read as a non-fiction book about Rome and about what it really means to live in the city.

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[Family Recipes] Zabaione, A Delicious Treat That Reminds Me of My Childhood

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Zabaione is not exactly a summer recipe, I know.

This glorious mix of eggs, sugar, and sweet wine is normally associated with autumn or even with Christmas but I have recently eaten it and now I absolutely have to write about it.

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[Italian Books] Mi sa che fuori è primavera by Concita De Gregorio

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Europa Editions always makes me really happy.

If you are interested in Italian literature translated into English and don’t know this publisher, I highly recommend checking its catalog because it has many interesting titles by contemporary Italian authors.

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The Feast of Saint John in Italy: A Magical Time of the Year

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It’s the day of Saint John tomorrow and there is some magic in the air. 

Saint John, San Giovanni in Italian, is the patron saint of many big and small Italian towns and this makes it a very special day. The day of the patron saint is a public holiday in Italy and this means that tomorrow many people will be taking a day off if the town where they work celebrates its patron saint.

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[Italian Vocabulary] 10 Words That You Can Only Hear in Liguria

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I was 19 the first time I realized that some of the words I was using every day were quite unique. 

It was my first day at college and I was unpacking my suitcase when I asked my roommate “Scusami, dov’è la rumenta?”. She gave me a weird look and she told me she had no idea what I was talking about.

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