Instantly Italy

Italian speaking practice and grammar tutoring

[Italian Grammar] Uscire, Lasciare or Partire? How To Say To Leave in Italian

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English speakers always have a hard time when they need to say ‘to leave’ in Italian.

In fact, English has just one verb to express that concept, while Italian has at least three different verbs: uscire, lasciare, and partire. I have seen my students struggle a bit with that and I thought it could be useful to write a post about this aspect of the Italian language.

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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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[Advent Calendar] Italian verbs to be used at Christmas

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Instantly Italy’s Advent Calendar is almost over and it’s been a blast!

I started the tradition of the Advent Calendar last year with a series of videos about the Italian traditions for Christmas: it was so much fun that I simply had to do it again. The topic I chose for this year is Italian verbs that could be used during the Christmas season.

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[Italian Books] I leoni di Sicilia by Stefania Auci

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I have another good Italian book to recommend and I am super happy about it! 

As you may know very well since I constantly repeat it in my posts, I am always on the hunt for good Italian books to recommend here on the blog and, when I find one, I am truly delighted.

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[Italian Grammar] The difference between conoscere and sapere

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Sometimes the trickiest grammar topics are the ones that seem really simple. 

For example, the use of imperfetto and passato prossimo is taught towards the beginning of the Italian grammar learning experience but, as I have tried to explain in an old post of mine, it is one of the trickiest aspects of Italian.

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What Is Italiano Mordi e Fuggi?

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Do you remember Pausa Caffè?

Back in February, I launched a challenge to help people overcome their fear of speaking Italian. It was called Pausa Caffè and it required participants to answer an Italian question a day for a month.

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[Italian Grammar] How To Use Ne In Italian

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I have written a blog post about the use of the Italian particle ci a while ago, and now it’s time to focus on its friend: the particle ne.

As I said in that blog post about ci, the use of these two particles in Italian can be a bit frustrating, so I am writing these blog posts hoping to help students who struggle with this aspect of Italian grammar.

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[Italian Grammar] How To Use Ci In Italian

Subscribe to the Vespa rides and get full access to Your Italian Toolbox, a library of language learning materials that you can use to practice Italian.

Ci and Ne are two little particles that can be quite frustrating, at times. 

I have noticed that some of my students have a hard time with how to use ci and ne properly because – let’s admit it – they are a bit tricky, so I have decided to write this blog post to see if I can make things easier for people struggling with this topic as well.

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Pausa Caffè is back!

A couple of months ago, I launched a challenge called Pausa Caffè. 

The goal of the challenge was to get people to speak a little Italian every day, in order to help them improve their speaking skills and their self-confidence. In fact, many students not living in Italy have multiple opportunities to work on their reading, listening, and comprehension skills but not very many chances to speak the language.

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