Italian speaking practice and grammar tutoring
When I started Instantly Italy, I was still working as a translator full time and the only service I could offer here, besides the e-courses via email, was Chiacchieriamo.
When I think about autumn, there are some images that always come to my mind: the fire burning for the first time in the season, walking on a carpet of crunchy leaves, going into the woods to hunt for some mushrooms, and eating the first roasted chestnuts.
The air is getting chillier and everybody is getting ready for a new school season, you can really feel it in the air even if you have no kids. It’s that time of the year when you wish your only thought was to go to the nearest stationery store and buy all you need for the new year.
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!
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.
I was having a Chiacchieriamo session with a lovely lady I get to catch with every morning at breakfast time. She has been living in Italy for a few years now and has a very good command of the language but is still struggling with some very simple things.
They always say that Italian is the language of love, right? So, it is useful to know some nice Italian words to use if you want to impress your loved one – be he or she Italian or not.
One of the funniest things about my work is chatting with people and laughing with them about words with different meanings or uses, depending on the language.
I know, I teach Italian and I shouldn’t admit that sometimes I make little mistakes when speaking my own language. That’s very unprofessional of me, right? Well, no, I don’t think so.
Going to open-air markets or visiting the supermarket is a true adventure and a great way to know a certain town or country better: the farther from your hometown you are, the funnier it is. There is a lot you can learn about a place if you go grocery shopping, so it’s an experience I totally recommend you, in Italy especially, where food is more than a religion.
