Autostrada, sottopassaggio, lungolago: what do these three Italian words have in common (apart from the fact that you’ll likely spot them on road signs during your Italian road trip)? They are all nouns made up of two words fused together into one. In Italian, we call them parole composte — compound words. The adjective composto …
Italy has some truly amazing train rides. And soon enough, with summer approaching and itineraries taking shape, you may soon find yourself standing in an Italian station, perhaps feeling a bit confused while checking your phone, and feeling the growing suspicion you may be on the wrong platform. So whether you’re hopping on a high-speed …
There’s this widespread idea that life in Italy is slow, that we do everything senza fretta (unhurried), lingering over espresso in the sunshine while the rest of the world moves fast. And while I’m not a fan of stereotypes, I have to admit this one gives me the perfect excuse to dive into some great …
Card games hold a special place in Italian culture. Walk into any bar from the Alps to Sicily, and you’ll likely spot a group of people gathered around a table, studying their cards with the seriousness of surgeons preparing for an operation. We play cards at Christmas, at the beach, at the park, on long …
You’ve just landed in Italy. Obviously, you’ve already memorised all the food vocabulary (priorities!). Maybe you’ve also rehearsed a few survival phrases. But at some point (and trust me, it will happen) you’ll also need to explain how your body feels. And I’m not just talking about the “I think that fifth gelato was a …
Italian is a beautiful, musical language — we can all agree on that, right? But there’s a specific category of the vocabulary that’s honestly next-level. I’m talking about words for sounds, the ones that don’t just describe a rustling leaf or a crackling fire, they sound like one. From a grammatical point of view, many …