30 Minute Italian

A robust tutorial to help you navigate dinner conversation with native Italian speakers and with your fellow Italian language learners.

Ciao mia cara, Come stai? È veramente un sacco che non ci sentiamo. Senti, mi sei venuta in mente perché ho sentito che hanno aperto un nuovo locale che sembra molto carino vicino Piazza della Repubblica e che stanno facendo degli aperitivi promozionali. Insomma si prende un drink, si mangia qualcosa, e costa sette euro ma mi hanno detto che il cibo è molto buono.

All in all, we’ve really done a thorough job of covering love. But, love being how it is, there is always more to say about it. So, this time around, we (that is, Rachel, Carlotta & I) thought we would make this list a little steamier.

There have been many a time where I’ve guessed a word relying solely on English and have added an Italian ending… and I’ve been right. And there have been many other times where I’ve guessed based solely on my English and have been very, sometimes embarrassingly, wrong. I’m guessing I’m not the only one. That’s why I put together an episode of some of the most common false friends in Italian - the words that seem friendly because they’re so close to English but then turn around and tri

There is something so satisfying about learning swear words in another language. After Rachel wrote this article with 8 swear words to add sass to your Italian vocabulary, we thought it would only be fair to follow up with another list of insults. They range from affectionately rude (like to tease your friends) all the way to when you’re really angry, or when you’re incazzato nero (totally pissed off).

I really like pasta (cacio e pepe is my favorite), gelato (fragola, every day all day), and cheese (pecorino forever and ever), but pizza? I love pizza. For the first few weeks that I lived in Rome, the only people I knew were the ones who sold pizza. (If you’re ever in Monteverde in Rome, my favorite pizza al taglio shop is the one on Viale Villa Pamphili.)

I’m back to talk to you all about how to use the Italian words “poi” and “così.” I would describe both of these as “connector words,” or words that you use to easily and fluidly connect two sentence pieces together.

How do you “fare complimenti” to a person in Italian -- whether it’s for how good they look, what they’re wearing, their language skills, or just to be polite and show your appreciation?

If you’re in Italy, I’m 110% sure that you’re going to run into some kind of open market, whether that’s inside or outside. And when you do (hopefully when you’re on our Not Your Typical Tourist Language Immersion Retreat), what are you supposed to say and do so you get what you want and avoid making una brutta figura?

Have you ever heard an expression in Italian that starts with “tanto?” You might already know that “tanto” means “a lot” but in some cases, that translation doesn’t make much sense. I hear all the time that this sentence structure is confusing! So what does “tanto” mean when used this way? It’s simple, so let me demystify it for you.

Verbs in Italian can have so many different meanings, so the entire goal of this article is to help you identify which ones you have to know in order to have fluid + enjoyable conversations in Italian.

In Italian, a pronominal verb is basically a verb mixed with pronouns. Pronominal verbs look similar to verbs you already know, making it a little bit easier to take a guess at their meaning. We’re all familiar with the Italian verb ‘andare,’ meaning ‘to go’. The pronominal verb that looks similar to andare is andarsene. You can guess by how it looks that andarsene probably has something to do with going somewhere. But how do all the pieces fit together?

What do you say when you freeze and forget how to speak Italian? Don't worry -- it happens! Here are some useful phrases to try.

Much like in the US, you can buy cheese at the deli counter. Near the deli there is usually some already pre-packaged and pre-weighed cheeses for you to browse as well. Personally, I like my cheese fresh cut, so I recommend going to the deli versus buying it pre-packaged. Alternatively you can get cheese from a caseificio, which is a shop that specializes in dairy products. These shops are usually close to the farm where the sheep / cows are bred.

I don’t know why, but I love the word “altrimenti”. It might be the way it rolls off the tongue or the elegant way it connects phrases together, but I’m off on a language-nerd tangent now. The point is that today we are learning how to use the word “altrimenti” in Italian. (Seriously, say it loud now. Shivers. Kind of like “la schiuma del cappuccino”.)