Blog

9 Reasons Why You’ll LOVE Visiting Florence in September

Note from Cher: Okay, we’ll admit it. We’re biased about the whole visiting Florence in September thing because we host a retreat during it every year called the Not Your Typical Tourist Retreat. 6 people who are obsessed with learning Italian come with Rachel & I to eat fresh pasta, make incredible friends, and become…

Dialogue: Going to a Museum in Florence, Pt. II

At The Iceberg Project, we believe the only way you can truly learn a language is by using it in real life. (We also believe that Italian is the best language to learn EVER.) To help you get that real-life experience, we put together this dialogue for you. It’s about two friends — both Italian —…

Dialogue: Going to a Museum in Florence, Pt. I

At The Iceberg Project, we believe the only way you can truly learn a language is by using it in real life. (We also believe that chianti wine is an acquired taste.) To help you get that real-life experience, we put together this dialogue for you. It’s about two friends — both Italian — who are…

Tips for Navigating the Train System in Italy

Taking the train in Italy is a reliable, easy, and fast way to get around and explore new places. However, it can also present challenges to those who are unfamiliar with how it works or come from a non-train taking culture. Fear not! It’s actually really easy, once you break it down. Ready for un…

Dialogue: Taking a Day Trip to Chianti

At The Iceberg Project, we believe the only way you can truly learn a language is by using it in real life. (We also believe that burrata is one of the best cheeses around.) To help you get that real-life experience, we put together this dialogue for you. It’s about two friends — both Italian —…

How to Create the Ideal Language Learning Flashcard

So, you’ve discovered the power of flashcards, and would like to finally use them to help memorize Italian words. In theory, all you need to do is create a flashcard (physical or digital) that displays two pieces of information: A target language word The translation of that word in your native language Once you’ve done…

Books to Read for the Beginner Italian Student

We get a lot of readers who check out Cher’s top 10 books she loves in Italian and many who read about how to discuss these beloved (or hated) libri but both of these articles are for the more advanced learner. After seeing emails come through asking for beginner books, we thought it would…

75 Vocabulary Words for Talking About Sports in Italian

When you think about sports in Italy, I’ll bet the first one that comes to mind is the infamous calcio, or soccer. And if you have spent any length of time obsessing about Italian culture or in Italy–or both–team names like Juventus and Gli Azzurri will come to mind. But beyond calcio, there are lots…

Dialogue: Shopping for Clothes

How to Supercharge Your Vocabulary Flashcards for the Digital Age

I have a confession to make: I hate language learning flashcards. Well, I used to, anyway. Before you reach for your pitchforks, hear me out: The traditional vocabulary flashcard suffers from two key problems. Flashcards are, in my opinion: — Cumbersome – Flashcards take up space, and lots of it. If you’re using index cards,…

What It’s Like to Move Houses in Italy

Before Friday, 16 March, I will have moved 23 times since I was 17 years old. After March 16, I will have moved 24 times. At this point, I consider myself a bit of an expert in this matter. I pack quickly, unpack quickly, throw away or donate anything even remotely useless to me, and…

Worksheet: Phrases to Talk About Your Italian Lessons

We snaked our way through the streets of Florence as we made our way to il mercato di Sant’Ambrogio. I turned toward Mary, “Com’è andata la tua lezione? – How’d your lesson go?” She responded, raising her voice slightly so I could hear her above the clamor, “È andata benissimo, Beatrice è un’insegnante fantastica. –…