Today I’m sharing a day in the life as a family. In it, we take Chiara for pumpkin picking at Greenbluff, a collection of family-owned farms, for the first time. You’ll hear me talk about orchards, pumpkin patches, wine, and farm animals all in Italian. Turns out, I *thought* I knew basic farm animal vocabulary…
5 Ways I’m Relearning Italian (After a Long Break)
Before just recently, it had been a looooong 3 years since I had seriously and consistently studied Italian. Il mio italiano era ARRUGGINITO. That’s why I’m committing myself to 5 main activities in an effort to kickstart my studies again. If you’ve been following me for a while, you might be surprised to hear some…
How I Improved My Rusty Italian in Just 8 Hours
I’ve always been honest with all of you about where I’m at in my Italian language learning journey. So it might not come as a surprise to you when I tell you that, as a result of not studying for over 3 years, my Italian has been incredibly rusty. So I decided to have five…
Essential Italian Vocabulary for New Parents
After bringing la mia stellina Chiara into the world, my day is filled with all kinds of new vocabulary and phrases related to babies. So I thought it would be apt to write an article for other new parents out there that want to chat with their Italian friends or tutors about this huge transition…
How to Write a Christmas Message in Italian
Insegno italiano dal 2006 e quello che dico sempre ai miei studenti è che studiare l’italiano non significa solo imparare solo la lingua, ma anche tutta la nostra bellissima cultura! Ecco perché una lezione con me è come prendere un caffè in buona compagnia: mentre facciamo conversazione su un sacco di temi, esploriamo la lingua…
How to Talk About Bread Making in Italian
Before the pandemic, I never had any interest in making bread. (To be clear, I did try and make a sourdough because it’s delicious and I wanted to be Little House on the Prairie sufficient, but it’s not a hobby that lasted.) COMUNQUE, during what was our final retreat in Florence, the lovely Rachel set…
3 Ways to Boost Your Italian at Women In Language 2020
Hello! Lindsay Williams of Lindsay Does Languages here. Cher has kindly let me hop onto the site to share this post with you. I’ve been co-hosting Women In Language now for over 2 years. Women In Language is now heading for its third major annual event, and we can’t wait to bring it to you…
Recommended Italian Teachers and Tutors
One of the most common questions that we get is if we have any teachers or tutors to recommend both while students are abroad in Italy and while they’re home. To answer that question, I turned to all of you – the members of The Iceberg Project community – to ask about your most highly…
Italian Phrases to Talk About COVID-19
Verbs Ammalarsi – To get sick Cercare un rimedio / una soluzione – To find a solution Fronteggiare l’emergenza – To confront the emergency Guarire – To heal Fare attenzione – To be careful Indossare i guanti – To wear gloves Indossare la mascherina – To wear a mask Lavarsi le mani – To wash…
How To Apologize in Italian
We’ve all been there. Sometimes it’s a simple gaffe (anyone read my other post, Parole Pericolose? If not – check it out for some serious mixups), and sometimes it’s a bigger error that involves actually offending your new Italian friend. If it hasn’t happened yet, over the course of your language learning journey, unfortunately, it…
How to Eat (and Find) AMAZING Pizza in Italy
Despite what you may have heard, not all pizza is created equal and it actually IS entirely possible to have a downright terrible meal in Italy. Part of this has to do with “fast” food, and I’m not talking about McDonalds. You may know the places I’m talking about; think of restaurants or bars with…
Native Audio + Transcript: Andare in Sardegna
Every week, I do my best to send as totally free, bite-sized Italian lesson to give you a taste of real conversational phrases and vocabulary. Lately, I’ve been partnering with my friend and tutor, Beatrice Massaro, to produce some native audio recordings for you. That way you can improve your listening comprehension and learn new…