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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. –…

Differences in Dating Between Americans and Italians

Ok…First things first…Big shout out to any of my cross cultural couples out there reading this. YOU GUYS ARE ROCK STARS! I know this, because I too am part of a cross-cultural coupling, and while it is AMAZING it also presents its unique challenges. And it can be hard, really hard, to overcome some of…

12 Ways to Motivate Yourself to Learn Italian

Need more motivation for learning Italian? I’m speaking at an online conference called Women in Language on the topic “Are you making the most of your language lessons?” It miiiiight be the push you need to get back to the grindstone with your studies. Other talks cover topics like: Memory for Conversation, Why You’re Struggling…

10 Italian Love Songs

I LOVE LOVE. I’m really good at falling in and out of it, talking about it, and looking for more of it. 🙂 That’s why we’ve written articles about love every Valentine’s Day since The Iceberg Project has started. Turns out, you love love as much as we do — especially when it helps you…

How to Write a Love Letter in Italian

Ohhhh amore! What’s better than being in love? Whether you’re dating an Italian, married to your high school sweetheart, or still on the prowl, everyone knows that love rules the world. Italians in particular are depicted all the time as being some of the most romantic people in the world, and whether it’s true or…