By Claudia Quesito
In terms of size, Italy is definitely a small country: its total area is 116,350 square miles (or 301.340 chilometri quadrati). If it were a US state, Italy would be somewhere in between New Mexico and Arizona in size, and to make the entire US territory, you would need more than 32 Italie!
By Claudia Quesito
Parola: aiuola
Aiuola: (a-iuò-la), sostantivo femminile – piccola porzione di terreno riempita di fiori o piante.
By Claudia Quesito
Italian is widely spoken in many countries and is the national language of Italy, San Marino, Vatican City, as well as one of the national languages of Switzerland. While there’s virtually no difference between the Italian spoken in San Marino, Vatican City, and Italy, Swiss Italian features several variations that might puzzle many Italians.
By Claudia Quesito
Italian has a number of expressions and sayings based on colors. To start, farne di tutti i colori (literally, to do [something of] any/all kind of colors) means to be up to all sorts of mischief. Dirne di tutti i colori translates as “to let loose on somebody,” and vederne di tutti i colori means to see, experience, or witness any/all kind of things.
By Claudia Quesito
Parola: resilienza
Resilienza: (re-si-lièn-za), sostantivo femminile – in psicologia, è la capacità di reagire a traumi e difficoltà.
By Claudia Quesito
Parola: arcobaleno
Arcobaleno: (ar-co-ba-lé-no), sostantivo maschile – serie di archi colorati che si formano in cielo dopo un temporale.
By Claudia Quesito
Tongue twisters, scioglilingua—literally, (things that) melt your tongue—are great for practicing your Italian pronunciation skills and improving fluency. As in every language, Italian scioglilingua don’t normally have any specific meaning, but they sound funny and they are challenging even for native speakers. Remember this when you try saying them aloud!
By- Claudia Quesito
Italy has an important record of emigration to other countries. The massive migration of Italians in search of fortune abroad started soon after the birth of Italy as it is today (1861). It went through several stages and it evolved into today’s expatriation, which is deeply different from the previous waves, both in terms of numbers and the socio-economic reasons that push people to move abroad.
By- Claudia Quesito
In Italy, it is often debated how much Italians—as well as their fellow Europeans— actually feel European, meaning how much they feel part of something greater than their specific nation.
By- Claudia Quesito
Italians are very cautious about their health, and they seem to be prone to malaises that apparently only occur in Italy. On the bright side of the matter, Italians are generally knowledgeable about their body parts or pains; you would never hear someone complaining about a generic stomachache.
