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    • Commissario Ricciardi: Il posto di ognuno
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      • Buy Dreaming Sophia
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Studentessa Matta

Cultural Anecdotes & Current Affairs

  • amici italiani
  • Amici, Friends
  • Curiosities & Current Affairs
  • Guest Posts & Interviews
  • Italian Culture
  • Matta Life
  • Unveiling the Bark-tastic Origins of the Expression Dog Days of Summer

    Unveiling the Bark-tastic Origins of the Expression Dog Days of Summer

  • Enza: A Tribute to Vincenza Terrigni’s Life and Legacy in Arezzo

    Enza: A Tribute to Vincenza Terrigni’s Life and Legacy in Arezzo

  • History and Gameplay of La Giostra del Saracino: Arezzo’s Iconic Medieval Joust

    History and Gameplay of La Giostra del Saracino: Arezzo’s Iconic Medieval Joust

  • How to Respond to “Come Stai?” to express your daily mood.

    How to Respond to “Come Stai?” to express your daily mood.

  • Learn Italian for Travel with the Matta Four-Hour Traveler’s Course

    Learn Italian for Travel with the Matta Four-Hour Traveler’s Course

  • “Bussola” and “Scombussolato” Guiding and Confusing Italian Words

    “Bussola” and “Scombussolato” Guiding and Confusing Italian Words

  • 2024 Spring Matta Book Club: Brodetto Galeotto — What’s Cooking in the Kitchen?

    2024 Spring Matta Book Club: Brodetto Galeotto — What’s Cooking in the Kitchen?

  • 2024 Fresh New “Matta” Look! Discover New Roads to Mastering Italian

    2024 Fresh New “Matta” Look! Discover New Roads to Mastering Italian

  • Egg-squisite Italian Easter Traditions!

    Egg-squisite Italian Easter Traditions!

  • A Pawsome Day at School: The Tale of a Puppy Mascot in Florence

    A Pawsome Day at School: The Tale of a Puppy Mascot in Florence

  • Discovering la Giostra del Saracino ad Arezzo con Zio Paperone

    Discovering la Giostra del Saracino ad Arezzo con Zio Paperone

  • Celebrate the Holidays! New Italian adventures in the coming year.

    Celebrate the Holidays! New Italian adventures in the coming year.

  • Leaning on the Edge: The Perilous Plight of Torre Garisenda in Bologna

    Leaning on the Edge: The Perilous Plight of Torre Garisenda in Bologna

  • La Chiesa di San Biagio: Sangallo’s masterpiece and jewel of Montepulciano

    La Chiesa di San Biagio: Sangallo’s masterpiece and jewel of Montepulciano

  • Grooving with the Galaxies: How Lorenzo Baglioni Made Kepler’s Laws Sing!

    Grooving with the Galaxies: How Lorenzo Baglioni Made Kepler’s Laws Sing!

  • Ilaria del Carretto: The Lucchese Beauty Who Lives Beyond the Grave

    Ilaria del Carretto: The Lucchese Beauty Who Lives Beyond the Grave

  • Ferragosto è qui! Festeggiando a Locorotondo in Puglia

    Ferragosto è qui! Festeggiando a Locorotondo in Puglia

  • La Terra di Piero! Sansepolcro — birthplace of a Renaissance genius

    La Terra di Piero! Sansepolcro — birthplace of a Renaissance genius

  • La Meglio Gioventù: A Cinematic Journey Through Italian History

    La Meglio Gioventù: A Cinematic Journey Through Italian History

  • Galoppa galoppa, o bel cavalier! La Giostra del Saracino is here!

    Galoppa galoppa, o bel cavalier! La Giostra del Saracino is here!

  • Celebrating International Women’s Day with a Legal Trailblazer — Lidia Poët

    Celebrating International Women’s Day with a Legal Trailblazer — Lidia Poët

  • Thinking in Italian while walking the dog helps improve your fluency

    Thinking in Italian while walking the dog helps improve your fluency

  • Ce l’abbiamo fatta Giovà. We did it after 30 years! Falconi’s mob boss killer caught.

    Ce l’abbiamo fatta Giovà. We did it after 30 years! Falconi’s mob boss killer caught.

  • Gina Lollobrigida — an artist in every sense of the word

    Gina Lollobrigida — an artist in every sense of the word

  • 2023 — Benvenuto 2023! Il futuro è smagliante!

    2023 — Benvenuto 2023! Il futuro è smagliante!

  • 12 Amazing Years of Matta Madness: A Celebration of Language and Culture!

    12 Amazing Years of Matta Madness: A Celebration of Language and Culture!

  • The joust in Arezzo — celebrate the Italian way!

    The joust in Arezzo — celebrate the Italian way!

  • Walking on the moon like Armstrong: sung by Pago Italian singer

    Walking on the moon like Armstrong: sung by Pago Italian singer

  • Oh, Mia Dea! The Mystery of the Armilla Picena

    Oh, Mia Dea! The Mystery of the Armilla Picena

  • Angeli di Fango: A Tribute to the Mud Angels who saved Florence

    Angeli di Fango: A Tribute to the Mud Angels who saved Florence

  • Pinguini Tattici Nucleari are super hot this summer!

    Pinguini Tattici Nucleari are super hot this summer!

  • Soulmates for Dinner: Exploring “Four to Dinner” on Netflix

    Soulmates for Dinner: Exploring “Four to Dinner” on Netflix

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Receive “5 Things to Do Every Day to Learn Italian” FREE!

🇮🇹 Un consiglio dalla Matta 🇮🇹  Matta Italian Lang 🇮🇹 Un consiglio dalla Matta 🇮🇹 
Matta Italian Language Tip!

Read the latest Studentessa Matta Blog Post about Italo Calvino’s novel “Il Barone Rampante.” 

Learn new ways to study Italian, words like — RAMPANTE (cavallo rampante, giovane rampante)and RAMPICANTE (piante rampicanti)

Discover the curious expression: ARRAMPICARSI SUGLI SPECCHI

Espressione curiosa che significa: To climb mirrors.

“Arrampicarsi sugli specch”means trying desperately to justify oneself with weak, flimsy, or impossible arguments. The image is perfect: attempting to climb a smooth, slippery mirror, finding no foothold, and inevitably sliding back down.

In English, similar ideas include: to make desperate attempt, flimsy excuses, to grasp at straws, to try to justify the unjustifiable, oppure to attempt something logically impossible or futile.

Discover more on the http://StudentessaMatta.com website, study and travel with Melissa and take your Italian language skills further!

#StudentessaMatta #LearnItalian #ItalianWithCalvino #TheBaronInTheTrees #ItalianLiterature ItalianVocabulary
Muldoon 🇮🇹 Un consiglio dalla Matta 🇮🇹  Matta Ital Muldoon 🇮🇹 Un consiglio dalla Matta 🇮🇹 
Matta Italian Language Tip!

Take the Playful Path to Learning Italian!

Imagining “What If…” in Italian
How to express hypothetical or unreal ideas
When you want to express a hypothetical or unreal idea in Italian, you often use the periodo ipotetico, the Italian “if” structure. 

In English, we say things like: If dinosaurs lived in Rome, I would go to the Colosseum. Italian can do this in several ways, depending on your level.

For beginning students, don’t panic and don’t wrestle the subjunctive dragon yet. You can still express “what if” ideas using simpler structures using present and future tenses. 

Advanced students can gallop straight into the glorious grammatical empire of the congiuntivo, where hypothetical dinosaurs roam freely!

Beginner-Friendly Options

You can use se + present tense + future tense for a simple, possible idea.

Se i dinosauri vivono a Roma, andrò al Colosseo e sceglierò un dinosauro come animale domestico.

If dinosaurs live in Rome, I will go to the Colosseum and choose a dinosaur as a pet.

For More Advanced Students

Use se + congiuntivo imperfetto + condizionale presente for an imaginary situation in the present.

Se i dinosauri vivessero a Roma, andrei al Colosseo e sceglierei un dinosauro come animale domestico.

If dinosaurs lived in Rome, I would go to the Colosseum and choose a dinosaur as a pet.

Use se + congiuntivo trapassato + condizionale passato for an unreal situation in the past.
Se Didone avesse sorvolato Cartagine sul dorso di uno pterodattilo gigante, avrebbe visto tutto il suo regno dall’alto.

If Dido had flown over Carthage on the back of a giant pterodactyl, she would have seen her whole kingdom from above.

Read the latest http://Studentessamatt.com article about Emanuele Aloia’s song Cartagine and a Playful Path to Learning Italian

EmanueleAloia #Cartagine #LearnItalian #ItalianMusic
Cartagine: la musica di Emanuele Aloia, la storia Cartagine: la musica di Emanuele Aloia, la storia e imparare l’italiano in modo creativo

Cartagine: Emanuele Aloia's music, history and Learning Italian Creatively

Un amore grande come un impero 
A love as vast as an empire

Con la sua canzone Cartagine, Emanuele Aloia ci porta in un viaggio in cui l’amore non è solo un sentimento, ma una forza che attraversa il tempo.
#Aeneas #ArtHistory #Cartagine #Carthage #Congiuntivo #Dido #EmanueleAloia #ItalianCulture #Italiangrammar #italianlanguage #ItalianMusic #LanguageLearning #LearnItalian #StudentessaMatta

https://www.studentessamatta.com/emanuele-aloia-cartagine-learn-creatively-italian-music-history-endless-love/
Il finale che non c’era… e quello che ho scritto i Il finale che non c’era… e quello che ho scritto io

The Ending That Wasn’t… and the One I Wrote Myself

Un anno con Ricciardi
A Year with Ricciardi

Per quasi un anno mi sono lasciata conquistare dal mondo del Commissario Ricciardi, un personaggio di fiction creato da Maurizio de Giovanni.
#BookLovers #CommissarioRicciardi #FanFiction #Italianbooks #ItalianCulture #LearnItalian #MauriziodeGiovanni #Napoli #StudentessaMatta

https://www.studentessamatta.com/commissario-ricciardi-fan-fiction-matta-epilogue/
Ciao from San Francisco! Siamo tornati! Ciao from San Francisco! Siamo tornati!
🇮🇹 Un consiglio dalla Matta 🇮🇹  Matta Italian Lang 🇮🇹 Un consiglio dalla Matta 🇮🇹 
Matta Italian Language Tip!

Vuoi smettere di flirtare con l’italiano e fidanzarti sul serio?

Want to stop flirting with Italian and get engaged instead?

From Passive to Powerful: How to Finally Start Speaking Italian with Confidence

A word does not become yours when you simply recognize it on a page. It becomes yours when you sit with it and absorb it, use it, play with it, and make it part of your life.

Here’s your daily Matta mini-challenge:

1. LEARN 3 NEW WORDS A DAY.

But do not just admire them like pretty little souvenirs. Put each one into THREE sentences out loud so your brain begins to hear them, feel them, and remember them.

2. NARRATE ONE SMALL MOMENT OF YOUR DAY IN ITALIAN.
Talk to yourself as if you were telling a tiny story. Describe your coffee, your walk, your grumpy mood, your missing sock, your heroic trip to the grocery store. Small moments are where real language starts to live.

3. WRITE 5 WHIMSICAL SENTENCES IN ITALIAN EVERY DAY.
Make them strange. Make them funny. Make them unforgettable. Ask things like: What would cows say if they could talk? If dogs took over the world, what would they do first? What would Dante have said to Shakespeare over dinner?

The more playful and personal your practice is, the more the language sticks. Italian loves attention. Give it a little every day, and before long, it will start talking back.

Read the Matta Post about moving from PASSIVE to ACTIVE language learning.

https://www.studentessamatta.com/active-vs-passive-italian-learning-speak-with-confidence/

#italianlanguage #italianfluency #speakitalian #languagelearning #languagelearningtips italianpractice learnitalianonline

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  • Blog
    • Italian Language Learning, Tips, Motivation
    • Art & Artists
    • Cultural Anecdotes & Current Affairs
    • Food & Wine
    • History, Holidays, Festivals
    • Literature, Music, Film
    • Traveling, Cities, Excursions
    • Matta Posts with Quizlet Vocabulary Flashcards
    • Sofia la piccola Matta teaches beginner Italian to children
    • Blog Signup
  • About
    • Get to know Melissa
    • What people are saying…
    • Matta Guest Posts
    • Other sites by Melissa
      • Melissa Muldoon Author Site
      • Art of Loving Italy Blog
      • Pinterest Art of Loving Italy
      • Matta Youtube Channel
      • Matta Music Spotify Playlist
      • Matta Podcast
    • News, Awards
    • Studentessa Matta Theme Song
    • Why are you learning Italian? Share Your Story
  • Learn with Melissa
    • Online Lessons + Conversation
    • Learn in Italy with Melissa
    • Join the Matta Italian Book Club — Private & Group Reading Experiences
    • Matta Quizlet Interactive Flashcards
      • Book Club Vocabulary: Io Non Ho Paura
      • Book Club Vocabulary: Guida Astrologica
      • 2022 Italian Words of Week
      • 2021 Italian Words of Week
  • Learn in Italy
    • Matta Travel Programs – Study in Italy with Melissa
      • 2026 June Matta Arezzo City Language Program
      • 2026 September Matta Tuscan Villa Language Program
      • 2026 September Matta & ItalianME Florence Language Program
      • 2026 Arezzo Jousting Festival September Weekend Program
      • Matta Travel Philosophy
    • Previous Matta Language Programs Italy
    • Italian Language Homestay Vacations
    • Walk in Italy Day Experience / Italian Lesson in Italy
  • BookClub
    • About BookClub
    • Commissario Ricciardi: Il posto di ognuno
    • Commissario Ricciardi: Condanna del sangue
    • Commissario Ricciardi:Il senso del dolore
    • Il Treno dei Bambini
    • La Libreria dei Gatti Neri
    • Brodetto galeotto
    • Io non ho paura
    • Quattro metà
    • Prima regola non innamorarsi
    • Il risveglio di Isabella
    • Guida astrologica per cuori infranti
    • Book Club Resource Hub
  • Novels
    • Melissa Muldoon Author Website
    • Amazon Author Page
      • Buy Dreaming Sophia
      • Buy Waking Isabella
      • Buy Il Risveglio di Isabella
      • Buy Eternally Artemisia
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