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Studentessa Matta

Cultural Anecdotes & Current Affairs

  • amici italiani
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  • Debra Kolkka: Why I’m Learning Italian – A Studentessa Matta Reader’s Journey

    Debra Kolkka: Why I’m Learning Italian – A Studentessa Matta Reader’s Journey

  • Doreen Fiorillo: Why I’m Learning Italian – A Studentessa Matta Reader’s Journey

    Doreen Fiorillo: Why I’m Learning Italian – A Studentessa Matta Reader’s Journey

  • Ishita Sood: Why I’m Learning Italian – A Matta Reader’s Journey

    Ishita Sood: Why I’m Learning Italian – A Matta Reader’s Journey

  • Italian Friendships: Your Best Motivator to Learn a Language!

    Italian Friendships: Your Best Motivator to Learn a Language!

  • Meeting Sophia Loren: An author’s Dream Comes True!

    Meeting Sophia Loren: An author’s Dream Comes True!

  • iTalki Italian Teachers: Meet Francesca, Serena, Silvia & Maria

    iTalki Italian Teachers: Meet Francesca, Serena, Silvia & Maria

  • Napoli Unplugged A Guide to Naples by Bonnie Alperts talks about “her” city!

    Napoli Unplugged A Guide to Naples by Bonnie Alperts talks about “her” city!

  • A Memorable Homestay in Bergamo with Elena — Guest Post by Patricia

    A Memorable Homestay in Bergamo with Elena — Guest Post by Patricia

  • Lungotevere: A Festive Destination for Roman Summer Nights

    Lungotevere: A Festive Destination for Roman Summer Nights

  • Una Caffettiera Nuova: Brewing Coffee with Style

    Una Caffettiera Nuova: Brewing Coffee with Style

  • 1000 Mille Lire: What can you do with 1000 lire?

    1000 Mille Lire: What can you do with 1000 lire?

  • From Rome to California: Lucrezia Oddone Meets Studentessa Matta—Watch Our YouTube Chat!

    From Rome to California: Lucrezia Oddone Meets Studentessa Matta—Watch Our YouTube Chat!

  • Vivere Come Romani! 2015 Matta Rome Italian Language and Art Program

    Vivere Come Romani! 2015 Matta Rome Italian Language and Art Program

  • Sarah Mastroianni talks about Siena in a Matta Podcast

    Sarah Mastroianni talks about Siena in a Matta Podcast

  • Artistic Stroll in Florence: Visiting Ambra Pampaloni Ceramics

    Artistic Stroll in Florence: Visiting Ambra Pampaloni Ceramics

  • Down by the Bay in Monterey: Un Tuffo nella Storia e nella Natura

    Down by the Bay in Monterey: Un Tuffo nella Storia e nella Natura

  • Soaring Like an Angel in Basilicata: My Volo dell’Angelo Adventure

    Soaring Like an Angel in Basilicata: My Volo dell’Angelo Adventure

  • Andiamo a spasso! Walking the Dogs in My Neighborhood

    Andiamo a spasso! Walking the Dogs in My Neighborhood

  • Melissa answers 11 questions about learning a foreign language

    Melissa answers 11 questions about learning a foreign language

  • Welcome to the Studentessa Matta YouTube Channel!

    Welcome to the Studentessa Matta YouTube Channel!

  • Venetian Carnival and Costumes Captured by Karen!

    Venetian Carnival and Costumes Captured by Karen!

  • Ovunque! Love is All Around

    Ovunque! Love is All Around

  • Italy Magazine Award Studentessa Matta in 2013 and 2014 — Best Art & Culture Blog

    Italy Magazine Award Studentessa Matta in 2013 and 2014 — Best Art & Culture Blog

  • Tutti Matti Podcast: Two Italian Girls Talk about Traveling Abroad

    Tutti Matti Podcast: Two Italian Girls Talk about Traveling Abroad

  • Bergamo: A Stroll through town with Elena — Walking Among Words and Beauty

    Bergamo: A Stroll through town with Elena — Walking Among Words and Beauty

  • Tutti Matti Podcast: Italian friends share special holiday memories

    Tutti Matti Podcast: Italian friends share special holiday memories

  • Giovani Talenti in Fuga dall’italia: Young Italians Should They Stay or Should They Go?

    Giovani Talenti in Fuga dall’italia: Young Italians Should They Stay or Should They Go?

  • Vivi, Sorridi, Divertiti: The Birth of the Matta theme song!

    Vivi, Sorridi, Divertiti: The Birth of the Matta theme song!

  • The Unintentional Climb: Stacy Pollard Finds Her Inner Italian

    The Unintentional Climb: Stacy Pollard Finds Her Inner Italian

  • Città di fango. Flood and Mud in Genova

    Città di fango. Flood and Mud in Genova

  • Visiting la Studentessa Pigra in Temecula California

    Visiting la Studentessa Pigra in Temecula California

  • An Evening with Dianne Hales and la Giocanda

    An Evening with Dianne Hales and la Giocanda

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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!

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
There’s still time for Italy in June! This June 2 There’s still time for Italy in June!

This June 2026, come away with me to Arezzo and step into the rhythm of real Italian life and immerse in Italian Language and culture. 

There is still time to sign up and participate in the 2026 Arezzo Matta Italian Language Program. 

Join our small group of language fanatics, study at Cultura Italiana in the mornings and go on fun adventures in the afternoons with Melissa, speak, explore and take your language skills father.

This isn’t just a trip… it’s a full immersion into the language, the culture, and the magic of Italy—where every moment becomes part of your story.

Come get a little matta with your Italian…and take your language skills further than you ever imagined.

👉 Join us in Arezzo this June!

Visit the www.StudentessaMatta.com website to sign up and learn more. Contact Melissa@StudentessaMatta.com to talk directly with Melissa

#StudentessaMatta #LearnItalianInItaly #Arezzo #ItalianLanguage #LanguageImmersion #ParlaItaliano #ItalyTravel #ItalianCulture #StudyAbroad #ItalianLife #TravelAndLearn #ItalianJourney #LaDolceVita #ItalyExperience
🇮🇹 Un consiglio dalla Matta 🇮🇹 
Matta Italian Lang 🇮🇹 Un consiglio dalla Matta 🇮🇹 
Matta Italian Language Tip!

Just as in yoga, breath matters in Italian too.

A little trick borrowed from yoga.

Use your breath to learn Italian more effectively. Inhale slowly, exhale calmly, and while you do, repeat a new word or expression like “senza fiato,” “avere il fiatone,” or “tirare un sospiro di sollievo.”

Breathing deeply helps you slow down, hear sounds more clearly, and pronounce words more naturally. After all, learning a language, just like yoga, requires breath, balance, and a pinch of patience.

Il fiato = breath

Il respiro = breathing, breath

Trafelato/a = flustered, breathless from rushing

Il fiatone = panting, heavy breathing after exertion

L’affanno = breathlessness, strain

Essere senza fiato = to be out of breath / breathless / amazed

Avere il fiato corto = to be short of breath

La mancanza di respiro = shortness of breath

Respirare affannosamente = to breathe heavily

Respirare a fatica = to breathe with difficulty

Trattenere il respiro = to hold one’s breath

Tirare un sospiro di sollievo = to breathe a sigh of relief

Read the Matta Post to learn more Italian vocabulary about breathing in and breathing out!

https://www.studentessamatta.com/vocabulary-breathe-easy-in-italian-respirare-mozzafiato-affanno/

#ItalianLanguage #ItalianExpressions #ItalianWords #ParlareItaliano #Fiato SenzaFiato Fiatone
Sabato sera in centro… cin cin! Sabato sera in centro… cin cin!
Vuoi smettere di flirtare con l’italiano e fidanza Vuoi smettere di flirtare con l’italiano e fidanzarti sul serio?

Want to stop flirting with Italian and get engaged instead?

Da passivo a potente: come iniziare finalmente a parlare italiano con sicurezza
From Passive to Powerful: How to Finally Start Speaking Italian with Confidence

Il mio corteggiamento con la lingua italiana si è ufficialmente trasformato in un fidanzamento!
#ItalianFluency #ItalianImmersion #italianlanguage #ItalianPractice #Italianvocabulary #LanguageLearning #LanguageLearningTips #LearnItalian #LearnItalianonline #SpeakItalian #StudentessaMatta

https://www.studentessamatta.com/active-vs-passive-italian-learning-speak-with-confidence/
🇮🇹 Un consiglio dalla Matta 🇮🇹  
Matta Italian Lan 🇮🇹 Un consiglio dalla Matta 🇮🇹 

Matta Italian Language Tip!

Quando le bugie… non fanno molta strada

When Lies Don’t Get Very Far

IN ITALIAN, YOU SAY: “LE BUGIE HANNO LE GAMBE CORTE.”

Literally? Lies have short legs.

But the meaning is much more vivid: lies don’t go very far.

Sooner or later… the truth catches up with them.
It’s the perfect expression for shows like Non dirlo al mio capo, where one small lie starts running… only to trip over itself not long after.

Read the the Matta Blog Post about the RAIPlay TV series “Non dirlo al mio capo”

https://www.studentessamatta.com/non-dirlo-al-mio-capo-italian-rai-tv-series-vanessa-incontrada-lino-guanciale/

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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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