Skip to content

2026 Matta Immersion Programs

  • Home
  • Contact
  • Learning Resources
  • Favorite Matta Things
  • Shop
Facebook Instagram Pinterest Twitter YouTube
  • Shopping Cart 0
    • No products in the cart.

Online Lessons
Studentessa Matta
  • BlogExpand
    • 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
  • AboutExpand
    • Get to know Melissa
    • What people are saying…
    • Matta Guest Posts
    • Other sites by MelissaExpand
      • 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 MelissaExpand
    • Online Lessons + Conversation
    • Learn in Italy with Melissa
    • Join the Matta Italian Book Club — Private & Group Reading Experiences
    • Matta Quizlet Interactive FlashcardsExpand
      • Book Club Vocabulary: Io Non Ho Paura
      • Book Club Vocabulary: Guida Astrologica
      • 2022 Italian Words of Week
      • 2021 Italian Words of Week
  • Learn in ItalyExpand
    • Matta Travel Programs – Study in Italy with MelissaExpand
      • 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
  • BookClubExpand
    • 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
  • NovelsExpand
    • Melissa Muldoon Author Website
    • Amazon Author PageExpand
      • Buy Dreaming Sophia
      • Buy Waking Isabella
      • Buy Il Risveglio di Isabella
      • Buy Eternally Artemisia
Shopping Cart 0
Studentessa Matta

Cultural Anecdotes & Current Affairs

  • amici italiani
  • Amici, Friends
  • Curiosities & Current Affairs
  • Guest Posts & Interviews
  • Italian Culture
  • Matta Life
  • 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

Page navigation

Previous PagePrevious 1 … 3 4 5 6 7 Next PageNext

Learn with Melissa

homestays

Travel Programs

blog

  • Mail
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Pinterest
  • X

Subscribe to the Matta Blog

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

Connect

Email
Facebook
Instagram
Pinterest
Twitter
LinkTree — Links to all Matta Social Media Sites
Reach 150 Studentessa Matta Reviews

Learn

Italian Lessons/Conversation with Melissa
Matta Italian Language Resources
Matta Quizlet Interactive Flashcards
Matta Affiliate Schools
Matta Italian Gifts
Matta Book Club
Matta Learning Motivation
Matta Travel Tips
Matta Travel Philosophy

Melissa’s Other Sites

Matta Youtube Channel
Matta Podcast on Spotify
Melissa Muldoon Author Web Site
Melissa Muldoon Amazon Author Page
Matta Amazon Italian Resource Page
Art of Loving Italy Blog
Matta Etsy Italian Page
Matta Italian Pinterest Page
Matta Instagram Feed

Support the Site

Buy Melissa a cup of coffee!
Leave a comment on the blog!
Privacy Policy

© 2026 Studentessa Matta • Site Design & Development by Bellano Web Studio

Scroll to top
  • 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
Search