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      • 2021 Italian Words of Week
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      • Buy Dreaming Sophia
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Studentessa Matta

Italian Language Learning, Tips, Motivation

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  • Scacco Matto! Learn Italian Through Chess, Card Games & Fun Vocabulary

    Scacco Matto! Learn Italian Through Chess, Card Games & Fun Vocabulary

  • Cartagine: Endless Love, Emanuele Aloia’s Music, and a Playful Path to Learning Italian

    Cartagine: Endless Love, Emanuele Aloia’s Music, and a Playful Path to Learning Italian

  • Commissario Ricciardi Fan Fiction “Matta” Epilogue

    Commissario Ricciardi Fan Fiction “Matta” Epilogue

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

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

  • How to Breathe in Italian: Inhale, Exhale, Panting, and Breathless Expressions

    How to Breathe in Italian: Inhale, Exhale, Panting, and Breathless Expressions

  • How to Apologize in Italian: Don’t Confuse “Scusarsi” with “Fare un’Apologia”

    How to Apologize in Italian: Don’t Confuse “Scusarsi” with “Fare un’Apologia”

  •  Announcement! NEW SPRING 2026 Matta Book Club is set to begin! Ricciardi returns.

     Announcement! NEW SPRING 2026 Matta Book Club is set to begin! Ricciardi returns.

  • Cappellaio Matto & Carnevale 2026 in Italia

    Cappellaio Matto & Carnevale 2026 in Italia

  • Matta Reading Passport: 10-Blog Post Italian Reading Challenge (Earn a 30-Min. Lesson)

    Matta Reading Passport: 10-Blog Post Italian Reading Challenge (Earn a 30-Min. Lesson)

  • Pensarci, pensare di, pensarne, pensare che: four ways to “think” without losing your mind

    Pensarci, pensare di, pensarne, pensare che: four ways to “think” without losing your mind

  • Era vs. È Stato: Mastering the Nuances of Italian Past Tenses

    Era vs. È Stato: Mastering the Nuances of Italian Past Tenses

  • 2026 Matta Study Opportunities in Italy! Small groups. Real Italian. Authentic Learning. 

    2026 Matta Study Opportunities in Italy! Small groups. Real Italian. Authentic Learning. 

  • Keep a Journal in Italian: Boost Writing, Speaking & Fluency

    Keep a Journal in Italian: Boost Writing, Speaking & Fluency

  • Correre isn’t just sport: it’s a “two-gear” verb

    Correre isn’t just sport: it’s a “two-gear” verb

  • Italian Building Blocks: from “Ciao” to “C1”. Traveling the language with Marco & Maria

    Italian Building Blocks: from “Ciao” to “C1”. Traveling the language with Marco & Maria

  • Hello Lake Garda! An Italian homestay with Claudia in Desenzano

    Hello Lake Garda! An Italian homestay with Claudia in Desenzano

  • DOVERE: Use it like a boss: obligation, advice, deduction… and even regret

    DOVERE: Use it like a boss: obligation, advice, deduction… and even regret

  • When La Befana Comes Knocking

    When La Befana Comes Knocking

  • Between Christmas and New Year: When Time Slips Off the Wall Like a Dalí Clock

    Between Christmas and New Year: When Time Slips Off the Wall Like a Dalí Clock

  • Buone Feste 2025 da Studentessa Matta!

    Buone Feste 2025 da Studentessa Matta!

  • The Matta Method: Best ways to learn Italian at home

    The Matta Method: Best ways to learn Italian at home

  • How to Stop Forgetting Italian Vocabulary (and Finally Make It Stick)

    How to Stop Forgetting Italian Vocabulary (and Finally Make It Stick)

  • Going Way Back in Time with il Passato Remoto — senza paura

    Going Way Back in Time with il Passato Remoto — senza paura

  • I Spy with My Little Eye! An Italian Christmas Vocabulary Game

    I Spy with My Little Eye! An Italian Christmas Vocabulary Game

  •  Announcement! NEW January 2026 Matta Book Club is about to begin!

     Announcement! NEW January 2026 Matta Book Club is about to begin!

  • Prepariamoci al Natale! Facciamo le liste dei buoni e dei cattivi… e regali!

    Prepariamoci al Natale! Facciamo le liste dei buoni e dei cattivi… e regali!

  • Meet Lisa! New Italian Homestay Teacher in Florence Joining the Matta Community

    Meet Lisa! New Italian Homestay Teacher in Florence Joining the Matta Community

  • Schianto: Italian Word That Packs a Punch!

    Schianto: Italian Word That Packs a Punch!

  • Learn Italian in a Tuscan Villa 2026 – Art, Language & Culture with Melissa, Paola Testi & Artist Laura Ghezzi

    Learn Italian in a Tuscan Villa 2026 – Art, Language & Culture with Melissa, Paola Testi & Artist Laura Ghezzi

  • Italian Homestay in Treviglio with Chiara – Learn Italian Between Milan and Bergamo

    Italian Homestay in Treviglio with Chiara – Learn Italian Between Milan and Bergamo

  • Vestirsi per fare colpo! Dressing to Impress in Italy

    Vestirsi per fare colpo! Dressing to Impress in Italy

  • Florentine Marbled Paper – The Art of Carta Marmorizzata and Italian Language Immersion

    Florentine Marbled Paper – The Art of Carta Marmorizzata and Italian Language Immersion

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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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