Category Archives: Italian culture

What are the most common Italian surnames?

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If you like the Italian language, you may be wondering “what are the most common Italian surnames?”. So, have a look at our list below. Today we are going to tell you about the history of Italian surnames.

what are the most common Italian surnames

How did the Italian surnames come into existence?

Italian surnames started to be used in Roman times. Before that, citizens were identified by their first names (in Latin praenomen) and their family names (in latin nomen). But when the population started to increase, some problems arose because many families had the same names. So, they decided to add surnames (in Latin cognomen) which derived from work activities, physical features, places of origin, and so on. Continue reading →

Learn Italian hand gestures with their meanings

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If you are learning Italian, not only will you have to study the Italian grammar, but you will also need to learn Italian hand gestures with their meanings. Why? Because they are an important part of the Italian culture and discovering their meanings will help you understand Italians!

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Actually, Italians are famous in the world not only for their cuisine and culture, but also for their hand gestures. They usually gesticulate to pepper their conversations and very often a gesture can modify their sentences.

Why is learning Italian gestures so important?

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Best TV series to learn Italian

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If you are interested in learning Italian and you would also like to know more about the Italian culture, you can start by watching some of the best TV series to learn Italian. This will help you to improve your listening and pronunciation. In addition, you will also learn new Italian words, phrases and some Italian slang expressions.

 

Have a look at our list of the best TV series to learn Italian. If you have never studied Italian before, we recommend that you watch them with English subtitles. Then, little by little, you can start using Italian subtitles. This will be very helpful, since in this way you can read and listen to Italian at the same time.

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Traditional Italian food at Christmas

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The traditional Italian food at Christmas is made of a great variety of recipes and it is an example of the irreplaceable traditional Italian cuisine. It is difficult to refer to a single culinary tradition in Italy because every family, city, and region has its own typical Christmas dishes. There are those who prefer to meet for dinner on December 24th and those who choose to have lunch on December 25th. However, it could be said that there is a main and unique characteristic of Italian food at Christmas: abundance.

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On the 24th, the Christmas Eve (la vigilia di natale) starts with the traditional cenone, literally “the big dinner”. The Italian cenone has its rules, Continue reading →

How to celebrate Easter in Italy

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Easter is coming – Good Friday will be on 25th March this year – so today we are going to explain how to celebrate Easter in Italy. First of all, the Italian word for Easter is Pasqua and if you are wondering how to say Happy Easter in Italian, remember that you have to say Buona Pasqua.

 How to celebrate Easter in ItalyAs you may know, Easter  is a festivity celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Holy Week (la Settimana Santa) starts with Palm Sunday, and on this day Italian people usually bring consecrated palm or olive branches into their homes, as a symbol of peace. Then, throughout the week, Continue reading →

List of top Italian newspapers

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Are you looking for a list of the top Italian newspapers to practice your Italian reading skills and stay informed about Italian news? Look no further! Below you can find some  of the most important and well known Italian newspapers that will enable you to start practicing the Italian language immediately. Continue reading →