How long does it take to learn Italian?
The study hours behind each level from A1 to C2, and what actually changes how fast you get there.
Read the answerIs Italian hard to learn?
What's genuinely easy, what costs real effort, and why the answer depends on the language you already speak.
Read the answerPassato prossimo or imperfetto? The rule that actually works
When to use ho mangiato and when to use mangiavo, with the test that holds up where the textbook rules contradict each other.
Read the answerIl, lo or la? How to choose the Italian article
The complete rule for definite and indefinite articles, decided by the sound that follows and not by gender alone.
Read the answerWhen do you use the subjunctive in Italian?
Where it's compulsory, where it's optional, and the single test that ties every case together.
Read the answerHow many words do you need to speak Italian?
How many to get by, to hold a conversation and to read a newspaper — and why counting words tells you less than it seems.
Read the answerEssere or stare? The difference in Italian
When to say sono and when to say sto — and the warning for anyone arriving from Spanish, where the line falls somewhere else entirely.
Read the answerA, in or da? Italian prepositions of place
Vado a Roma but in Italia, sono da Marco but a casa: the rules that hold and the few exceptions worth memorising.
Read the answerTu or Lei? When to use the formal you in Italian
Who gets the polite form, how to switch to tu without awkwardness, and what happens if you get it wrong.
Read the answerLearn Italian alone or with a teacher?
What you can learn perfectly well on your own, what you can't learn at all, and the point in the journey where paying someone actually pays off.
Read the answerCILS, CELI or PLIDA? Which Italian certificate to choose
The real differences between the three official exams, and which one to take for university, citizenship or work.
Read the answerSapere or conoscere? The difference in Italian
When to say so and when to say conosco, with the rule that still works where the two verbs look interchangeable.
Read the answerCi and ne in Italian: what they actually do
The two particles that turn up everywhere in spoken Italian, explained through what they replace.
Read the answerCan you learn Italian by watching films and series?
What watching actually improves, what it doesn't improve at all, and the way of watching that separates time spent from time invested.
Read the answerHow to improve your Italian pronunciation
The sounds that genuinely matter, the ones not worth agonising over, and the method that works better than repeating single words.
Read the answerHow to introduce yourself in Italian
Name, where you're from, job and age — plus the difference between the casual version and the one you'd use with a stranger.
Read the answerUseful Italian phrases for travelling in Italy
The phrases you genuinely need in a bar, a restaurant and on the street — plus three Italian habits no phrasebook explains.
Read the answerWhich Italian irregular verbs to learn first
You don't need a table of two hundred verbs: ten cover most of what you'll actually say.
Read the answerItalian plural nouns: the rule and the exceptions
How plurals work in Italian, why amico becomes amici but albergo becomes alberghi, and the nouns that never change at all.
Read the answerHow to write a formal email in Italian
Opening, closing and the formulas Italians actually use, plus the mistakes that make an email read as translated.
Read the answerWhen to use the future tense in Italian (and when not to)
Why Italians say domani vado instead of domani andrò, and the use of the future nobody teaches: making guesses.
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