My Italian Language Journey

Ciao tutti e tutte! Mi chiamo Julia, ho 39 anni e sono tedesca. Imparo l'italiano da quasi 3 anni. Se volete fare due chiacchiere, la mia casella delle domande è sempre aperta :) Questo è un side-blog, il mio blog principale è @moripartylove

[thestoryandyou]

On 2 June 1946, Italian women voted for the first time. 21 women were elected and took part in the drafting of the Italian Constitution.

Happy 70th birthday, Repubblica!

[sayitaliano]

2 giugno 1946, 80 anni fa la prima volta del voto alle donne

Una raccolta di saggi ricostruisce l'importanza della conquista del suffragio universale

[demonecelestiale]

"a quattro anni viene eletto bambino più sexy dell'anno" dove? su un'isola di Epstein?

[sayitaliano]

BTW in Italian you not only can say "Non ho parole..." (=I have no words -literal translation), but when things are heavy/you feel nervous or angry you can also add "... solo parolacce!" (=only curse words!) and I think it's beautiful

[sayitaliano]

Sanremo 2026 - the post!

Hello everyone!

Here you’ll find this year’s Sanremo’s stuff and news (I’ll be updating this post through all the week). The Festival will start on Tuesday February 24th at 8:30 pm, and end on Saturday February 28th, when the final will be broadcasted.

/ Official website / you can find loads of videos and interviews here + the latest news. You can already find the presentation videos of the songs made by the artists.

Rai’s website dedicated section (here) | youtube playlist | spotify playlist

TikTok official channel: @/sanremorai; @/sanremoesc Instagram official: @/sanremorai Twitter official: @/SanremoRAI; @/SanremoESC Facebook: festivaldisanremo Youtube: @/rai (to check also the latest interviews)

Each night from February 24th to February 28th, before the start of Sanremo at around 8:25 PM (GMT+1), on Raiuno will be broadcasted the usual PRIMAFESTIVAL. The hosts are: _________ (you can rewatch it on raiplay)

There’s gonna be the usual DOPOFESTIVAL, with Nicola Savino (tv host, deejay) starting right after the end of each Sanremo’s night (24th-27th Feb.) on Raiuno. Some of the guests are: ________

As every year, on the Sunday after Sanremo’s final (Feb. 28th 2026 this year) DOMENICA IN hosted by Mara Venier will take place in Sanremo: all the singers will get to perform their song once again and answer a few questions. It’ll be broadcasted on Raiuno starting from 2:00 PM (GMT+1). At around 8:35PM (GMT+1) always on Raiuno, DIETROFESTIVAL will show an hour of behind the scenes from Sanremo’s competition.

CasaSanremo- A website about Sanremo and all the artists who will take part, with more infos and interviews (also Italian places and food specialties will be shown). Follow them also on their Social Media Channels, usually they make live video/interviews/shows on FB for example.

On Sorrisi&Canzoni you will find also other infos about Sanremo and every lyrics’s explanation (ofc ask me if you need a translation)

“Il Podcast di Sorrisi a Sanremo” - the famous media outlet will host daily starting at 7 PM (GMT+1) from February 24th to February 28th on RealTime TV a podcast about Sanremo with _________ as guests, sharing infos and special bts of the competition. The hosts are _________ and the director of Sorrisi Aldo Vitali.

The # on this blog is #sanremo 2026, #sanremo, #sanremo2026 you can black any of these (the first one in particular) if you want.

To watch it live:

Raiuno -> just click on the second video on the left, or here, to open the Raiuno streaming immediately (I added the whole Rai channels things in case you had troubles connecting directly and wanted to try from there). RAI’s geoblock is usually removed for Sanremo’s week, no need to create accounts or whatsoever to enjoy Sanremo online!! Remember you can rewatch the whole event and each performance on Raiplay few minutes after it has happened and for the whole week too (after the end of Sanremo, there will be only 1mins vids of each performance avaiable).

You can also follow the whole competition on Radio2.

FESTIVAL LIS - songs and whole exhibition explained in signs language

FANTASANREMO - this year as well you can play while enjoying your Sanremo! How does it work? Every person “buys” 5 artisti and marks one of them as a captain. As in the last years, artists will have to do or say something while on stage to help you gain points (and also classification will have a say).

I’ll try to write down some more infos/links through the week.

——-

HOST & GUESTS & Other stuff

This years’ host will still be Carlo Conti (who choose the songs taking part into this Sanremo), a TV and radio host/deejay. He already hosted for 4 years (2015-2017 and 2025). He will be accompanied by a different co-host each night (check the schedule below). Together with them, as usual, during each night there will be different guests. Some will be announced only right before the start of the evening so keep an eye on the schedule.

There won’t just be the competition inside the Ariston: the Suzuki Stage will be held in Sanremo’s piazza Colombo and every night there will be live performances (they may show something during Sanremo as well). ________ will be the hosts, while the performers will be: ___________

How it works:

There will be 30 singers in the ARTISTI (artists) section. There will be again 2 sections: BIG/CAMPIONI (already known artists) and NUOVE PROPOSTE (youngs). 30 artists of the BIG section were chosen by Carlo Conti, while the 4 of the NUOVE PROPOSTE are the finalists of Sanremo Giovani (held in December 2025) and Area Sanremo. The winner of the BIGs competition will represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest (12-16th May, 2026 in Vienna): if he/she/they won’t accept, the choice will be another artist, usually the 2nd classified or the next (the first one accepting).

This year we’re gonna listen to the 30 BIGs’ songs on the first night and get a top 5 rank at the end. On the 2nd night we’ll get to listen to the 4 NUOVE PROPOSTE’s songs. The two with the most votes will perform again in the final on day 3: on that same night we’ll find out the winner of the category. On day 2 and 3, we’ll also listen again to 14/15 BIGs’ songs and get another top 5 rank. People at home can vote for both sections. On the 4th night there will be the usual “covers” night: the BIGs can choose any song published by the end of December 31st 2025, national or international, and will be accompanied by another artist. From this year, artists can also decide if to duet with another Sanremo’s contestant. We’ll get the winner of the covers’ night but the rank will be a separate rank from the one of the real competition. People at home can vote for both sections again. On day 5, all the BIGs will perform again. At the beginning of the night we’ll get the general top 5 rank of the past days, and at the end of the night we’ll get the positions from 29th up to 6th. The first 5 will be not in order. Another vote will take place after which we’ll find out the first 5 positions order and Sanremo’s winner.

Day 1 - co-hosts: Prob. guests:  We’ll listen to all the 30 songs (in order of performance: ).

Top5 rank (casual order):

Day 2 - co-hosts: Prob. guests: The 4 NUOVE PROPOSTE will compete (in order: ). The 2 NUOVE PROPOSTE FINALISTS are: We’ll listen to 15 BIG (in order of appearance: )

Top 5 rank (casual order):

Day 3 - co-hosts: Prob. guests:  The remaining 15 BIG (in order of appearance: )

The NUOVE PROPOSTE WINNER is:

Top 5 rank (casual order):

Day 4 - co-hosts: Prob. guests: The 30 BIGs Covers’ list (in order of appearance):

name 1

name 2

Covers’ rank:

Day 5 - co-hosts: Prob. guests: All the 30 BIGs will perform their songs (in order of appearance: ) and after midnight (prob. more like 1:30-2:30 am or later) we’ll know the competition’s final standings. The winner will go to the #ESC2026.

And the winner is:

Final Standing:

_______ will take part at the ESC 2026!

Other Awards: - Premio della critica “Mia Martini” : - Premio della sala stampa “Lucio Dalla” : - Premio miglior testo “Sergio Bardotti” : - Premio miglior composizione musicale “Giancarlo Bigazzi” : - Premio alla carriera: - Premio alla carriera: - Premio Lunezia per Sanremo 2026: - Premio Tim - La forza delle connessioni:

————————

BIGs (+ lyrics):

Arisa - "Magica favola"

Bambole di Pezza

Chiello

Dargen D'Amico - "Ai ai"

Ditonellapiaga

Eddie Brock - "Avvoltoi"

Elettra Lamborghini - "Voilà"

Enrico Nigiotti - "Ogni volta che non so volare"

Ermal Meta - "Stella stellina"

Fedez & Masini - "Male necessario"

Francesco Renga

Fulminacci - "Stupida sfortuna"

J-Ax - "Italia starter pack"

LDA & Aka 7even - "Poesie clandestine"

Leo Gassmann

Levante - "Sei tu"

Luchè - "Labirinto"

Malika Ayane - "Animali notturni"

Mara Sattei - "Le cose che non sai di me"

Maria Antonietta & Colombre

Michele Bravi

Nayt - "Prima che"

Patty Pravo - "Opera"

Raf - "Ora e per sempre"

Sal Da Vinci

Samurai Jay - "Ossessione"

Sayf - "Tu mi piaci tanto"

Serena Brancale - "Qui con me"

Tommaso Paradiso - "I romantici"

Tredici Pietro - "Uomo che cade"

NUOVE PROPOSTE:

name 1

name2

[more infos on the lyrics as on December 2025]

[all the lyrics can be found on this page]

(will edit with more updates, corrections and links as we get closer to the event)

[sapphospouse]

does anyone have any recommendation for italian media/books to improve my italian? even poetry or musicians that sing in italian, anything would help me!! <3

[o2studies-deactivated20260308]

Back when I wanted to pick up a bit of Italian before my trip there (the learning didn't end up happening :/) I asked the same question (song-wise) and compiled a playlist from the reccomendations!

[moripartylove]

For music, I would add the bands/artists Måneskin, Mahmood, Colapesce Dimartino, La rappresentante di lista, and Coez.

For books, it depends on your current level, but if you're at least in the A2/B1 range I recommend:

"In altre parole" (Jhumpa Lahiri)

"Seta" (Alessandro Baricco)

"Io non ho paura" (Niccolò Ammaniti)

"Io e te" (Niccolò Ammaniti)

"Succede sempre qualcosa di meraviglioso" (Gianluca Gotto)

A bit more difficult imo (more like B2?):

"Le otto montagne" (Paolo Cognetti)

"Il bar sotto il mare" (Stefano Benni)

"Che cosa c'è da ridere" (Federico Baccomo)

"L'amica geniale" (Elena Ferrante) (full disclosure: I found this one too difficult, at least without looking words up, maybe a kindle version would work. But it's a great book and maybe you're more advanced than me and can read it just fine)

[sayitaliano]

Ciao! Apprezzo molto il tuo blog, grazie per aiutarci a imparare questa bella lingua! Ho sentito la parola "lume" e capisco che significa "light". Ma c'è una differenza tra "lume" e "luce"? Mi sembra che si usino in modi un po' diversi, ma non so dire esattamente come. Oppure sbaglio e sono la stessa cosa? È una inezia ma sono curiosa 😅

Ciaoo! Grazie mille a te per le bellissime parole e per continuare a seguire questo blog ormai un po' abbandonato :')

Sì c'è una differenza:

luce = light in senso generale; eg. la luce del sole, la luce dell'anima, accendere la luce (=ovviamente intendiamo accendere la luce della lampada/del lampadario...)... sono alcuni degli usi che se ne fanno quotidianamente

lume = light in senso più specifico: si riferisce a luce proveniente da apparecchi non elettrici, quindi non la luce del sole o di casa, ma eg. di una candela o di una lampada ad olio (eg. una cena a lume di candela); viene anche usato in modo idiomatico in "perdere il lume della ragione" (=go crazy/mad, not being able to see/think straight: quando spegni la luce, non riesci più a vedere nulla, così quando alcune emozioni come la rabbia spengono la luce della ragione, perdi lucidità e capacità di pensare). Sono diffusi anche le versioni "lumino/lumini": per esempio si chiamano così le piccole candele votive che si accendono al cimitero per ricordare i morti (anche quelle elettriche moderne: è rimasto il nome), ma anche le candele di cera basse e larghe che puoi usare in casa se manca la luce.

In conclusione, per quanto riguarda la mia esperienza personale(!), lume ha un uso più specifico (in frasi fatte) o poetico/arcaico, mentre luce è la traduzione di "light" più usata comunemente.

Spero ti aiuti! :D

[sayitaliano]

How to say the weather is crazy hot in Italian:

Fa caldo! =It's hot Si muore di/dal caldo! =One might day from how hot it is Fa un caldo pazzesco!= It's crazy hot Fa un caldo fotonico*!= It's crazy hot (*slang; photonic) Fa un caldo allucinante!= It's crazy hot (hallucinating) Fa davvero caldo!= It's very hot Fa troppo caldo! =It's too hot Fa un caldo che non si respira! =It's so hot you cannot breathe Fa caldissimo! =It's too hot Ma che caldo fa?! =How hot is today?!

(fa) Un caldo, ma un caldo....(che non se ne può più)!!!=(It's) hot, so hot...(I cannot afford it anymore) we may leave a lot implied in such a sentence. We oftenuse it at the past, like when we're tlaling about an experience we had, anholiday somewhere, and someone asks us how was the weather like. We can answer "(Faceva) un caldo, ma un caldo....!" stressing with our body as well, how hot it was (moving our hand from left to right), bending ligthly and closing our eyes/forrow a little our forehead. Even the memory of that heat causes us pain LOL.

And if you're sweating A LOT: Sono tutt* appiccicat*/appiccicaticci*=I'm (all) sticky/muggy Sono sudatissim* =I'm dang sweaty Mi sto sciogliendo! =I'm melting myself I cannot think about other sentences to add now cause yeah, my brain is sweating too, but I will add some more as soon as I remember.

[0nceuponadream]

Crosswords are forever my favourite way to learn vocabulary 🩷

And a moment to appreciate the stickers on my laptop. They're all characters with special meanings to me. I love them so much.

[logogreffe]

I've never tried crosswords in German or Spanish, I need to test it out !

For those interested, the site OP is using is :

Daily crosswords for multiple difficulty levels and topics. 22 new crosswords are available every day.

They have crosswords in Spanish / French / Italian / Portuguese (Brazil and EU) and German, with different levels

[mindfogs]

SAME SEX MARRIAGE FOR ITALY

Hey italiani!! There's an official ministry of justice referendum to get same sex couples the same rights as heterosexual couple in being actually married and not just "uniti civilmente". This will grant them the same rights in adoption and stepchild adoption.

Of course the big news arent talking about it so the only way to let it circulate is through spreading the info ourselves.

It needs 500k signatures in 3 months and while that alone will not automatically grant equal rights it will be a HUUUGE step forward in italy, lately quite discriminatory politic.

Here's the link to the referendum! Se siete italiani e potete entrare con lo SPID firmate!

If you're not italian, please spread the word as it might reach someone that can sign!

[sayitaliano]

Podcasts Italiani

Here's Google Podcast link (you can find many on Spotify and iTunes as well)

Lo Zoo di 105 - famous Radio 105 program, you can listen to all the "Zoo"'s episodes here

Tech.is.it - All about technology, with guests too.

Valorizza il tuo tempo - About managing time, organizing and being productive (spotify)

Oceano - podcast that helps getting rid of anxiety through visualizations and emotional control (spotify)

Marco Montemagno - (he's on youtube as well) he talks about digital communication and online business.

Ciao, Internet! - about the web and how to navigate online through haters and other stuff

Radio 24 - All about the news (Worldwide)

Everyeye - (related to the website) is about videogames and everything related to that world

LiberaMente - psychology podcast filled with ideas and suggestions on how to free your mind

Muschio Selvaggio - presented by the rapper Fedez and the youtuber Luis Sal. They talk about whatever with many different kind of guests (chefs, singers, actors...; it's on youtube as well)

Parliamo di cose - invented by the youtuber Jacopo D’Alesio (Jakidale) he funnily talks about the randomest stuff ("Let's talk about things" in fact)

Alessandro Barbero - the very famous history professor (he's often on TV as well) tells about the most interesting history facts

Scientificast - (related to the website) is about science, and explains scientific stuff in an easy way.

Morgana - about important and standing out women, not just Italian ones though (and not only real ones: even stories's protagonists)

Pilota - about TV series' and movies

PMConfidential - podcast on how to become a "professional human being"

Ad alta voce - related to Rai Radio 3's program in which are read many international books (apple link)

Parole di Storie - fairytales in Italian

Audiofiabe per bambini - fairytales in Italian

Audible - Amazon's podcast with books

MORE (FREE) AUDIOBOOKS:

LiberLiber (collection here) LibriVox (has books also in other languages) Storytel (+ app; has books in different languages) Progetto Babele LibroAudio LibriVivi

[pompadourpink]

Hi, what is your best tips for someone who spoke French the last time was like five years ago (in the process of B2 at that time), totally stop learn it, and this morning impulsively enrolled for DELF B1 and will have the exam in two weeks?

Hello,

In no particular order:

Read, read, read (France Info, Slate, Geo, le Huffington Post, Google News, etc.) about topics you enjoy and about the news (culture, society, tech - my DELF debate topic was tobacco usage on campus)

Read a paragraph out loud to your computer and see if it picks up what you're saying (speech-to-text)

Look up lists of ice-breaking questions and answer them (one orally, one in writing), with the help of Deepl and WordReference

Review the conjugations of être, avoir and aller (especially the perfect, present conditional, simple future and subjunctive - those last two are very similar)

Make sure to remember when to use the imperfect and the perfect and that French doesn't typically like the passive voice (I had my bag stolen: they stole my bag - on m'a volé mon sac)

Book me if you can - slight pronunciation corrections and pointers about grammar or syntax can change everything

Test yourself with a mock exam and make sure to read about the expectations so you know what to prioritise

Record voice notes on your phone talking about your day and listen to them the next day to see if you understand yourself

Good luck! x

Fanmail - masterlist (2016-) - archives - hire me - reviews (2020-) - Drive

[sayitaliano]

Hi, I have a cultural question: How strong is "Ti voglio bene"? I know it doesn't express romantic love, but does it indicate that you consider someone a good/close friend and really care deeply about them or is it thrown around pretty liberally for anyone you know and are on friendly terms with? There's this Italian guy I've been talking to online for 3 years, and we've met in person twice. He recently said this to me and it took me by (pleasant) surprise, because I don't feel like we are that close (sometimes we go months without talking). It was in the context of me disclosing some serious medical struggles - could it just mean "I wish you that things will end well" or something in this context? Sorry for the weird question, I'm probably overthinking it 😅

Ciao!

"Ti voglio bene" is generally used with people we care about, so to me it sounds like he simply cares for you. Some say "voler bene" (wanting someone's good/wellness) is stronger than loving someone (which may sound a bit more "selfish"). Some others say that amare is much more than voler bene, and that voler bene is one step below amare. I do think that it's not some random words said like it's nothing anyway. But ofc, it depends on what type of person he his and how he's used to see and feel about those words. It's not really some cultural thing, more likely a personal experience/feeling (you can read this post if you want) with those words and emotions. Maybe something generational too, to an extent. But still, unsolicited personal opinion: after 3 years, you may start to care for someone else you, even occasionally, talk to and share bits of life with. Even more if you seldom meet them. You care even just a bit for such a human, I guess. Like maybe he cares for you, empathized with you too, and wanted to show support somehow or let you know he's there for you/that you are not alone. In a friendly/supportive way, good human x good human.

If he meant to say something along the lines of "I hope it will end well" he would have just said that literally and clearly (imho): eg. "Spero che ti riprenda presto", "Spero che vada tutto per il meglio" "Ti auguro che vada tutto bene e finisca presto"... we're plenty of similar sentences. But these are a bit more detached forms, despite we use them also with friends and people we care for. It's just a whole different acception/display of concern/care. A different "context/situation" (going more in detail of it).

Just please, don't feel bad if you don't feel as close to him: feelings are personal, we cannot make them as we like. Maybe, even if you don't talk that much, he feels good with you, so saying "ti voglio bene" felt natural to him. Some people don't need daily chats to feel close to someone else, some others do... it's okay. We're all different. And we have different experiences of life too. And his personal life/friendships should be considered as well to get a better perspective. Maybe he sees you as a sister. Maybe you're just not used to hear nice words or feel valued as much by another human being? Yk, it occurred to me once while interacting with someone, that some people aren't used to random kindness and nice words of affection, so they may get flustered at them more easily and may tend to stress over them and their reasons (may not be you but). Maybe yes, you're just overthinking... try to let things flow as they feel for both of you. Just enjoy and don't worry about him/what he meant (or just ask him! You ofc can), focus more on you and your own feelings even if it's complicated at times. We worry cause we feel like we don't have control or don't have a choice, but we always have (inside of us). Receive some free nice loving and caring words and don't feel bad :) There's always time to worry.. As we say "Non fasciarti la testa prima di essertela rotta".

Anyway, take care dear. Wish you a speedy recovery and lot of nurturing people around you!

[learningitaliano]

Ho tanta voglia di viaggiare e avevo già pianificato viaggi à Londra, Strasburgo, Milano, le Cinque Terre e Parma... Adesso devo cancellare tutto e invece fare le valigie per l'ospedale. Scusate ma che anno di merda 😭

[learningitaliano]

Cavolo, mi sono iscritta a un corso di pronuncia per quest'anno, ma adesso ho tanti problemi più grandi nella vita (tipo forse cancro), ma allo stesso tempo non voglio perdere i soldi per il corso a vuoto...

[aspiringpolyglot]

Links to PDFs of Italian Language Books

The Great Gatsby (Il Grade Gatsby)

The Little Prince (Il Piccolo Principe)

Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone (Harry Potter e la pietra filosofale)

Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets (Harry Potter e la camera dei segreti)

Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban (Harry Potter e il prigioniero di Azkaban)

Catching Fire (La ragazza di fuoco)

Mockingjay (Il canto della rivolta)

Romeo and Juliet (Romeo e Giulietta)

Twilight (Twilight)

New Moon (New Moon)

Eclipse (Eclipse)

Breaking Dawn (Breaking Dawn)

Fifty Shades of Grey (Cinquanta sfumature di grigio)

Fifty Shades Darker (Cinquanta sfumature di nero) 

Little Women (Piccole Donne)

Jane Eyre (Jane Eyre)

Wuthering Heights (Cime tempestose)

The Notebook (Le pagine della nostra vita)

The Giver (Il Donatore)

1984 (1984)

Animal Farm (La fattoria degli animali)

To Kill a Mockingbird (Il buio oltre la siepe)

[learningitaliano]

Salve:) do you have any Italian YouTube commentary channels (or any channels of commentary isn’t your thing) where they don’t speak super fast? I want to get used to how the language sounds ~

Salve :) I don't know any commentary channels (maybe @sayitaliano can help? Or anyone else who reads this - feel free to add your suggestions), but here are some other channels that are easy to understand as a beginner:

- italiano con Lucrezia (has vlogs, grammar explanations, book recommendations, vocabulary, etc)

- italiano con amore (talks about italian culture, recipes, language learning advice etc)

- podcast italiano (italian language and culture, the difficulty varies (I think they are sorted by level? At least on the podcastitaliano homepage they are), but he generally speaks pretty slowly and clearly

- Easy Italian (this is great for hearing different people speak: it's short videos of street interviews about a range of topics, with simultaneous subtitles in English and Italian).

Those are the ones I watched a lot in the beginning. I hope you find something you like! Italian is truly a beautiful language, enjoy your journey with it! :)

[learningitaliano]

Alcuni giorni fa ho cominciato a scrivere un diario in italiano, in un bel quaderno con una rigelatura in pelle, che avevo comprato a Firenze l'anno scorso. Mi piace molto questa attività! Prima avevo solo scritto online ogni tanto, ma in un diaro fisico mi sento più libera, nessuno lo leggerà mai tranne me. Avete mai scritto un diario in una lingua che stavate imparando? Vi è piaciuto? Vi è aiutato a imparare la lingua?