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About 60 million people speak Italian in the Belpaese and an extra 1.5 million do it around the world, including France, Croatia, Switzerland, Slovenia,  as well as Argentina, Australia, Brazil and the US, of course.  A brief review of what …

In a year of uncertainty, and even with the shutdown due to the pandemic, ‘Westside Italian Culture’ group kept moving forward. The group was started in January of 2016, and grew in numbers while serving the Italian community by celebrating, …

After this necessary preamble, let us look at this week’s word, the Italian for New Year, more closely. For those familiar with the language, its etymology is clear: Capodanno comes from capo d’anno, the literal “head of the (new) year.” …

Happy Christmas, Buon Natale a tutti!  Festivities, even in this dreadful Covid-19 climate, remain a time to think positive and smile. And is there a better way to celebrate that making a toast? In English, we use the word cheers, …

Intanto (een-tahn-toh), il nuovo anno è incominciato. This little sentence is perfect to explain how our word of the day works. Let’s see why.  You can translate the sentence above in two different ways, based on the meaning you decide …

Christmas traditions in Italy are varied and each  region has a bunch of its own. In Naples, one of the most popular involves eel, or capitone as it’s commonly known in the city of  Parthenope. On Christmas Eve, capitone is …

You’re in Italy. You’ve just finished to eat an incredible meal with a bunch of friends and it’s time to pay the bill. Needless to say, someone will say the magic words: facciamo alla Romana? I’m sure you’ve heard the …

Happy Epifania to you all! While the rest of the world says goodbye to the holiday season on the 1st of January, Italy likes to hold on to the festive atmosphere a few days longer, officially bringing the Christmas period …

Pazienza(pah-tsee-ehn-tsah) comes from the Latin patire, to endure, and from the Greek paskein, to feel or endure something. It has the same root of another common Italian word, paziente, which means “to be patient,” but also indicates people suffering from …

“Il mio albero di Natale è il più bello del mondo”. Questo è quello che pensavo da piccola quando, incantata, osservavo dal basso quell’abete luminoso e colorato che mi sembrava altissimo, maestoso, il più grande che avessi mai visto. Oggi, …