22/08/2026
This year I decided to spend more time in Italy because I wanted to be closer to my family. And something strange happened: after 10 years living in Bulgaria, I started seeing my own country from the outside.
One day I was walking on the sidewalk and I stopped to let a scooter pass... On the sidewalk. 😱
Has this ever happened to you in Italy?
And I thought: wait… is this normal here? 😂
Then I started noticing other things.
Every day I see at least one car parked "in doppia fila" (double parked) or someone stopping in the middle of the street “just for one second”, saying: "calmati!". 🤭
And I started thinking about how Italians often find creative ways to avoid a rule, skip a step, or solve things “their way”.
And then I had a huge realisation… because I realised I kind of do the same thing in my Italian sessions. 😅
Not in the “let’s not respect rules” way.
But in the “let’s stop following the traditional school path where you study Italian for years before you feel ready to speak” way.
My students don’t learn Italian only by memorising rules and waiting to reach the perfect level. They train their brain to find the words when they need them. They learn how to keep speaking even when the sentence is not perfect. They stop feeling so insecure or shy when they make a mistake. They learn to go with the flow in a real conversation.
Because real Italian is not just grammar... It’s understanding how people move, interrupt, joke, solve problems, speak fast, change plans, and expect you to react.
So here is the dilemma:
Is it better to always follow the rules…
or to learn how to creatively survive inside real Italian life?
What do you think? 🇮🇹
