Learn Italian with Monica

Ferragosto is one of those days that really feels like Italian summer. 🇮🇹☀️

The name comes from the Latin "Feriae Augusti", the “holidays of Augustus”. The celebration goes back to Ancient Rome and was connected with a period of rest after the hard agricultural work of the previous weeks. The original festivities were held at the beginning of August, and over time the tradition became associated with 15 August, the Catholic feast of the Assumption.

So Ferragosto has gradually become a fascinating mix of Roman tradition, religion and Italian summer culture. Even the idea of leaving town around Ferragosto has deeper roots than you might expect: in the 20th century, special low-cost "treni popolari di Ferragosto" helped many Italians travel to the seaside, mountains or other cities for a short holiday.

For me, Ferragosto means friends or family, usually gathered around a long lunch or a barbecue. The beach can wait — on 15 August it’s normally much too crowded for me. 😅

And you? If you were spending Ferragosto in Italy today, where would you go? 👇

Have you ever translated a sentence from English into Italian and thought: “This should work”… but it doesn’t?

This is one of the most common challenges for English speakers learning Italian: sometimes the words are simple, but the logic behind the sentence is different.

In this carousel, we look at a very useful everyday example: how to say that you are cold.

In English, you say “I am cold”, so your brain naturally wants to use the verb “to be”.

But in Italian, for many physical sensations, we use **avere** — “to have”.

Memorising words is the first step, then you also need to train your brain to recognise Italian patterns.

Swipe through the carousel to see the difference, practise the structure, and start thinking a little more like an Italian speaker.

Quando impari l’italiano, tradurre parola per parola dall’inglese può sembrare la soluzione più facile… ma non sempre funziona.

A volte l’italiano usa una struttura diversa, anche per frasi molto semplici e quotidiane.

In questo carosello vediamo un esempio importante: come parlare di alcune sensazioni fisiche usando **avere**.

Memorizzare le parole è il primo passo, adesso allena il tuo cervello a riconoscere gli schemi italiani.

So grateful for this lovely feedback from Lewis. 🇮🇹

I help students build real confidence in Italian, with personalised online Italian lessons designed around their level and goals. If you want to speak Italian more naturally and grow your Italian vocabulary, I’d love to help.