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Art of Loving Italy

Art of Loving Italy

Art & Beauty are all around us.

Learn Italian with Melissa

See How!

Learning Italian and keeping language skills alive
is like nurturing a growing plant.

Are you looking for ways to keep your Italian alive and thriving?
Visit the Studentessa Matta Dual Italian/English Blog

The Matta Italian Blog has many ways to
help you practice Italian language skills

To learn and maintain a language, it is important to practice! As with any new skill, to really master something you have to dedicate hours and hours to become proficient.

Remember that 10,000-hour rule about
becoming an expert on something?

It seems an excessive amount of time… but learning a language does take time and practice. But when you are having fun, believe me, time flies by and you become proficient sooner than you ever thought possible! The key is to stay with it and find interesting ways of practicing and ways to stay motivated.

Melissa has lots of ways
to keep your Italian flourishing.

Learn with Melissa on-line and in Italy

Andiamo in Italia!
Travel & Study with Melissa in Italy — Small Group Program

Melissa takes language learners of all levels to Italy to practice Italian and immerse in Italian culture in small group language programs. Study at Melissa’s partner school in the mornings and then participate in special activities and excursions, she organizes to keep the Italian conversation practice flowing.

Sign up now! Spots are limited to 10 individuals.
Price: $3,850

Arezzo June 2020
Lucca September 2020

Chat Italiano!
One-on-One  Conversation Practice via Skype

Looking for a language partner to practice your conversational skills? Melissa is available to chat with you in Italian to keep your language alive and well. 1/2 hour chat sessions are available for all levels of Italian language learners and can be scheduled via an easy sign-up calendar system. Payment is accepted via Paypal.

Sign up for a one-time, weekly or monthly chat sessions.
Price: $25 / 30 min.

Click for more information.

At Home in Italy
Italian Homestay Language Vacation in Italy

Live and learn in the comfort of your Italian teacher’s home in Italy. Organized much like Melissa’s small group immersion programs, an Italian language homestay vacation is customized for 1 or 2 people. Melissa partners with and organizes homestays for you with Italian teachers from Milan, Liguria, Florence, and Rome to the Amalfi Coast all the way down to Sicilia to provide you with a range of instructors located in exciting locations.
Price: $1000-$1,500 Week

Click for more information and to view all the teachers’ bios.

The Matta Blog has lots of
FREE resources, too!

To learn Italian well, you have to practice reading and writing,
as well as audio and conversational skills.

Read the Dual-Language Blog

Every week, Melissa posts new articles in both Italian and English. Subscribing to the Matta Blog, you will learn about Italian culture, music, art and wine, and other fascinating current topics—as well as tips to learn the language. What could be more rewarding than having an “ah-ha!” moment when you realize your reading comprehension has improved simply by diving deeper into another Matta post! Melissa loves it when you leave a comment, too!

Subscribe to the Matta Blog

Matta YouTube Channel

To improve her own Italian speaking skills, Melissa began the Matta Youtube Channel. It not only combines her love of the language but her passion for theater, drama, music, and art! Each Youtube video is followed up with a blog post so that you can follow along with Melissa by reading the text of the video in both Italian and English

Subscribe to the Matta YouTube Channel

Matta Podcast

Not sitting in front of a device with a monitor? Stuck in traffic in your car? Then listen up! Melissa also has a Podcast channel, and you can download the audio of past and previous episodes. These days, Melissa converts her Youtube videos into sound so that you can listen along at your convenience.

Subscribe to the Matta Podcast

Subscribe to the Art of Loving Italy Blog

Follow along on Instagram @studentessamatta

My girls on mugs! Artemisia, Sophia, Sofonisba and My girls on mugs! Artemisia, Sophia, Sofonisba and Eleonora… the heroines of my four novels set in Italy.

Escape to Italy in the pages of a novel!

Melissa Muldoon is the author of four novels set in Italy: Dreaming Sophia, Waking Isabella, Eternally Artemisia, and The Secret Life of Sofonisba Anguissola. All four books tell the stories of women and their journeys of self-discovery to find love, uncover hidden truths, and follow their destinies to shape a better future for themselves. 

Available on Amazon in Print, Epub, and Audio. Links in bio.

5 Stars - Dianne Hales (author of La Bella Lingua, La Passione, and Mona Lisa-A Life Discovered): A true Renaissance woman, Melissa Muldoon weaves her passions for art and Italy into a stirring saga that sweeps across centuries. As her time-traveling heroine, Maddie reconnects with kindred souls, we meet Artemisia Gentileschi, the 17th–century artist who overcame rape and ignominy to gain respect and acclaim. Historical figures such as Galileo and Mussolini also come to life in this intricately plotted novel. Still, the women who defy all constraints to take control of their destinies are the ones who prove to be eternally fascinating. 
 
5 Stars - Lize Amazon Reader: What a lovely story! Melissa weaves the lives of 4 women across time, all with some connection to Artemisia Gentileschi, a 16th-century Italy painter. They represent the feminine strength that arises from life challenges, each with unique intelligence. Underlying their stories is the idea that love transcends all, even time; love is timeless. As with her other books, Melissa fills the story out with interesting facts and references to Italian life, culture, and its history; her attention to detail is immaculate. I loved the many connections in this story that tied it all together; very cleverly done. Wonderful read; I would highly recommend it.

#MelissaMuldoon #IndieAuthor #artemisiagentileschi #NovelsetinItaly
#Medici #Tuscany #Rome #Montepulciano #Florence #SofonisbaAnguissola #IsabellaMedici #Medici #ARezzo
Ciao! Sono Melissa, la studentessa Matta. Sono c Ciao! Sono Melissa, la studentessa Matta. 

Sono contenta che mi stia seguendo qui su Instagram!

I’m pleased you are following me on Instagram. I help you to learn Italian.

I organize, with my partner schools in Italy, small group language immersion programs in Arezzo, Lucca and Montepulciano.

For 10 or 12 days, you will study at the school at your level in the mornings and in the afternoons we will participate in activities and go on excursions— like make pasta, drink wine, talk to local artisans and see churches, museums, art —even the giostra del Saracino - the jousting festival if you join me in Arezzo.

Accommodations and most evening meals are all included AND you will have unlimited conversation practice and language learning when you meet my Italian friends and teachers from the schools who will accompany us.

The dates for 2023 Matta Italian Language Programs are

2023 Matta and Arezzo Italian Language Program: June 11 - 23

2023 Matta and Lucca Italian Language Program: August 24 - Sept 2
 
2023 Matta September Arezzo Joust Weekend: September 2 - 4, 2023 (Open to Italian learners and English speakers) 

2023 Matta and Montepulciano Italian Language Program: September 10 - 22

Join me in Italy 2023 and take your Italian language skills further.

More information and to sign up can be found on the StudentessaMatta.com website

Alla prossima! Ciao!

#learnItalian #ItalianImmersionPrograms #StudentessaMatta #Arrezzo #Montepulciano #Lucca #LuccaItalianSchool #LIS #Culture_Italiana_Arezzo #IlSasso #LearnInItaly#TravelItaly #tuscanylovers
Modi di dire con rospo, rana, ranocchio! Italian i Modi di dire con rospo, rana, ranocchio! Italian idiomatic expressions involving frogs and toads.

New post on the StudentessaMatta.com blog site.

Today I'm talking about lively idioms that practically jump up and down. These idiomatic expressions involve frogs and toads and will surely put a spring in your step and make you jump a level up. Want to sound like a native Italian speaker? Here is a chance to brush up on some Italian idioms involving our little web-footed friends.

#ItalianExpressions #ModiDire #Rano #Rospo #Ranocchio #Frog #Toad #SputareRospo #RanaGola #PrincipeRanocchio #FrogPrince #IngoiareRospo #StudentessaMatta

Image credit: AdobeStock
Out on the town with Ryan last night to see "Prett Out on the town with Ryan last night to see "Pretty Woman the Musical" at Bass Concert Hall in Austin. ( His Christmas gift to me this year!) We had so much fun! Began the evening with drinks at the Otopia rooftop bar to watch the sunset, then dinner at Acre 41. The show was fantastic, well staged, great singing — just a lot of fun to watch live theater again! #prettywomanthemusical #austintexas #bassconcerthall #theater
New on the Studentessa Matta Blog! Alessandra, It New on the Studentessa Matta Blog!

Alessandra, Italian teacher from Livorno, shares recipes for a successful homestay and a delectable dish

Alessandra, an Italian teacher from Livorno, shares recipes for a successful homestay and a delectable spaghetti dish made with artichokes and anchovies. 

In her guest post Alessandra tells us about Livorno and more about herself and her background. Alessandra has traveled extensively and made homestays in America so she knows what it’s like to be away from home and how important it is to find a warm and friendly environment that makes you feel comfortable as a family or among friends.

Find out more about the Italian Language Homestay opportunities offered on the StudentessaMatta.com website : See links in Bio.

#italian #ItalianLanguageHomestay #Livorno #HomestayLivorno #learnItalian #LearnInItaly #studentessamatta
Addio a Gina Lollobrigida. Lo star del cinema ital Addio a Gina Lollobrigida. Lo star del cinema italiano è scomparsa. È successo ieri, Mercoledì 18 gennaio. La diva italiana aveva 95 anni. 

Più ricordata come un modello e attrice - una vera bomba, molto sexy e seducente, Gina Lollobrigida era una donna di talenti incredibili che comprendeva tutte le arti - cinema, fotografia e scultore. 

Leggi il nuovo post su StudentessaMatta.com

#studentessamatta #GinaLollobrigida #Lollo #ItalianCinema #ItalianFilmStar #attriceitaliana✨👑🎬🎥
Ieri sera ho ricevuto una dolce sorpresa. Una vici Ieri sera ho ricevuto una dolce sorpresa. Una vicina di casa ha fatto marmellata in casa e mi ha dato un vasetto! Oggi l'ho spalmata sul mio toast! Il gusto è veramente ottimo! Grazie Brianna!

#marmellata #vasetto #vincina #dolce #italiano

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