Live and Learn Italian Blog

A must-read to learn Italian in Italy, discover all about our trips and explore the heritage of Agnone.

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An introduction to the pre-Roman Samnites of Molise

Agnone, Pietrabbondante and the Sammnites - A territory rich in history. One of the names given to the ancient town of Agnone is “L’Atene del Sannio”, Athens of Sannium. Athens - because of Agnone’s rich cultural heritage, and Sannium - because Agnone is located in...

Live & Learn Italian Language Holidays – A taste of the 2 WEEK PROGRAMME

Saturday, June 15-29, 2019 Our drivers Fernando and Donatella brought guests to Agnone in 2 batches - from Canada, Australia, the US and UK. Sunday, we went out to Marco’s, to hear about his honey and wine production. The pollen is extracted from wild fruits...

Guest Review of Live and Learn Italian by Jenny Matthew, and her travels in Italia

I'm delighted to share a wonderfully written guest review of Live and Learn Italian this month, resplendent with added tales from further Italian exploration by Jenny Matthew. Many guests find incorporating 2 weeks with us in Agnone as a great way to hone...

Ettore Marinelli – From precocious talent to Master Craftsmen

Emerging young artist of the Marinelli family, Ettore shared his work with us at the Bell Foundry this summer The tradition of metalworking in Molise goes began three thousand years, when the Samnite tribe, once Rome’s fiercest rivals, were casting statues for...

La ‘ndocciata, Agnone’s most famous event

La 'ndocciata 2018On the 8th of December I finally saw l‘ndocciata, Angone’s most famous annual event. Believe it or not, I’d never witnessed it. High time then…It’s the biggest ‘festival of fire’ in the world, ‘una scia di fuoco’, and allegedly the oldest – though...

Guest Review of Live & Learn Italian by Joy Nash – Italian language vacations

Reflections on Summer 2018 The Live and Learn Italian immersion ‘experience’ was created completely organically, and continues to grow organically. Each year I discover new local characters and regional opportunities, and so the programme develops. It’s a language and...

Our Italian language teachers receive high praise from participants

We are so lucky to have a wonderful team of teachers and praise from our guests this summer has been so strong, I wanted to dedicate a page to them. Over time we will add more and include their thoughts and comments – for now take a look at their histories and...

Guest Review of Live & Learn Italian by Barbara Gentile – Italian language vacations

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Not Quite Beginner Holidays

Join a group to kick start your ItalianWhen we first introduced Beginner's groups, it was obvious that participants with a bit of Italian under their belts had a much better time and got a lot more out of their stay than those who didn’t know a word. So we created Not...

Live and Learn Italian selected by Tutorful as ‘best Italian resource’

BEST PLACES TO LEARN ITALIAN IN ITALY We are thrilled to have been selected by Tutorful as one of the best places to learn Italian in Italy. This carefully researched article - How to become fluent in Italian - Top tools to learn Italian fast - highlights helpful...

Studying with Live and Learn Italian

Mar 12, 2018 | About our course, All

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What to expect on our 5 night Italian cultural and culinary programme

Nov 20, 2017 | About our course, All, Food, Sightseeing

5 nights of Italian food and culture AWAY from the tourist trail. Be immersed in an authentic community, live the slow life, discover ancient traditions.

A guide to Molise, Italy’s smallest province punching above its weight

Nov 14, 2017 | About our course, All, History

One of Italy’s smallest, and certainly its youngest province, Molise was once part of Abruzzo. Just above Puglia with 35 kilometres of Adriatic coast, ancient Apennine hill towns, and a wealth of natural beauty, it’s still pretty undiscovered. Those who do come are...

Baking bread with Mercedes

Oct 22, 2017 | All, Food, History, Local Businesses, People

In the hills of Alto Molise, Mercedes rises at 3.30 to prepare her loaves for the wood-fired oven, using logs from her woods, and grain from her fields. Traditional bread baking for Mercedes, is all about the grain. The 'pane casaerecio' of her childhood was nothing...

A morning of truffle hunting in Molise, the second biggest producer of truffles in Italy!

Oct 15, 2017 | All, Food, Local Businesses, People

Molise is the second biggest producer of truffles in Italy! Ottavio is from the contrada of Carovili, near Angone. When you mention his name the Agnonese say, ‘who?”. “The guy that hunts truffles,” I say, “Oh him, Ottavio, from Carovill”. Ottavio has lived in Agnone...

La Madonna di Loreto

Sep 30, 2017 | All, Festivals, Guest Blogs, History, Sightseeing

La Madonna di Loreto Read my guest blog post about this tri-annual festival in the extraordinary town of Capracotta - featured by the National Italian American Foundation. Explore more posts:

The Master Coppersmiths of Agnone

Aug 15, 2017 | All, History, Local Businesses, Sightseeing

My guest blog post for the National Italian American Foundation 20.03.2017 Copper has a long and important history in Agnone. At one time it brought great wealth to the town. Read about this tradition in my article for NIAF, Remembering the Coppersmiths of Agnone You...

Tumbr Fest

Feb 19, 2017 | All, Festivals, Food, History

Tumbr fest - Cann'lora and the return of light: secular rites and peasant calendar Tumbr fest takes its name from the old unit used during the reign of the two Sicilies and set off in 1861, following the unity of Italy. The festival was born with the intention...

Abruzzo-Molise Heritage Society Q&A

Feb 15, 2017 | About our course, All, Guest Blogs

Our good friends at the Abruzzo and Molise Heritage Society in Washington DC kindly asked me to do an interview about our programme for their readers, which was published on their website, where I contribute as a guest blogger. They started with a tough question;...

Learn Italian For Travel with Stella Lucente

Jan 18, 2017 | All, Books, Language

Stella Lucente Italian Language books I heartily recommend this Italian language book to my own guests, all students and travellers visiting Italy for the first time. It really is the best book to learn Italian for beginners. 'Conversational Italian for Travelers'...