Ciao
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Phonetically regular and forgiving to pronounce — you sound like yourself in Italian much earlier than in most languages.
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- PhrasesA1
Italian greetings: ciao, salve, buongiorno and when each one is wrong
Ciao is not always safe. A guide to Italian greetings by formality and time of day, including the ones for leaving and the regional variations.
4 min read - CostAny level
How much do Italian lessons cost?
What platforms publish for Italian tutors, why native and non-native cost almost the same, and why Italian is cheap to start and expensive to finish.
7 min read - ExamA1–C2
The CELI: one Italian exam, split three ways by who is sitting it
Italy's CELI splits into three lines by candidate: adults, adolescents, migrants. Levels, what the CELI 3 buys, and the A1 that fuses two skills.
7 min read - ExamA1–C2
CILS results take about three months, and a partial pass lasts eighteen
CILS results take about three months and nothing is marked early. What a capitalizzazione lets you re-sit, and the 30 days to see your own papers.
8 min read - ExamB1
CILS or CELI for Italian citizenship: what actually differs
Both are B1 and both are CLIQ certificates. Where you can sit them, how often, how long results take and what a half-pass buys you are not the same.
8 min read - ExamA1–C2
PLIDA explained: the B1 for Italian citizenship, 18 of 30 in every skill, the 2026 dates and what a partial pass keeps
PLIDA B1 counts for Italian citizenship and is sat in Italy and abroad. Pass with 18/30 in all four skills; a passed skill is kept for 18 months.
6 min read - ExamA1–C2
CERT.IT explained: Roma Tre's Italian certificate, the B1 for citizenship, a pass mark that adds three skills together, and the 2027 dates
CERT.IT B1 passes at 60% of listening, reading and writing together plus 60% in speaking. Three B1 dates in 2027, €80 in Rome, centres in 12 countries.
5 min read
Reading about Italian is not the same as speaking it
See how long Italian takes, what the levels mean, and what lessons cost.