When dreaming of life in Italy, it’s rarely just about the house itself. It’s about the atmosphere, the lifestyle, the flavors… and the language.
For many people moving to Italy, falling in love with the Italian language is part of the journey. It’s not just musical and beautiful—it’s also a direct link to the country’s layered history and diverse cultural roots.
To explore this connection between language, history, and place, I’m thrilled to share an inspiring interview with Chiara Marfoli, known on Instagram as @visititalyspeakitalian.
Chiara teaches Italian language and culture to those dreaming of moving to Italy, and in this piece—originally published in Voglio Vivere Così Magazine—she walks us through how the Italian language is not just a tool for communication, but a living, evolving archive of Italy’s multicultural soul.
Interview with Chiara Marfoli
(Originally published in Voglio Vivere Così Magazine)
Traveling in Italy, whether in a small town or a bustling city, it is easy to hear someone speaking a language that sounds like Italian but with a rhythm all its own, almost like a song. That melody is probably a dialect—one of the many still heard on the streets or in cafés.
Italy boasts an extraordinary number of dialects, each reflecting the region it belongs to. It is well known that a people’s language is deeply connected to its culture; what is less known, however, is how the Italian language, through its millennia-long evolution, has managed to embody the multicultural essence of this small boot-shaped country. Over the centuries, Italy has experienced numerous foreign dominations, yet it has succeeded in shaping its own linguistic identity while preserving its dialects.Italy is not just a nation; it is a land that once belonged to the Roman Empire, which stretched all the way to Africa and beyond. Naturally, the Italian language has strong Latin roots, as Latin is the mother of all Romance languages.
However, what makes Italian unique is not just its Latin foundation but the way it has absorbed influences from other languages, such as Arabic.Words like zucchero (sugar), derived from the Arabic sukkar, are proof of how the Italian language has preserved traces of past civilizations that once thrived on its soil. This preservation is also evident in dialects like Sicilian, where zucchero is rendered as zuccheru. Walking through Sicilian streets, one encounters magnificent Moorish-style buildings such as the Palermo Cathedral, La Zisa, the Cuba Castle, and the Martorana Church. These structures, with their horseshoe arches, intricate mosaics, ceramics, and carved bricks, are clear testaments to Arab influence. The Arab legacy is also present in Italian cuisine—just think of granita, the refreshing dessert that blends ice with local ingredients like almonds, citrus fruits, and pistachios.
While Arabic language and culture left a significant mark on southern Italy, Germanic influences shaped the north. Words like schiena (back), which comes from the Lombard skena, show how Italian has also absorbed elements from the languages of ancient northern civilizations. In Gerenzano, a town in the province of Varese, schiena is still pronounced as schena. History enthusiasts may recall that the Lombards originally entered Italy as allies of the Eastern Roman Empire to drive out the Ostrogoths. Later, in 568, they themselves invaded the peninsula and made Pavia their capital.
The Lombard presence in Italy is still visible today in remarkable architectural sites such as the Longobard Temple in Cividale del Friuli, the monastic complex of San Salvatore and Santa Giulia in Brescia, the castrum of Castelseprio-Torba in Varese, and the Basilica of San Salvatore in Spoleto.
These buildings reflect how the Lombards blended Roman-Hellenistic architectural models with Christian-Byzantine influences. The Lombards also left their mark on Italian cuisine: they were the inventors of the precursor to mostarda, a condiment they particularly enjoyed!Ultimately, when we talk about Italian culture, we are describing how some of the most influential civilizations in human history have merged to create a country and a language that embrace diversity. Italian culture does not erase differences but integrates them, forming a linguistic and cultural synthesis that facilitates communication while respecting the profound distinctions that still exist today—between the north, center, and south, and even between individual regions.
Chiara reminds us of something essential: learning Italian is not just about grammar or vocabulary—it’s about immersing yourself in the very soul of Italy. Each word carries the imprint of past civilizations, each dialect is a cultural treasure, each accent tells a story.
If you’re thinking about buying a home in Italy and beginning a new chapter here, language is one of your most powerful tools for feeling truly at home.
Understanding these linguistic and cultural layers—as Chiara so beautifully explains—means understanding the spirit of the place you’re about to call yours.
👉 Is Italy calling your name? Let’s talk about your dream—together we can make it come true.