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Ciao! I'm Melissa – la studentessa matta! In italian, "matta" means "crazy" or "impassioned." I promote the study of Italian language and culture through the dual-language blog, Studentessa Matta (studentessamatta.com). I began the matta blog to improve my command of the language and to connect with other language learners. Over the past couple of years, the "matta" concept has grown to include the Matta Youtube channel and podcast "tutti matti per l'italiano." I also coordinate Matta Italian language immersion tours, which I co-lead with Italian partners in Italy. 

I chose the name "matta" because it gives me the flexibility to let go and talk about whatever comes to mind when I sit down to write in Italian. Quindi…come una scatola di cioccolatini – like a box of chocolates – you never know what you will get. It could be a language learning tip, a post about a pop singer, a quirky cultural anecdote... or perhaps the story of how I met Sophia Loren!

How did this all begin, you might ask? It might be especially perplexing if you knew that I grew up in the Midwest and don't have a drop of Italian blood – I know, I did the DNA test! Highly unlikely you might also think for a girl who went to Florence on a whim in college to study art and painting and often skipped language classes to sip wine and wander on her own around the city. Even more so when discovering upon returning home that same girl threw away her Italian dictionary, thinking she had no talent for learning a language and assumed she'd never need it again.

Communicating in Italian was the key, and I was not afraid to use it. As a result, my traveling experiences in Italy became richer. I started having more fun, went on lots of new adventures, and met people I never thought I'd meet.

But life has a funny way of sneaking up and surprising you sometimes. After launching a successful design career and starting a family, I realized something was missing in my life. That "thing" was the connection I had made with Italy and the friends who lived there during my student year abroad. Living in Florence was indeed a life-changing event.

At the time I had this epiphany, dumping everything to fly back to Italy to set-up housekeeping and live there, wasn't an option. So trying to find a way to reconnect with Italy, I decided to start learning the language – from scratch. Too intimidated to even take a class, I began from ground zero with a grammar book I purchased at a local bookstore and audio tapes I plugged into my ears to escape into a sea of new vocabulary, as well as "ire," "ere" and "are" verb tenses.

In Italian, they say "lasciare andare" – let things go. And that is precisely what I did! I took the plunge and dove right in and let the current take me away. And as I gave in to the language – letting go of my inhibitions and fears of opening my mouth and sounding like a total idiot – I became completely bewitched, bothered and bewildered. The more I learned, the less I knew. But this feeling didn't make me want to stop – it only pushed me forward.

Soon I began seeking out every means possible to advance my knowledge. I found evening classes, online chat groups, audio magazines, games, tutors, music – to name just a few things – looking for the next great idea that would move me closer to fluency. And then…it came to me. What better way of learning the language than starting a blog inviting the world to correct me and interact with other language students. And that is how the studentessa matta blog was conceived – it gave me a reason to use the language every single day and continue my language learning journey.

Now, during this process of claiming the language as my adopted tongue, I discovered a lot of interesting things about myself. I learned it is necessary to have a sense of humor as well as a bit of courage when you learn a language – especially true when writing in a public internet forum in a foreign language.

But more importantly, I learned that making mistakes wasn't such a bad thing. In Italian they "sbagliando si'impara" – by making mistakes one learns. I discovered on more than one occasion one never actually dies from mangling the pronunciation of words like "arzigogolato" and "carabinieri" or mixing up the conditional tense with the subjunctive. I found that if I made friends with my mistakes, I'd actually retain more information in the long run. And really…how are you going to learn anything at all without putting yourself out there and taking a few risks?

Which leads me to my next point. As I continued embracing this new "matta" personality and started to let go of inhibitions, a curious thing started to happen. As I began to speak more fluently – using idioms, local expressions, and gesturing with my hands – I actually became more outgoing and less risk aversive.

Communicating in Italian was the key, and I was not afraid to use it. As a result, my traveling experiences in Italy became richer. I started having more fun, went on lots of new adventures, and met people I never thought I'd meet. And when i returned home again I was more charmed than ever by Italy, the Italian people and I also had a suitcase full of unique stories and insights to share with my readers.

For those unaware of her work, Sophia Loren is an Italian film actress and singer. She started out with several small roles, but became an international film star following her five-picture contract with Paramount Pictures in 1958.
Loren's dozens of performances through the years have earned her many awards, including the Cannes Film Festival's best performance prize, and an Academy Award for Best Actress, the first major Academy Award for a non-English-language performance or to an Italian actress.

So, now after years of publishing non-fictional anecdotes on my blog – seven if you are keeping score – I decided to turn these stories into a series of novels. Since I started writing books based on my relationship with Italy, I'm once again addicted. I love weaving plots, creating worlds and inventing people to populate them based on things I know best — Italian culture, language, art, and history.

But most importantly I want readers to "lasciare andare" let go and come with me on a journey to learn Italian in Italy. And if they can't come away with me to study on one of my immersion programs, I want them to get a glimpse of all the innumerable things that make Italy unique to me – the sights, sounds, tastes, as well as the legends and anecdotes – which I can express more intimately and poetically through the pages of my novels.

I would never have imagined all those years ago when I first stepped foot on Italian soil how it would change me so thoroughly, opening me up personally and leading to a writing career in which I now promote Italy and all she has to offer. But, by embracing this fantastic Italian concept of "lasciare andare", I relaxed and didn't fight it. I gave in to something for the joy of it, and now it continues to sweep me away and take me places I never thought I'd go!

Melissa, when she isn't abroad in Italy, lives in the San Francisco bay area. She continues to dedicate her time to promoting Italian language studies, her language programs in Italy, as well as writing. Melissa has a B.A. In fine arts, art history, and European history and a master's in art history. She is an artist, designer and studied painting, language and art history in Florence.

She invites you to join her in Italy on one of her learn Italian in Italy programs. Twice a year she co-leads small group immersion programs with Italian schools. Open to 10 people of any level of Italian, students are placed in appropriate level classes at the school in the morning, and in the afternoons Melissa organizes excursions and activities to continue practicing the language together with the group. This year takes Melissa to Montepulciano in June and Arezzo in September. The June program is sold out but there are still spots for Arezzo!

Melissa is also the author of "Dreaming Sophia," "Waking Isabella," and is currently working on her third "Eternally Artemisia." All three books are set in Italy and celebrate art and creativity. They tell the stories of three distinct women and their journeys of self-discovery to find love, uncover hidden truths, and follow their destinies to shape a better future.

For more information about Melissa's learn Italian in Italy, programs visit www.studentessamatta.com. Spots are still available for the fall program in Arezzo August 31 – September 11 (Sept 15 for the extended program)

Visit: the Matta Facebook page.

Visit: the Matta Youtube channel

Visit: Twitter Melissa la Matta

To learn more about Melissa's novels set in Italy:

Visit: Amazon available in print and epub.

Visit: Melissa's author website with links to all her blogs and projects.

Visit: Dreaming Sophia website where Melissa blogs in English about art history topics.

Visit: Art of loving Italy Pinterest page companion page with images for all her books.