r/italianamerican

Great graduation gift for anyone moving on to “higher education”. Arm them with knowledge, before others disarm them with their ignorance.

https://www.amazon.com/Christopher-Columbus-Hero-Defending-Revisionism/dp/1548738123/ref=sr\_1\_1?crid=C3XHB6J5EXZ7&keywords=columbus+the+hero&qid=1643421001&s=books&sprefix=columbus+the+hero%2Cstripbooks%2C88&sr=1-1

1. What do you think counts as being Italian-American?

2. What if you’re somewhere between 25%-50% Italian? Does that count?

3. Does it matter which parent the 25%-50% came from?

4. What if you have an extremely Italian sounding last name. Does that help?

5. What if you are 25%-50% Italian, have an Italian last name, but weren’t raised in the culture due to your parents getting divorced when you were very young or some other reason like that. Does that disqualify you?

6. What if number 5 applies, but you actually really love the culture, are you still disqualified?

7. If the answers to numbers 5 and 6 is yes, you’re disqualified, what does it take to get qualified again? Would anything work?

8. What is your relationship with religion like these days?

9. Why does everyone assume we are wine connoisseurs? Is that just my experience?

10. Who do you think of first when someone mentions the “one true king”?

11. There is going to be bonus question here after I get some responses to number 10

12. There might be some more bonus questions here after I get some responses to other questions.

I’m going to answer some of these after I see your responses.

We are posting some great news! We just received the ruling from the Tribunal in Naples: our legal team in Italy, Italy Law Firm (ILF), won a case filed after the new law n. 74/2025 went into effect, under which the judge applied the former law based on screenshots showing that there were no available appointments at the Italian Consulate of Chicago. This  was filed after the new law in which the judge in Naples applied the former citizenship law because the client could not obtain an appointment before the deadline of law n. 74/2025 went into effect. Citizenship was given to great grandchildren of the Italian ancestor. 

This comes on the heels of the May 12, 2026 Italian Supreme Court case in which the judge granted citizenship based on unavailable appointments at the Italian Embassy in Bogotá. However, in that case the filing took place before the reform law went into effect. On April 30, 2026 the Consideration Court did not address the situation of individuals who unsuccessfully tried to obtain a consulate appointment before the reform law went into effect leaving open the possibility of such cases being successful in the Italian Courts. Of course, each case is evaluated on its own merits and at the discretion of the presiding judge. 🇮🇹

👉 Click the link Recent Court Victories Form to fill out and our team will review your case and discuss possible next steps.

I'm Olga, a teacher of Italian, based in Italy with over nine years in the classroom.

I wrote a book for italian language learners. It's a series of ten Italian short stories — one per city, from Turin to Agrigento — written for learners at A2 to B1 level.

The main character is Danny Russo. 32 years old. Brooklyn. Speaks a little Italian. When his grandfather Salvatore died, he left Danny three things:

— An old photograph

— A Sicilian flat cap that had belonged to his own father

— A notebook. Forty pages of recipes written in dialect.

Nobody in the family could read a word of it. Two years later, Danny books a one-way ticket to Turin and starts going south.

The book is called Nonno's Italy.

Every conversation teaches real Italian. Not textbook Italian. Italy Italian. ——— In every chapter:

✦ A short story in real Italian (A2–B1)

✦ Vocabulary in context — not in a list at the back

✦ Cultural notes: bella figura, campanilismo, the Italian sense of time

✦ Italian gestures

✦ Exercises and a regional proverb

Written by a teacher of Italian who lives and works in Italy, with over 8,000 hours of teaching the language to people just like Danny. Happy to answer any questions — about the book, and about learning Italian.

Ciao everyone!!

I’m an Italian student in American Studies, and I posted here some months ago asking whether anyone might be willing to share family keepsakes/memories for my MA thesis project:
https://www.reddit.com/r/italianamerican/comments/1p8dexw/comment/oha2ypd/

Life happened and I had to put the project on hold for a while :( but now I’m finally working on it again, and the topic has evolved a bit.

I’m currently developing a thesis on Italian American identity in New York between the late 19th century and the present, with a particular focus on how ethnic identity has been expressed through:

• urban space and neighborhood life
• religious rituals and processions
• food culture
• storefronts/signs and everyday visual culture
• ethnic newspapers
• and, later on, media/digital spaces (which would of course cover the digital era and are easier to find)

I’m approaching the topic historically, but also through anthropology and cultural/media studies

At the moment I’m searching for primary sources related to Italian American communities in NYC, especially things like:

• family archives
• photographs
• oral histories
• old newspapers
• parish documents
• feast/procession photos
• menus or store signs
• neighborhood maps
• letters/diaries

I would especially appreciate anything authentic and personal, even small memories or objects connected to family/community life. Of course, I would properly credit anything used in the research.

Thank you so much in advance, and thank you again to everyone who helped me the first time I posted here :)

I’m Italian and I have many friends abroad. When they come here I always suggest them what to do, where to go, what not do etc. so I’m asking myself, but if you don’t know nobody in Italy, how can you organise a real Italian trip that is not only in the main touristic cities? Is it a problem that somebody suffer? I’m really curious about the answer