La Bella Vita is our regular look at the real culture of Italy – from language to cuisine, manners to art. This newsletter is published weekly and you can receive it directly to your inbox: go to newsletter preferences in ‘My Account’ or follow the instructions in the newsletter box below.

There’s no better feeling than finally mastering the Italian language to a point where you can effortlessly hold a conversation, crack jokes, or argue your point where once you had to struggle to make yourself understood.

If you’re not quite there yet, rest assured that you will be eventually – and that this feeling makes all the effort worthwhile.

There is one drawback to newfound multilingualism though: it causes its fair share of confusion, especially when you realise your native language no longer comes as naturally to you as it once did.

It’s pretty disconcerting when you start questioning your spelling in your native tongue, or when you can’t immediately think of the English word for something.

Whenever I’m back home, I find myself peppering my speech in English with “eh” and “boh”, waving my hands around wildly while I talk (or shout), and developing a nervous eye twitch if I hear someone order an “expresso” or mispronounce “bruschetta”. I don’t mean to be a snob – but I know I’m not the only one.

Here we’ve listed some of the most common problems you could have in English if you speak Italian:

12 ways speaking Italian will mess up your English

There are lots of things about Milan that set it apart from the rest of Italy, and one of the best is the fact that it has so many bookshop cafes – in which you can actually sit down to read a book in peace, while drinking your coffee slowly. This, at least in my experience, is almost unheard of elsewhere in the country.

They’re called caffe’ letterari in Italian, despite them having little in common with the original ‘literary cafes’ – the prestigious coffee houses that served as meeting points for Europe’s intelligentsia in the 18th and 19th centuries.

If you’d like to check out these cosy cafe-bookshops on your next visit to the city, here are a few of our favourites:

REVEALED: Six of Milan’s best bookshop cafes

If you’re planning an Italian beach holiday, the first thing to decide is: which coast? While both are perhaps equally beautiful, Italy’s east and west coasts have different characteristics and attract holidaymakers for different reasons.

So choosing which to visit can be a tough call, particularly if you’re planning to spend most of the time sunbathing and swimming.

We looked at what you’ll need to know about the pros and cons of exploring both the Tyrrhenian coast and the Adriatic:

Is Italy’s west or east coast the best place for a holiday?

One way to soak up sun, scenery and culture in Italy this summer is by visiting one of the country’s many small music festivals.

As well as being unique, full of character and supporting independent artists from all over the world, they offer the chance to explore lesser-known areas of Italy with the most stunning surroundings and incredible local food you could hope for. Best of all, some of these events are free to attend.

Festival season is just getting started in Italy and we’ve got an expert guide to the best smaller events to know about:

Nine of Italy’s best small summer music festivals

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Is there an aspect of the Italian way of life you’d like to see us write more about? Please email me at [email protected].