Introduction: Having lived in Italy for most of my life and studied in Italian schools for 13 years, I have an intuitive grasp not only of the language's grammatical rules, but also the more subtle nuances that govern everyday speech. It's not only useful to learn how to converse with Italians in the street, it's fun. And it provides a bit of insight into Italian culture, in a way that the sterile speech you might learn in some Italian classes cannot do.