All aspects of life are valued and celebrated by Italians, including spending time with family and friends, eating and drinking well, and appreciating beauty in all its forms.
For Italian families, among the most popular daily leisure activities are watching television, listening to the radio, reading newspapers, and going to the cinema; reading books and engaging in sports are less common among the majority of people.
People's personalities and relationships matter more to Italians than technical knowledge. Senior executives are valued for their relationships and generalist thinking. Family is important to Italians. They are warm and spontaneous, even in business matters. Emotions always play a role.
Italian lifestyle is largely imitated all over the world. It is made up of small and big habits that create a peculiar and sought-after image. Italians value and celebrate all aspects of life, such as spending time with family and friends, eating and drinking well, and enjoying beauty in all its forms.
Some important values and aspects of Italian lifestyle are family and spending time with them, religion and maintaining Catholic traditions, and the pleasure of eating good meals prepared with love and dedication. Gestures and body language are important in the Italian language to emphasize certain ideas.
And this passion is not just reserved for love and affection. Consider the things Italy is famous for: food, cooking, fashion, design, art, politics, religion, family, opera, even the terrible driving – everything in Italy is approached with gusto, joie de vivre, energy and, of course, passion!
The Italian culture is commonly associated with art, music and food. It is the homeland of the Roman Empire, the Roman Catholic Church and the main center of the Renaissance, which flourished through Europe for centuries.
In the culture of Italy, families are generally quite close and they are the focal point for life. Even though daily life is always a rush, Italians always find a way to spend quality time together by eating all around the table. At the dinner table, nobody is in a rush.
"Traveling" and "Reading" are the top two answers among Italian consumers in our survey on the subject of "Most popular hobbies & activities". The survey was conducted online among 12,184 respondents in Italy, in 2023.
The most common foods in the Italian diet include pasta, cheese, vegetables, olive oil, meats, and wine. Italians give a lot of importance to fresh ingredients. They use seasonal ingredients to prepare meals. The Italian diet consists of breakfast (colazione), lunch (pranzo), and dinner (cena).
Popular forms of recreation for Italian teenagers are similar to those in the U.S. -- meeting friends, going to parties, playing sports, club activities, dating, movies, shopping, etc. Italians teens often go out in groups. Sports are very popular, the favorite being soccer, or football as it is called in Italy.
They prioritize having fun and making their partners laugh, believing laughter and joy are essential in life. They are well-versed in the art of charming women and can easily make them fall for them with sweet compliments. One significant advantage of dating an Italian man is their ability to communicate effectively.
Italians have a strong sense of loyalty to one another, and the family unit is often the only social unit that is considered to be complete and forever. This is why, in general, Italians spend so much time with their family: the family represents a refuge, a secure place to live, and a source of support.
After the first catchphrase, an Italian flirting strategy would usually proceed with a ton of compliments and sweet words accompanied by slow movements like holding your hand, caressing your face, blinking, winking, smiling, and looking in your eyes.
Italian food is considered among the best in the world. Italy is famous for the Renaissance and the incredible artists it produced. Italy is famous for its tourism, its art cities and unique scenery. Italy is also known for its language, its opera, its fashion and its luxury brands.
Italian women are known to have an intense gaze, olive skin, dark eyes, and dark hair. High cheekbones, a small or Roman nose, long hair, and soft lips are considered beautiful in Italy.
Italy is home to the epicentre of the Roman Empire, the hub of Catholicism and the birthplace of the Renaissance. It has a rich heritage in art, history, religion, cuisine, architecture and fashion. These cultural legacies have been deeply influential in defining Western cultural tradition.
Italian culture is steeped in the arts, family, architecture, music and food. Home of the Roman Empire and its legendary figures such as Julius Caesar and Nero, it was also a major center of the Renaissance and the birthplace of fascism under Benito Mussolini.
To ask “what do you do for a living?” in Italian you can say che lavoro fai?, or in a more formal situation, che lavoro fa? In this episode of Coffee Break Italian To Go, Francesca asks this questions to interviewees in the streets of Milan.
Here are some famous Italian sayings: a caval donato non si guarda in bocca (don't look a gift horse in the mouth), chi dorme non piglia pesci (you snooze, you lose), parla bene, ma parla poco (speak well, but speak little), tutto è bene ciò che finisce bene (all is well that ends well).