Every Sunday, instead of relaxing at home for the weekend, members of a speaking club called Parliamo Italiano gather to practice the language, share knowledge and spend time together.
Members are from a wide range of ages, occupations, and lifestyles, but they are united by their shared passion for all things Italian.
How it started
Olga Voitsekhova, the founder of Parliamo Italiano, first visited Italy at the age of eight, through a program for children affected by the Chornobyl disaster.
Voitsekhova, who was born in Vyshhorod, a town located 8 kilometers north of Kyiv on the edge of the Chornobyl zone, went to Italy nine times under the program, and by the age of 16 was completely in love with the country.
After that, she tried to find suitable language classes in Kyiv, but there was always something missing. Used to face-to-face communication from a very young age, she missed it, and therefore joined the Language Exchange Club, which was organized by a group of Ukrainians and foreigners. She spent some time with the club.
Years later, she realized that she missed such meetings, so she gathered together some of her old friends who shared her interest in Italian culture. They have been meeting every week for more than a year now.
Club rules
The club gathers every Sunday at 3 p. m. in the food court of the Gulliver shopping mall. It is open to everyone and is free of charge, the only requirement is that attendees are able to speak some Italian, as at every meeting there is at least one native speaker.
While the Ukrainians get a chance to practice the language and get to know more about the culture, Italians enjoy the meetings just as much.
Alberto De Marco, an international and transnational business and strategic expert from Italy, who currently lives in Ukraine, says that the club is “a lot of fun.” The meetings are especially valuable for him as he mostly speaks English, French and Japanese during his business hours.
“It’s nice to use my native language,” he said.
The club members are of different ages, nationalities, and occupations. They include Italian expat Alessandro Bottini, a 75-year-old retiree, Yulia Zubchuk, a 21-year-old Ukrainian psychology student, and 42-year-old Nodar Chigo, who comes from Georgia and plans to move to Italy.
Some participants leave soon, but there is a core group of both Ukrainians and Italians who have met together regularly for a while and who have become real friends. They don’t just attend the official meetings of the club, but also cook dinners, go bowling and go on excursions together.
Voitsekhova says that Italians can always ask for help with translation or advice about living in Kyiv. Ukrainians in turn can ask their foreign friends to bring some products from Italy.
“We all feel support,” Voitsekhova told the Kyiv Post.
Lifetime love
Once people visit Italy, they get addicted for life, club members say.
“It’s a drug,” Nataliia Yakovleva, a journalism student and member of the speaking club said. Like many other members of Parliamo Italiano, she is currently planning another trip and already has tickets to go to Milan this summer. Club members like the Italian temperament, lifestyle, traditions, and cuisine, and they can talk about these forever.
Yakovleva says that she likes the Italian attitude to the world. They are very friendly and open, and family means the world to them.
“The mother is the most important person to an Italian man, no matter if he is 15 or 75,” she said.
Italians often have big families, and Yakovleva loves their tradition of gathering together for big family dinners.
Daria Zolotareva, a beauty and travel blogger who joined the club a month ago, has been to Italy 17 times over the last three years.
“I fell in love (with Italy) and I felt so good there — like never before,” she said.
Zolotareva says that Italians are debonair and have generous souls. She was won over by their talent for enjoying every day to the fullest.
“They don’t save themselves for a better time,” she said.
Yulia Maistrenko, a lawyer who has been to Italy many times under the program for children affected by the Chornobyl disaster, says that Italians are very “impulsive, bright, enchanting and emotional.”
She agrees with Zolotareva, and says that Italians’ life is like a continuous holiday.
“They know how to live beautifully,” she added.
Yakovleva believes the reason for this is that people who grow up surrounded by the beauty of Italian architecture, cathedrals, frescoes and sculptures have a special way of seeing the world.
Gastronomic paradise
Italian is one of the most popular cuisines in the world, due to their love of food and the high-quality products they use.
Yakovleva says that cooking is like art for Italians.
Voitsekhova says that if Italians don’t like a dish, they won’t eat it. They cook fresh food every day, and will never understand the Ukrainian habit of making a big pot of borscht and eating it over a week.
“I know one Italian who checked the expiration date on every egg, because he wouldn’t eat stale products,” she said.
Learning Italian
Parliamo Italiano members say that most Italian language classes in Kyiv provide a basic knowledge, but for those who already know the basics there are few options.
To improve language skills, the first thing members are advised to do is watch Italian videos on YouTube.
Yakovleva says that Italian bloggers make excellent video lessons on grammar and conversational language. She also follows Italians on Instagram and reads their comments and watches Instagram Stories.
“It is not some stereotypical material prepared for you, it is real life,” she said.
Voytsekhova says that she loves listening to Radio Italia on a mobile app, as it is a great way to keep up with the news in Italy, as well as good language practice.
But the best way to learn is to talk to native speakers — by visiting speaking clubs and traveling to Italy.
Just don’t take to heart one of the most popular Italian phrases — bel far niente — which means “the beauty of doing nothing.”
Parliamo Italiano gathers every Sunday at 3 p. m. at the food court of the Gulliver shopping mall (1A Sportyvna Sq.)
