Learn words and expressions in Italian about the family
One of the first things you notice living in Italy is that tradizione (tradition) is extremely important, and nowhere is this more true than in the famiglia (family).
Il divorzio is not uncommon, but the vast majority of families live together, often with three generations under the same roof - mamma e papà, fratello e sorella (brother and sister), nonni (grandparents) and assorted animals. This arrangement is really useful because it allows both marito (husband) and moglie (wife) to go out to work, while nonno or nonna looks after the figli (children).
One thing that has changed since after the war is the size of the family. Nowadays genitori (parents) tend to have just one figlio unico (only child) as the cost is more manageable. They also start having children much later in life, with many mothers deciding to dare la luce (give birth) well into their thirties.
Once sposati (married), la coppia (the couple) often stay with one set of parents in the family home, perhaps moving into a separate wing of the house so that la suocera (mother-in-law) can tenere un occhio (keep an eye) on her nuora (daughter-in-law).
Family get-togethers are frequent. Many houses have a special room under the house - la taverna - where large dinners are held with tutti i parenti (all relatives). Other times when the family meet could be at a matrimonio (wedding) or a compleanno (birthday).
People in Italy often stay in their home town all their lives, so the family is usually close by. La zia (aunt) probably lives around the corner and lo zio (uncle) up the road, with everyone dropping by for a quick chat on regular occasions.
All this may sound a bit stifling to those of us who are used to our privacy, but the closeness of Italian families is definitely something to be admired, and may be one of the reasons why so many of us are attracted to the thought packing up and moving to Italy.
