Italian for Effective Communication

> About Me

I was raised speaking only Italian, and now I speak nine foreign languages, mostly at an advanced level, several of which I learned without going abroad, some in only a few months. I achieved this as an adult by speaking with people, not in class or with books, using original techniques and free or affordable learning resources.

I've taught Italian to adults in language schools and universities. I work as an independent translator from Japanese, Korean and Chinese into Italian. I've written a book and lectured in polyglot clubs about my method.

> How You'll Learn

I specialize in effective communication. My students want to gain real-life skills to travel and live in Italy like an Italian, but their study time is often skewed toward grammar and translation and, as a result, they can understand some Italian, but cannot speak with confidence. That’s why I give you the structured conversation practice that you need, while pronunciation and grammar are acquired naturally.

My role is to guide and correct. The chat log on Skype makes notes to revise later. You’ll learn words by gestures, and grammar by examples. Most of the time you will be speaking, and you’ll be speaking in Italian, from day one! You'll keep a positive attitude and feel free to make mistakes because that’s how we learn. Learning should be simple, and fun!

This is the structure of a typical 1-hour lesson:
Part 1. Repetition to reinforce vocabulary, grammar, and speaking.
1.a (10-20 min) We revise key points from the previous lesson.
1.b (10-20 min) We make variations and expand contents from those key points.
Part 2. New material to practice reading and introduce new grammar and vocabulary.
2.a (5-15 min) We read a dialogue from the textbook (for beginners) or real-world material available online (for intermediate students and above).
2.b (5-15 min) We have a conversation based on the text we read.
Part 3. Speaking for fun.
3.a (5-10 min) We have a leisurely chat based on pictures.

I select material based on your goals. For example, if you want to learn how to make a hotel reservation, we’ll browse rooms on Airbnb together.

My lessons are designed to:

- Practice all the skills needed for communication
- Learn words through gestures, and grammar by examples
- Gradually shift from textbook to real-life material
- Follow a plan to master grammar
- Memorize by spaced repetition
- Keep topics relevant to you
- Keep motivation

Two 1-hour lessons a week is a good schedule to make progress.