Silvia

Ciao! Hi! My name is Silvia, I was born in Florence (Italy). From 2019 to 2021 I was living in London, UK, and that's where I refined my skills in teaching online classes (especially because of the lockdown!) I have always been passionate about languages and teaching. In fact, I graduated from the University for Foreigners of Siena, in Linguistic and Cultural Mediation, in 2016. Then I completed a 2-year School of Specialization for Teaching Italian to Foreigners and I took the Certification called DITALS, which certifies the ability to teach Italian to foreigners. During my University career as a student, I have always been giving private tuition to high school students, to help them in various subjects (both literary and scientific). Then from 2018 to 2019, I have been teaching Italian to English and French speakers. I am currently teaching online to various students, with different backgrounds (young learners, middle age, retired) and different levels of understanding as I am qualified to teach from a beginner to an advanced level. I have seen great improvements since we started our lessons, great commitment and motivation to improve more. Thanks to my study and practical experience in the field, I have gained skills and creativity in programming and organizing my online lessons using the technology and various tools (Power Point presentations, audios, songs, videos, material). My goal is to make you feel comfortable while speaking Italian, fluent and self-confident. My methods of teaching Italian are "learning while having fun" (with tailored lessons according to your passions and interests), and "learning by doing": I will prepare material and assignments based on our lessons together, using grammar, vocabulary, culture, music, and other aspects of the language, but avoiding to do only grammar or only the vocabulary as it could be too boring and misleading). I suggest you meet once or twice a week, my lessons are 50-min long. If you start from scratch, I would say that you will be able to speak Italian also after 2 months of tuition together, as long as you are focused on learning and coachable. I will make sure to keep you accountable and motivated to keep going! Let me share a secret with you: even Italian native speakers still make mistakes! So, you don't have to be perfect, but just talk and will refine your Italian step by step! Passion, dedication, patience, trust, and active listening are my strong points. I find great satisfaction in helping people learn my native language and culture, and I am really looking forward to helping you too! Hope to see you soon! Silvia