we went to this teeny, tiny cheese/salami shop in Florence.  I tried to converse with the owner, who was a super sweet older gentleman.  He showed me old pictures of his dad in front of the store and I could figure out that he was telling me the store had been in his family for 100 years (cento anni!).    Then he showed me pictures of his son holding a baby pig and of the farm where he is raising the pigs.  Even though he spoke very little English and I spoke little Italian, we were still able to have a wonderful exchange (and the food was delicious there!!!).  It was definitely an amazing experience!

Everything [was great]! The interaction, your making us use what we had learned in exercises in the course. An affirming way of learning as well as a way of learning from your mistakes.

Maria’s class covered a great variety of topics in only 8 weeks. The pace of the class was just right for those who had taken Italian before and those learning it for the first time. Her materials covering vocabulary, grammar, verb conjugations, and of course, food, would prepare anyone for a trip to Italy. Maria kept everyone entertained and engaged. I look forward to using what I learned on my upcoming trip to Italy. Thank you so much.

I returned from Italy yesterday and wow – what a beautiful country! We visited Rome, Florence and Venice, with Florence being my favorite. I was able to use a lot of what I learned in your class – for example, while in Venice, I asked the waitress what types of cicchetti they had, and when she didn’t know the word for shrimp in English, I was able to recognize it in Italian!

I also found that the locals were super friendly when I tried my best to speak Italian to them, even when they could understand English.

Grazie mille for being an amazing Italian teacher! You helped me get so much more out of my trip!

It has been wonderful. We’ve been to so many beautiful places that are not populated by tourists. We’ve been walking around and dining with all the locals. Unlike the big cities, a lot of these people don’t speak English. My biggest regret is that I didn’t start studying Italian sooner. I’ve been in situations where I managed to get my point across but I have to admit it was a little bit of a struggle. So my advice to all of you going in the fall, KEEP STUDYING! It’s just been one wonderful experience after another. Delicious food and wonderful wine. I hope you all enjoy your trips as much as I have. Thank you again Maria for your wonderful class. It did help. I just wish I would have had more time.

I was nervous for my trip to Italy in March, having never studied Italian (or any similar language) before. Thanks to Maria, I was able to learn exactly what I needed to make reservations, book tours, order from a menu, and impress the locals. Without the course, I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy my trip as much as I did.
Grazie!

I would tell all my friends to start with your class. I really enjoyed it.

Great class to get started learning Italian