All of our Italian teachers are native speakers of Italian and experienced online Italian language tutors. Accordingly, you will only interact with experienced, knowledgeable instructors who are willing to put in the extra effort to make sure you learn how to interact in Italian.
Since Italian is one of the most beautiful languages in the world, it is in high demand among aficionados of foreign languages.
That being said, there are many more practical reasons for wanting to study Italian. A recent trend has been the purchasing of vacation homes in Italy, which means that Americans are going to Italy for extended visits, often living a more day-to-day existence there, which means they need to know Italian in order to interact with their neighbors and appreciate their home away from home.
Long-term residents and residence-card holders who decide to become an Italian citizen are required by law to pass an Italian language exam, the so-called “Test di cittadinanza.” It’s not a terribly difficult exam, but it’s by no means easy, either. The level “B1” is considered the minimum requisite.
Some students study it for the AP Italian test.
Italian universities are a lot less expensive than their American counterparts, so many young people are applying to Italian institutions, some of which are the best in their fields both in Italy and internationally.
Some students would simply like to reconnect with their Italian heritage. The United States is filled with people who have last names ending in ini, i, one, ona, isi, iu, etc., and have a vague memory of hearing their grandparents speaking the lingua della patria. As we get older, we feel the need to reconnect with parts of us that have gotten lost in the shuffle of the generations.
Students sometimes get a job with an Italian company and need to learn the language in order to advance in their careers.
Yet others are fascinated by Italian culture – its cinema, cuisine, wine, art, music, its wonderful people – and they want to understand it better. In fact, language learning and knowledge of a culture often go hand in hand, building upon each other and creating a virtuous cycle.
Let’s not forget the most important reason for learning Italian: You simply love the language! Let that be enough!
Well, yes and no.
On the one the hand, the US Department of State classifies Italian as a “Category One Language”, which is the easiest level there is. The same alphabet is used, there are few truly difficult sounds to produce, there are a lot of “cognates” (Italian and English words that look very similar and ha
ve similar meanings) and Italian grammar has a fairly straightforward tense system that is not so foreign to the English-speaking way of thinking….
On the other, it can be a bit hard for us anglofoni (English speakers) to get our head around the all of the vowel changes necessary for verb conjugations, “combined prepositions,” direct and indirect object pronouns, irregular verbs, not to mention the simple choice of how you address a person in the second person. Do you say tu or Lei? It’s not always clear when one or the other is appropriate and learning the difference takes time and practice.
However, Roma non fu costruita in un giorno. (Rome was not built in a day!)
At Ciao Languages, we’ve been through this a lot and we know exactly how to help you learn all of the skills necessary to master the language.
It’s important to be clear about this! Ciao Languages does not offer “online lessons,” where you go and consult a bunch of exercises on your phone or watch pre-recorded videos.
All of our Italian Zoom lessons are “live”, i.e., held by a native speaker of Italian who interacts with you directly.
The advantage is that you the student get immediate feedback on your pronunciation and on what it’s like to have an actual conversation in Italian.
You may learn a bit of grammar from an application like Babbel or Duolingo, but those systems do not really give you a sense of what it’s like to speak to a native in the language.
At Ciao Languages, we believe it’s important to interact with people who grew up speaking the language you are learning.
By “native speaking teacher,” we mean someone who was born and raised in Italy, was educated there and has spent of deal of their lives thinking, understanding and speaking Italian.
Undoubtedly, there are people who speak Italian really well, and who are really good teachers, but at Ciao Langauges we want you the student to have the chance to have authentic interactions with a live Italian tutor who will give you the authentic experience of speaking Italian.
Our live Italian tutors are from all over Italy. From Milan, Florence, Rome, Naples, Sardinia, Sicily – you’ll come into contact with a full range of regional accents and outlooks on life. Your language lesson will be more than a conversation with a native speaker, but an authentic cultural experience.
The Ciao Languages approach is a system of best practices, techniques and attitudes that the owner and Ciao Languages Founder and CEO Sean Cook has molded into a unique and effective teaching method. His experiences as a learner of Italian and French, as the owner of a language school and as a teacher trainer have informed his method, which is based on empathy, encouragement and student engagement.
By designing lessons with the specific needs of online Zoom lessons in mind, Ciao Languages makes the virtual lesson a live human experience.
The lesson slide decks that are used by the teacher contain explanations, as well as exercises and speaking practice activities that enable the student to immediately put new language into use.
At Ciao Languages teachers are trained to strike a balance between the need for the student to be accurate and to become fluent in the language they are learning.
We also firmly believe in making students feel as comfortable as possible during our lessons so that they can feel free to experiment with Italian and to engage in authentic communication with their Italian tutor.
What’s included?
- Live Zoom lessons with a native speaking Italian tutor
- Access to the recordings of all of your Italian Zoom lessons
- Access to the Ciao Languages Student Resource Center
- Access to the Mango Languages application
It would be dishonest of us to say otherwise, so YES, you need to study.
Think of it this way. Can you become good at playing the piano if you don’t practice every week? Can you lose weight without following a diet and/or an exercise regimen? Can you grow the muscles in your arm without lifting some weights or doing some push-ups?
But then again, when you start learning a language, there are just a few things to learn, so the amount of time you study is relatively little, maybe even about ten or fifteen minutes a day.
Our experience has been this, though: Students start studying Italian and then get really into it and somehow find the time to study a lot.
Roma non fu costruita in un giorno (Rome was not built in a day)! So, just get started and with time, you’ll find yourself studying joyfully and willingly, with results commensurate with your efforts.
And we will be there to cheer you on!
We’ll cheer you for your successes when you have a break-through.
We’ll give you the encouragement you need when you are getting frustrated. When you’re feeling frustrated, by the way, is usually what you feel just before a break-through – so be patient with yourself!
We’re in it together with you!
The course on French I have started recently with a delightful tutor in Portugal on Zoom, has made me enthusiastic to go the whole way. I have started with 20 lessons twice a week and the price is reasonable and the learning steep. I have had technical glitches but am not very techie myself, and the help from Sean has been impressive and effective. I feel vey fortunate to have a personal relationship with the school, it is a rare experience and a rewarding aspect.
DB
Ciao Languages is a fantastic way to learn a language. My teacher Jessica makes learning Italian fun. She is very patient and gives free outside sources to help you learn the language. Sean and Jessica both respond to any questions you may have immediately. Having taken other language courses in Italian before, they are absolutely the best. They make learning fun. I highly recommend them for any language you want to learn.
Melanie B.
Learning French through Ciao Languages has been a fantastic experience. Sean, the owner, is always responsive to any questions or concerns. Enrollment is simple and the logon procedure is easy to navigate. I elected to take private French lessons because it is more convenient with my schedule; I like the flexibility to schedule lessons month to month and my teacher, Evelyne, is always accommodating if I need to switch days occasionally. Evelyne is wonderful! I studied Spanish and Italian many years ago and Evelyne is the best language teacher I have had. She is always encouraging and makes every lesson fun and interesting. I sometimes get frustrated if I feel I am progressing too slowly, but she constantly reminds me that learning a new language takes time and to be patient with myself. I have always wanted to learn French and Ciao Languages has given me an exciting learning adventure from the comfort of my home. Linda C.
Linda C.
Ciao Languages is a top notch A+ language learning organization. They are very helpful with any of my questions and concerns. The lessons are fun and they hone in on any areas I am having difficulty with. It is very personalized and a great bargain if you are needing to learn a language for fun, travel, school or keeping the mind engaged and active.
Pamela O.
Quick to respond. Very clear about offerings. I am happy with the language tutor he recommended. And it is affordable.
Christine M.
“Ciao Languages is the best language learning program I have used. I have been using it very successfully for over four months, and because of it, I have had dramatic breakthroughs in fluency and comprehension. It has greatly increased my ability to speak with less and less hesitation, to be more easily understood, and to better understand what is being said to me. Based on this recent progress, I believe Ciao Languages to be the most effective program of the many I have tried over the six years that I have been studying French. Its efficient combination of language tools sets the stage for the student to learn and immediately reinforce newly acquired vocabulary, grammar, and syntax with the help of a live native speaking instructor. The coordination of the course material with the on-line software also allows the student to progress on their own as quickly as they wish in between the live tutoring sessions.”
S.G.