Native Italian teacher helps you speak from lesson one: online Italian lessons and conversation, beginners to advanced, mistakes welcome.

Find out more about Nicole

• Do you speak this language fluently because of your origins or because a teacher inspired you to learn?

  Italian is my native language: I was born and raised in Emilia-Romagna, a region famous for its food, its warm people and its love for good conversation. My passion for languages, however, started when I was a little girl: I was fascinated by English and tried to learn it on my own from a very young age. That curiosity never left me, and it led me to study English and Spanish at the University. Learning foreign languages made me look at Italian with new eyes, and that is what inspired me to teach it.

• Can you name a living, historical or fictional character that you think is the emblematic representative of the language's culture?

  Dante Alighieri. He is often called "the father of the Italian language", because with his Divina Commmedia he chose to write in the language of everyday people instead of Latin. Seven hundred years later, many of his expressions are still part of modern Italian. Every time my students learn Italian, they are speaking a little bit of Dante!

• Is there a typical word, phrase, tradition or behaviour in the language that you particularly like?

  I love the word "magari". It can mean "maybe", "I wish!" or "if only...", depending on how you say it. One small word, full of hope and emotion: very Italian! I also love the tradition of the long Sunday lunch with family, where food and conversation go on for hours. It is the best Italian lesson you can get.

• Why does speaking this language matter to you?

  Italian is not just a language for me: it is my home, my culture and my way of seeing the world. Sharing it with people from other countries makes me proud, and seeing my students fall in love with Italy, its food, its music and its people, gives real meaning to my work.

• What is the main difficulty in learning this language and what can help the process of learning?

  Many students find verbs difficult, because Italian has many tenses and every verb changes depending on the person. Masculine and feminine words can also be tricky. What helps most is clear explanations, lots of practice in real situations and comparing Italian with your own language. I explain in English or Spanish and point out the similarities and differences, so grammar becomes much easier to understand and remember.

• Provide a valuable anecdote related to your language learning or your days at school.

  When I was a child, I loved listening to American and British songs. I didn't understand the words, but I loved how they sounded! So I used to sit with a dictionary next to me and try to translate them, word by word, to discover what those songs were really saying. It was slow and sometimes funny, but it was pure joy. I still believe that curiosity and passion are the best fuel for learning a language, and I try to bring that same spirit into my lessons.

• How has travel or a specific trip helped you to increase your skill and knowledge of the language?

  After high school, I spent some time in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Living abroad, speaking English every day and discovering a new culture changed my life: there I realized that languages were my world. When I came back to Italy, I enrolled at University to study languages. That experience also taught me how it feels to be the foreigner trying to communicate, and it helps me understand my students' challenges today.

• What makes you a Superprof in language?

  I am patient, friendly and I truly care about my students' progress. Every lesson is personalized: I adapt to their goals, their level and their interests, whether they want to travel to Italy, connect with their Italian roots or simply enjoy learning. I create my own teaching materials, such as grammar sheets and exercises designed specifically for English and Spanish speakers. As a lifelong language learner myself, I know exactly how it feels to learn a new language, and I am here to make the journey fun, relaxed and effective.