teaching of Italian language to foreigners
What kind of teacher am I?
I have been studying foreign languages since I was a child. This allows me to be always “on the other side,” which means to understand the person in front of me, how they feel when faced with challenges but also with the satisfaction learning a foreign language brings.
I try to be the teacher that, as a student, I would like to have: someone who helps students find their personal learning style or, if they already know it, who adapts methodologies and materials to those personal features.
Preparing lessons for me is a fundamental phase: I always try to find interesting and stimulating topics and forms of use of these materials adapted to the specific needs of my students.
My lessons and my teaching method
I do not have a preferred teaching method: I always adapt the lessons – as well as my material – to the students I am working with. Over the years I’ve learned to listen to the students and to find with them methods and materials better suited to their needs. I spend a lot of time preparing my lessons: the materials I propose are chosen with care or created by me so that students will find them not only useful but also interesting.
Whether they are in the classroom or online, in my lessons I always try to have a relaxed, serene and friendly environment in which conversation is the ideal background to work on those linguistic aspects that students need to learn or focus on.
Teaching in the classroom
I have been teaching for over 10 years at L’Accademia, the school of Italian in Cagliari.
L’Accademia trained me as a teacher, and this is where I have learned to personalize my teaching approach and my relationship with the students. The school is small: I have rarely had more than 4-5 students in my class, and in fact I have often worked with single students, especially online. For 5 years I have been teaching the course for the European Union interpreters and translators, for whom I create a specific curriculum and tailor-made materials every year.
Many students come back to study at L’Accademia: I like to think it’s a little bit thanks to me.
I have also been teaching for 5 years in immigrant literacy centers. I mainly work with adults who are preparing for the Italian certification exam required to apply for a residence permit or citizenship.