This program will teach you how to build better Italian sentences and improve your Italian fluency by retelling stories in your own words. Once you’ve mastered the principles of the method, you will be able to apply it to your Italian study routine on your own or with the help of a tutor. All it takes is just getting new short story books (which are easily found on Amazon for a low price) or simply apply the same strategies to any piece of Italian learning content you use.

In short, this Italian language Challenge is a 30 or 40 day challenge that includes reading and listening to a short story in Italian tailored to your level, followed by a 40 minute in-person lesson with me where you will be prompted on the book’s content. The nature of a learning challenge is to hold you accountable to use proactively the content and of course complete the program. 

This is the story behind…

Some years ago, after experimenting with a few fluency approaches in my classes, I decided to use graded readers and audiobooks in easy Italian as a way to give my students everyday fresh content to talk about during our classes.  

The reason for this was that, in my early years as an Italian language educator, I often struggled to keep my students motivated and enthusiastic during conversation classes. 

If you’ve ever worked with a private tutor, you’ll know that sometimes the conversations look the same as they did the day before (your life, your free time, your vacations)… as one of my private students put it once, this is a futile exercise because you end up repeating the same sentences all along without ever branching out to more in-depth topics. 

As so, it occurred to me one day that by having my students read and listen to simple and short stories in Italian, I would be able to help them bring up new content and vocabulary for each lesson. This proved to be a defining moment in my teaching method, and it has helped many students achieve Italian fluency through reading, listening, and talking about a wealth of simplified Italian content over the years. 

There is never a dull moment in my classes because the students are encouraged to use and retell the stories they have read and listened to prior to our calls.

It goes without saying that this method works, because it helps students to expand their vocabulary and improving their ability to construct simple sentences naturally, through reading and listenings implied stories and real-life dialogues.

This specific challenge is based on my short stories books that I designed having in mind English native speakers. You can learn more about my books here.

We can be good starters but poor finishers in many new things we try. The internet is full of great programs, and it’s easy to fall for the promise that by purchasing something, you’ll be able to effortlessly move from A to B. However, learning a foreign language entails a long and consistent workout, and without setting aside some time on a regular basis and following a structured plan, you’re likely wasting your time and money. Through this challenge, a deadline and structured study plan, you’ll be pushed to use the product you got. 

The main element of this challenge is that you’ll have the chance to meet me within 30 days of your purchase, for a 40-minute individual class to discuss what you’ve read and listened to, as well as to stretch your Italian. 

Like this, you can be confident that you will not only consume but also apply information from my learning products.

Step 1: Buy the challenge. If you’re not sure what level you’re at, get an assessment from me and I’ll point you in the right direction based on your level. 

Step 2: I’ll send you an email within hours form your purchase, and we’ll arrange to meet in person within 30 days of your purchase. You may reschedule the class once with at least 48 hours’ notice. 

Step 3: You will be given instructions on how to read, listen to, and use the short stories and audios based on your level. 

Step 4: During your individual class, I’ll prompt you on the story and we’ll discuss the most interesting vocabulary and grammar. You’ll also have the chance to ask questions.

Accountability: the program is designed to hold you accountable for completing it. 

A Fun Way of Learning: all of the stories are engaging and entertaining, and they are all culturally relevant. You’ll not only learn new words and sentences through simplified Italian and real life dialogues, but you’ll also learn about Italy and its various regions, as each story is set in a different city or region. 

Easy to digest: each short story is divided into bite-sized chapters. Each chapter can be completed in 10-30 minutes (depending on your level).  

Learning at different levels: this program focuses on all aspects of language acquisition at once: reading, listening, grammar (in small doses), writing, and speaking.