Italian language school

Emanuele helped me achieve a much higher level of Italian in a very short time. His lessons were structured, clear, and perfectly adapted to my learning needs. He made complex topics easy to understand and always kept me motivated. If you're serious about learning Italian, Emanuele is the teacher you need!

I have been taking lessons with Emanuele Piva for two years, and hands down he has been the best teacher I’ve ever had. His lessons are very well structured, he’s got a systematic approach and balances the lessons in a way so that they are both productive and fun/interesting at the same time. One thing I’ve learned in my foreign language acquisition journey; when you finally find a good teacher, hang on to them. Teachers like Emanuele are few and far between.

To get my Italian to a passable B1, I looked for someone who could 'teach to the test' i.e. someone who knew CILS and could help me study the pratical content I needed to succeed on the exam in order to apply for Italian citizenship.

I tried a few other teachers and they just couldn't focus their lessons on the target skills for B1. When I met Emanuele, he quickly made clear he knew the CILS well and could provide me the instruction needed to bring my spoken Italian to the correct level.

His lessons paid off and I am extremely grateful! Grazie a te, Manu, sono (quasi) italiana!

I have been studying Italian on a off for many years. While I am motivated to study and learn the language, often times I have dropped lessons after some time cause I plateau and teachers don't usually have a systematic methodology or an entertaining approach to motivate the student.

Then I found Emanuele, who is the best language teacher I ever had: Emanuele has a wealth of teaching experience and he creates content which is enjoyable while helping me to bring my Italian to the next level. He strikes the right balance between conversation, grammar, and reading and lessons never fail to teach me something new. The content is tailored to my needs and focuses on the areas where I need most improvements, so I can progress rapidly and steadily.

After I few months with him my Italian is progressing faster than ever, and while I am far from proficient I know that Emanuele will push me to the next level. The value for price is amazing and anyone thinking of studying Italian, no matter the level, should give Emanuele teaching a try.

Mir macht es großen Spaß, mit Emanuele meine Iralienischkenntnisse zu verbessern. Ich war während der Pandemie anfangs skeptisch gegenüber Sprachkursen in Online-Formaten, aber kann jetzt sagen, dass es wunderbar funktioniert! Ich habe durch Emanuele sehr viel lernen und meine Sprachkenntnisse verbessern können. Er ist super zuverlässig, hat immer anspruchsvolle Texte/Materialen vorbereitet und legt viel Wert auf Konversation und Aussprache. Daher: uneingeschränkt zu empfehlen 🙂

Emmanuelle is not only patient and organized but very down to earth. He knows what works best for the student and will tailor his lessons to the students' needs.

I am studying Italian for nearly 1.5 years now. On this journey I have met few tutors, before ending up with Emanuele as my teacher. The quality and the effects are just incomparable. I made so much progress since I started to work with Emanuele.
His lessons are fully tailored to individual needs. He does not use standard textbooks, but his own created materials, which I find incredible and a lot more effective.
Emanuele always comes prepared with the clear program for the day, but if needed he easily responses to request to do something else or repeat the subject. Lessons with him are never boring.
I truly enjoy this time and hope we will be working together until I master my Italian language skills.

I have studied Cantonese, Spanish, Italian, Latin, French, and German with the help of high school, college, community adult education, and online teachers/tutors. Out of the 30+ foreign language teachers/tutors that I have studied with, Emanuele Piva has been, by far, the best foreign language teacher that I have had the pleasure of working with.
In the 9 months that I have studied with Emanuele, my Italian has improved dramatically from an A2 level to a B1/B2 level. We just returned from our 2-week trip to Matera, Puglia, Lago di Garda and Verona. Thanks to Emanuele’s weekly Italian sessions, I was able to comfortably speak in Italian. This ability opened up opportunities to have an elevated travel experience, such as having extended conversations with an innkeeper in Matera and with our non-English-speaking taxi driver. We spoke about the development of their businesses, weather, employment, geography, flora & fauna, art, food, history, culture, economy, taxes, employment, health care, education, government, our families … All in Italian. For me, travel is not just about visiting cathedrals and partaking of the local food and wine, but making a connection with the locals. This is not often possible if you don’t speak the local language. I am sure that these interactions would not have taken place had it not been for Emanuele’s help in improving my Italian grammar, accent and vocabulary and giving me the confidence to speak Italian. The fact that very few Italians that I encountered switched to speaking English after hearing my American accent is a testament to Emanuele’s skill as a language teacher!

Being a judge for the Italian proficiency tests, Emanuele, during my first Italian lesson, was able to accurately access my strengths and weaknesses to provide a solid curriculum for me. We have been working on B1/B2-level curriculum focusing on accent, vocabulary expansion, grammar, comprehension, etc. by using a multitude of resources he provides. A seasoned Italian-as-a-second language teacher who understands the difficulties of learning a foreign language, Emanuele is able to provide tips on how to memorize vocabulary and grammar. The homework he assigns is helpful and consists of interesting dialogs, interviews, articles, some of which he created himself. During class, when Emanuele sees things that can be improved upon, he quickly switches gears. He spontaneously gives apt explanations and locates the appropriate exercises to reinforce the topic. Emanuele knows that my goal is to learn Italian to use for travel. Thus, he often explains, “If you want to sound like an Italian, say it this way; but if you were taking a test, you would use this.”

The sessions with Emanuele are fun (sometimes laugh-out-loud funny), interesting, and well structured. Emanuele, a writer with a degree in literature and interests in art, cooking, film and literature, provides his own website which includes articles he has written that he often incorporates into his lessons and homework. Emanuele’s lessons, therefore, not only focus on the Italian language, but also touch upon culture. What a joy to read about such diverse topics such as the dubbing culture in Italy and the backstory of the “aperitivo” and pasta carbonara!

My weekly sessions with Emanuele are so enjoyable and worthwhile that I will continue studying with him to prepare for our trip to Sicily next year. If you are serious about improving your Italian, have Emanuele help you with your journey! You will not only learn Italian, but also learn about Italian food & wine, literature, art, culture … It's almost like travelling to Italy every week!

Kathy R.
San Francisco, California
15 June 2022

Emanuele is a wonderful and very efficient teacher, who makes each lesson interesting and who leads you step by step to a profound understanding of the Italian language.
Highly recommendable Italian course!

Mr. Piva is an excellent teacher who dedicates a lot of time to his lessons. They were always varied and interesting. I've learned a lot and I was able to put into practice what I learned, by taking the C1 exam of Italian. I passed it thanks to Mr. Piva's lessons and his encouragement towards me as a student.