I was looking for a way to connect with my heritage. Many of my closest friends and relatives are fluent in Italian. I vowed one day that I would learn the language and have an ability to become part of the conversation. I spent months researching options for classes, seminars and web enabled learning sites but was not able to really find a learning style that fit my needs. That was until I stumbled upon the Valenti Lingua website. Davide Valenti responded back almost immediately. He explained his teaching methods. Additionally he told me about how he tries to further educate his students by embracing the Italian culture with meetings outside the classroom with many different levels of students to watch movies, get together for gelato, etc. I realized then that this was the class for me. Davide uses a very concise methodology for teaching his students that include written, spoken and visual learning ques. I also like the fact that Davide utilizes more than just a text book for homework. Through the usage of a teaching website, Yabla, students are assigned movies, music and even videos that deepen grammatical explanations. All of these learning streams allow students to excel at speaking and understanding the Italian language coupled with the culture. I have attended two classes with Davide (Italian 101 & 102) and several private lessons and can now hold basic conversations with friends and family. My confidence with learning Italian by Davide has prompted me to book our first trip to Italy in the Fall of 2017. I am excited to apply what I have learned!

Joseph A. Boni, Anthem