I am a practicing physician in Scottsdale and as a youngster spoke Italian at home with my parents. I have unfortunately forgotten most of what I knew since I have had no need to speak it for over 30 years. In the past couple of years I have taken trips to Italy and plan to go again this year. Although I have some workable knowledge of the language, I felt I needed some practical experience to become more proficient. I was introduced to Davide Valenti and immediately made the decision to have him tutor me. We meet for one and a half hours weekly and he has established a college style curriculum for me, i.e. textbook, workbook, homework etc. Davide is a kind, patient (thank goodness) and very knowledgeable person. I can unequivocally and happily recommend him to anyone interested in learning the most beautiful of all languages.

It is a pleasure to recommend Davide Valenti as an Italian instructor. I studied under Davide for approximately two years, and enjoyed our work together. Davide is a gifted teacher, who is always prepared to move you forward each and every lesson. He is kind in making corrections that are needed, carefully explaining the correct usage of words or phrases and, on occasion when warranted, how to express alternate usages. As a practicing psychoanalyst, I am keenly aware of how humiliating learning and practicing a new language can sometimes be. I can honestly say that I never felt that with Davide whose patience, more often than not, exceeded mine. I wanted to learn to speak Italian, having heard it spoken on both sides of my family as a child and young adult. Both of my parents are now gone, and I miss the music of the language that I heard as a child but could never understand. Davide brought that music back to me along with understanding. I highly recommend him to you.

I am a middle-aged lawyer with no talent for languages, and no Italian roots, but a deep affection for and interest in Italy. If you want to learn the language, Davide is an excellent teacher. Languages are difficult for adults, and Davide is patient and encouraging, but still persistent enough to keep you on task. I recommend him without qualification.

I began meeting with Davide four years ago for private tutoring lessons after completing two years of Italian at Scottsdale Community College. I study Italian because it provides me with a challenge unrelated to my everyday job of practicing law. It forces me to utilize parts of my brain that otherwise would become stagnate. Working one on one with Davide requires me to truly learn the language. Unlike in a classroom setting, there is no other student you can hide behind nor can you pray that you won’t be called on in class because you are the class.

What I especially enjoy about my weekly lessons is that I have no special skill with languages. Every session compels me to study long and hard and I always feel a sense of accomplishment when I avoid making a total fool of myself.

Davide is an extremely skilled tutor and I especially appreciate that Davide grew up speaking Italian and therefore speaks it naturally. I intend on studying with Davide until I become completely fluent in Italian which at the current rate means we will be working together until the end of the century.

I studied Italian with Davide while a Sophomore and Junior in high school (Brophy Prep). I like languages, having studied Spanish in grade school and French all four years of high school. Studying with Davide is the ideal method of learning the language. Although I met with him for only two hours a week, instead of five hours a week for high school French, and although I studied with him for only little more than a year, instead of four years of French, my Italian is better than my French (my SAT score in Italian Junior year was 740).

I went to Italy by myself for a month the summer between my Junior and Senior years to study Italian further at a school in Verona, and was able to communicate with no difficulty, often being mistaken for an Italian. Davide was an excellent teacher, and the sessions with him were a lot of fun. And the one-on-one experience was a nice contrast to the class room teaching of high school.