I have been learning Italian with Davide for several months, and can highly recommend him if you are serious about learning Italian quickly.  I had been trying to learn Italian since high school with little success.  I tried Rosetta Stone, podcasts, books and classes, but although I could memorize vocabulary and grammar rules, I couldn’t put it all together into a real conversation.  That’s were Davide comes in.  I have been taking weekly one-on-one lessons for several months and can now understand Italian movie dialog, newscasts, read newspapers and magazines, and am able to have basic conversations.  Davide tailored the lessons to my problem areas, sometimes focusing on pronunciation, or grammar or vocabulary.  He assigns homework that is a mix of listening, reading, writing, and memorizing.  We use stories, movies, and textbooks in the lessons, so it isn’t just working through a textbook.  It makes a big difference to have a trained educator and native speaker to track your progress.  Also, I was initially hesitant to sign up for one-on-one lessons because I thought it might be high-pressure or stressful, but these lessons are just the opposite, it is very low-key and relaxed, and Davide is always patient even if he needs to explain the same thing several times.  I am making much more progress than I thought I was capable of, and I’m sure it’s due to Davide’s teaching process.

John DiPalma