Parlo con Carlo   is for  practical  Italian learning.

The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.

(Dorothy Parker) 

If you practice reading, you'll be a perfect reader.

If you practice listening, you'll be a perfect listener.

>>  Log into Skype from your home and SPEAK Italian with me. You can talk to a motherlanguage in his country while sitting at home thanks to this wonderful, free software. All you need is a headphone (or loudspeakers) and a microphone to plug into your computer. A webcam helps too since you'll see me and I'd like to see you!

>>  One to one personalized teaching. A group's learning pace is its slowest member's, so in a class you either slow down because someone's slower than you or feel bad because the slow one is you! Neither's fault though: each one of us has his own level, skills and time he can dedicate to learning.

>>  First lesson for free. During our first talk we'll define your goals and level and if you like it we can start a free lesson right away! Of course that won't be a commitment for you.

>>  Choose your favourite day and time. We'll set a day and time which works for both, and this can change from lesson to lesson.

>>  Each lesson (one hour long) 25 Euro, five lessons at the price of four ( 100/5 = 20 Euro/hour ). This is to reward perseverance, which always deserves a prize. And if you are two (but not more than two) the price is the same: my time doesn't become more expensive just because I'm following two students instead of one! Only choose your partner with care: studying/practicing with someone else can incredibly boost your learning, but your levels mustn't be too different.

>> Is one hour too long? You might prefer shorter lessons for a number of reasons. This is possible when you purchase 5 one-hour-long lessons (80 Euro, 16 Euro/hour): you can choose to split 2 of these hours in two, and get 3 lessons of 60 minutes and four 30 minutes lessons.

>>  Payments via PayPal. You don't need a PayPal account for this: once you decide for a certain number of lessons I can email you a PayPal invoice, payable with any VISA card. Paypal's 3.5% commission is included in my price, this means that you have no hidden fees to deal with (I pay PayPal for its service).

>> All levels from very basic to very fluent. Whatever your Italian skills, if  you need some improvement this is the place to get it. I'm a native speaker and my Italian is clean from regional accents (most Italian towns have their own dialect, which usually leaves traces in people's  pronunciation). I have a good knowledge of this language's structure and traps.

I was born and live in Venice where I presently earn my living renting my family's apartments to tourists through this website. I lived in Rome, Bergamo, Milano and Ferrara before finally getting back to my hometown in March 2001.

A former chemist, I quit that job and moved to Venice again to start a new life, and was rewarded with luck and serenity. I'm in love with this town and like to catch nice views of it. Some of them are shown here.

I learned Latin and ancient Greek in high school; these studies allow me a deeper sight on Italian language's structure/organization and fed my curiosity about languages in general.

I learned English mostly by myself, listening to songs and translating them and talking to people while traveling.

email me here:  learn@parloconcarlo.com

Tony, UK

One of the high-spots of my week is talking to Carlo on Skype; we have a regular appointment on Tuesday mornings before breakfast.  I am English and have been learning Italian for around four years; I have made good progress with the written language but have hit a plateau with conversation, understanding Italian films, TV, and other similar media.  It is a great feeling to use Skype, which is free, and have the undivided attention of Carlo for an hour on a one to one basis, this is so much better than a group lesson.  He is a cultured and meticulous listener, who can make instant corrections to grammar, or pronunciation.  Skype’s ‘chat’ facility is very useful to record points in writing, so that they can be referred to later, after the conversation.  Of course, being Italian, it is good to see his body language on the webcam!

Tracey, Australia

Parlo Con Carlo has been my biggest breakthrough in learning the Italian language.  In the early 1990’s here in Australia I learned Italian as an adult learner in a classroom situation over a few terms.  It was great to gain the basics but did nothing for my speaking skills.  When occasionally meeting an Italian speaker who tried to help me by speaking in Italian, I froze up.  Whilst I could read reasonably well, words did not come to me easily.  After those classes ended, I had another term of lessons via correspondence, which included a 10 minute weekly conversation with the teacher by telephone.  Whilst I loved learning the language, I felt very nervous when the teacher called, as she spoke quickly and her accent was thick.  I did not make any progress at all, and it was difficult to understand her English.  As I live in a rural location, I did not have access to classes without travelling a great distance, so tried to teach myself, going to great expense purchasing books and CD’s.  My listening improved but I still found myself lost for words.

Turning the clock forward a few years, and prior to embarking on my dream trip to Italy, I was fortunate enough to stumble across the Parlo Con Carlo website.  I received a prompt and polite response to my inquiry and Carlo’s philosophy on learning also struck a chord with me - he seemed to know exactly what I was going through, and how to help.

I couldn’t wait to purchase a webcam and begin, although I felt a bit nervous at the thought of trying to speak.  Well, I must say there was no need for concern.  Carlo assessed quickly which level I was at, and with practice I gained the necessary skills to engage in conversations when travelling throughout Italy.  I surprised myself at how easily the words came, as we had done some role-playing including going into shops or at the railway station, which instantly came back to me and could be easily adapted to most given situations.  To put my newly found speaking skills to the test was extremely satisfying and I was well understood whenever I spoke.

Since returning from Italy, I have continued having lessons as I now feel like I am finally making the progress that previously I could have only hoped for.  Carlo is extremely interesting, has a great sense of humour, and makes each lesson fun.  He has some fantastic study tips which can be used between lessons and is very careful to review new things as we go.  He does not complicate things, taking each a step at a time.  He is very flexible with times, is generous with the lessons and is prompt and reliable.  Carlo’s lessons are never boring, and I have also learned much about the culture and day-to-day life providing a true insight into all things Italian, from the comfort of my own home.  He is very particular regarding pronunciation and grammar, and is extremely knowledgeable in the technicalities of sentence structure in both Italian and English.

I would highly recommend anyone learning Italian, regardless of their level, who wants to expedite their progress and have fun along the way, to try Parlo Con Carlo.  You will be amazed with the results.

I am happy to expand further should any potential students wish to contact me.

Ulli, Austria

I am so happy  I discovered this site! The concept of Carlo´s teaching is just great! And you do not even realize you are  "learning", it is so much fun to speak with him. He is on one hand very patient and intuitive to get the best out of you, but on the other hand "severe" with your gramatical errors, so you really improve. Carlo is a perfect guide to get familiar with the Italian language!  I am travelling a lot and everytime I get back to Italy I really can feel the change of progress.

Some of my views on teaching:

Learning a language involves a number of aspects: grammar and its rules plus new words and their pronunciation, unfamiliar sounds, syntax, conversation.

None of them is enough by itself, but one item is fundamental: practice. This is also the hard part of the learning process: being costant is hard, and finding someone who can assist you during that can even be harder.

With no practice, everything we learn tends to fade away and can ultimately become useless. We learn something new in order to use it and using what we know will eventually teach us more.  Practice is so vital in the learning process that we can even disregard other aspects and still get better. Constant practice is what let us learn our native language, after all.

This project is not about learning Italian without grammar or without theory.  It is meant to give you constant practice and feedback on Italian pronunciation, grammar, conversation, fluency. We'll touch rules when they'll be needed and you'll become familiar with new sounds, work on short sentences and simple everyday words. A good starting point is to define an area of life where you'd like to be able to express yourself in Italian: some might want to learn how to ask for directions, others might need numbers first. Someone might feel puzzled by our verbs system but please believe me: put some practice and an understanding teacher in the picture and you'll eventually find yourself speaking Italian with not much effort anymore.

Same goes with speed: Italians talk fast and it's hard to tell where one word ends and the next starts. This skill will come too provided you don't look too much for it. No problem if you talk slow here though, and Italians usually like to repeat or slow down in order to let you understand better. I hope we'll be discussing and learning this and more in person.

Join Parlo con Carlo to get better every day and let your fears about talking Italian slide away. Choose the lesson pace you prefer or change it along the way and get the feeling of a daily growth. Knowing that we're finally learning what we like to raises our confidence in all other sides of life!