Ciao a tutti!

My name is Antonella Calvo. I was born and raised in a sunny, colorful seaside town among the beautiful beaches on the Mediterranean Sea.

I’ve been living between Italy and the USA for the past 20 years. Lately I’ve been living in beautiful Southern Virginia, still close to the sea.

I love my beautiful language as well the Italian buildings, the colors, the people, the foods, and the warm Mediterrenean Sea.

Teaching Italian allows me to revisit the sounds and sight that are so very familiar to me and that are such an intrinsic part of me.

I spent a few years attending the University in Catania, where I obtained a Master’s in Foreign Languages and Literatures.

After graduating, I taught English at an Italian school and Italian to American service members.

In the USA I have taught Italian both privately and publicly, through organized and self managed courses for both High school students as well as adult learners.

I’ve been teaching Italian online for the past three years using the most advanced tools the Web has to offer.

I’ve been busy as an Italian instructor: as a College professor, private tutor, and instructor for two of the most renowned language schools in the world.

I have also been a translator and an over -the-phone consecutive interpreter for Language Line Services.

I'll let some of my students speak for me:

Having been a former student (in a language) center, I have to say that I was very hesitant to continue with on-line (classes), as I was not sure that I would continue to get the same value as I was getting in person. Antonella has definitely gone above and beyond in meeting my expectations.(She)is obviously very smart, however her sense of humor ... adds a lot to each and every lesson. She is able to communicate grammatical structure, concepts, meanings, etc...in very creative ways. I also enjoy the fact that week by week I really never know in what direction the lesson is going to go (e.g., what we are going to talk about) because of this I have found that I am learning much more than just the language. I have found myself becoming more educated about Italy in general () Antonella's excitement for teaching and concern about my progress is readily evident, even across the even across the "vitual space" in which we operate in..." Jason

"I became bored and felt unchallenged while taking basic Italian lessons at the local college. I discovered Antonella after exploring various methods of learning, I could not be more fortunate to find a instructor that is as patient, structured and informative.

She is straight forward in her approach in teaching, which instills a desire in me to challenge myself to reach new levels. From the very first lesson, to the most recent I have always come away with a greater appreciation for the Italian language and culture.

Antonella has given me the self-confidence to travel to her native country and explore places less traveled." Bruce

"Antonella is a really great teacher with a fabulous personality. If you're looking to improve or learn your Italian I definitely recommend her. Grazie Antonella!" Marco

"Excellent results, satisfying and enjoyable process. She is very adept in explaining in Italian at a level the student can understand. She is also very skilful at keeping a conversation going with the student doing most of the talking. Homework varies between grammatical exercises, reading comprehension, and writing assignments, almost always relevant to some problem arising in the oral sessions and usually interesting and imaginative. I started with basic Italian from my local university's continuinng education course. After 18 weeks with Antonella I was able to translate the instructions of our Italian-only coach well enough for my English-only friends to learn to row Venetian style and row in two major events. Now my bedside reading is a recent best-seller thriller, in Italian. My former university teacher is amazed at my progress." John

My approach to teaching Italian is based on the Full Immersion Method, based on speaking almost 100% of the time in the target language .

After years of experience, I've found that this is the best approach in successfully teach the student how to speak the new language, because it's the most natural way of learning.

Of course, the course can be individualized because I believe that a personalized approach based on the student’s language competency and goals is vital to effective language teaching.

This is the reason why it’s vital that a good understanding of your needs and ability is essential in helping you learn new language skills.

Therefore, whether your goal is to learn a few sentences, having long conversations, or brush up on your grammar skills, I believe together we can achieve it.

I hope you will try a lesson with me to see how much fun we can have together!

A presto!