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About The Italian Coach

Struggling with understanding and speaking Italian? Let me show you how to (really) learn it doing what you love.

Does this sound familiar?

You attended dozens of expensive Italian classes.

Your bookshelf is full of Italian grammar and text books.

Maybe you also tried some of those apps that promised you fast results with no effort. 

Still you almost only understand food words when you are in Italy or watch a movie. 

And when you try to speak, you simply freeze and cannot put together a correct sentence.

You feel that your dream of being able to understand and speak to your Italian friends and family will never come true.  Because "Italian is so hard", "something is wrong with me", "I'm not good enough". 

Please, stop thinking that! 

I hear your pain. I've been there, too. It's not you, it's your approach.

Moreno Pontoriero The Italian Coach

Hi, my name is Moreno. I'm passionate about teaching you how to (really) learn Italian. Using content and methods that bring the joy back into learning.

I grew up bilingual (Italian and German) and can speak three more languages at different levels. Oh, by the way, I live in the sixth smallest country in the world (can you guess which one?) with my wife and my five crazy cats.

After years of trying (and still trying) different methods to learn a language, I have experienced what really works in the long run if you are serious about learning to speak a language. That's why everything I'm creating and teaching is not build from theory but from practical experience. With myself and all the learners I helped so far.

Ciao Moreno. Grazie mille per tuo podcast. Il tuo podcast è unico e molto utile!
Se l'avessi trovato qualche mese fa, non avrei creduto i tuoi consigli. Ma ora ho più l'esperienza nell'apprendimento di italiano e so che hai ragione.

Olga, podcast listener, via e-mail

How it all started

The Italian Coach
Once upon a time there was a young man, who was visiting England for the first time. He was convinced he could communicate easily in English with all the locals.

Of course he was. He had been studying English at school for many frustrating years.

But then he was confronted with reality. When he arrived to England all of his confidence vanished.

The receptionist at the hotel seemed to talk a different language. Even a simple order at the restaurant was a nightmare. He began to constantly think about how to form sentences that make any sense.

If the restaurant hadn't closed, he would still be there thinking about what to say.

This was the beginning...

of the story that led me to a total different approach to language learning.

At almost the same time I was seeing a guitar teacher once a week.

He was just different. Not one of those traditional teachers. He didn't "feed" me with unmusical text book exercises and didn't tell me I had to learn this before that.

He taught me instead how to learn, explore and experience the instrument by myself. Mainly by using materials and songs that I love. I began to learn from sources I really was passionate about . At that time I wasn't fully aware of it, but he was about to turn me into a brave and bold independent learner. 

How is this related to learning Italian?

One day I had this "crazy" idea of trying to replicate his reverse approach with language learning. And, guess what, it was the best decision. I finally started to see learning a language not as pain anymore but as a joy. As my skills became better and better, I realized that it worked.  

Too many online courses and schools out there just focus on teaching you the Italian language itself. They explain to you the rules. They assess and test you. They tell you have to learn "this" before "that". 

Following a strict school approach, you will end up with knowing everything about Italian, but not being able to actually use Italian.

What if we change perspective by focusing on the content, the entertainment and the information we can get through Italian? Like stories, movies, podcasts, comics, articles... Content first, language second. That's the main key to long term success. 

Language is not teachable. 

Nobody can "teach" you Italian.

You have to learn it by yourself.

What you need are the right mindset,  effective methods and compelling content

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

Are you ready to become a brave and independent "rockstar of Italian"?

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