What is Italian On The Road?

You ask, I answer: Italian On The Road is a new service that gives you the chance to speak Italian in Italy, with a teacher and native speaker (me) by your side.

I have been working on a few different new products and ideas lately, but this one came to my mind all of a sudden. As soon as I had the idea, I liked it so much that I wanted to launch it straight away.

If I had a business coach, he or she would tell me that this is exactly what I am not meant to do, that I should wait and think about it carefully, but I was too happy about the idea and I just couldn’t see me waiting longer before putting it out. As I told you in my post about Instantly Italy, when I feel that something is right, I just have to do it.

To be completely honest, this idea is not all farina del mio sacco, as we say in Italian, meaning that it is not completely mine but has been suggested to me by somebody else. But let me tell you more about it.

One day, a few weeks ago, I received an email by a long-time follower and newsletter subscriber, asking me if I was interested in working with him and his group of Italian students. They are from the US, are currently studying Italian on their own and will come to Italy in September for a study trip.

What they were asking me basically was if I would be interested in spending a weekend with them, full-time, helping them with their Italian. They needed someone to encourage them to speak, to challenge them with small communication tasks and to basically help them speak more and improve their Italian language skills, while being immersed in the language.

I thought this was an awesome idea. We exchanged a few emails and then I accepted enthusiastically.

After I got that email and started organizing the upcoming experience with those future students, I thought that this proposal could easily become a regular service of mine. First of all, it is really useful for people learning Italian and it is perfectly in tune with what I am doing now and it also somehow summarizes all three aspects of my work: Italian language, culture, and travel.

In fact, what I want to offer is the chance for people who have been studying Italian for a while to practice Italian deep in its own environment, right into the Italian culture, while being completely immersed in the language. And having a lot of fun at the same time!

Therefore, if you have been studying Italian for a while, are finally coming to Italy and want to take the opportunity to put what you have learned into practice and want to do it with a teacher and native speaker by your side, I have created Italian On The Road especially for you.

This experience could be really useful because you could finally practice what you have been learning for months and use the language where it is spoken. Language will finally become something alive and real and, by using it in real life, you will build self-confidence and acquire fluency. Moreover, having someone by your side will help you overcome fears – if any – or correct your mistakes.

I really like to offer customizable services, that can be tailored to the needs and likes of the student. I have created Chiacchieriamo to be exactly like that, giving people the chance of speaking Italian with me where and when they prefer and this is what I want to do with Italian On The Road as well.

If you search online, there are many fixed packages offering Italian tutoring or Italian experiences but I wanted to do something different: I want to create a specific experience for the specific student who is contacting me because each one of us has its own needs, especially when it comes to learning languages and speaking.

There might be someone who just wants to chat while sipping an aperitivo, or someone who is really interested in food and wants to take the opportunity to visit an open-air market, interact with the vendors, and enrich his or her Italian food vocabulary.

But there might also be someone who wants to go shopping and become a master in interacting with Italian shop assistants because what he or she likes the most is buying fancy Italian clothes. Or somebody else who is passionate about art and wants to visit a museum while chatting about the topic in Italian. All these people know what they need very well and I know how I could help them.

You may object that I have never done this before but it is actually what I do every day with Chiacchieriamo, the only difference would be that we will be outside, practicing Italian actively instead of chatting through a computer screen. And being outside will be very exciting because it will give me the opportunity to show you bits and pieces of Italian daily life as well!

As you may have understood, I am super excited about this new service and I hope you will find it interesting as well. I’d love to hear your comments about it!