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-WINTER 2025-
SCHOOL INFO & CLASS DESCRIPTIONS
• Fun, lively, interactive • Small class sizes • Innovative teaching approach • Learn through stories, culture & conversation!
❄️ Classes & lessons are online – Attend from anywhere!
❄️ Yes, online classes are interactive and fun and effective, just like in person.
❄️ Class replays let you review and practice or catch up if you were absent.
Advantages of learning at Italiano with Jodina
You’ll be learning and speaking Italian in context from day one, as you learn about the language and culture in a supportive, enjoyable environment.- Intimate class sizes foster confidence and accelerated learning.
- Focus is on practical skills and functionality, with a strong emphasis on speaking & fluency.
- Students in my Italian classes report greater progress (and more fun) than in traditional language courses and apps. [REVIEWS]
- Lots of folks who don’t love traditional learning situations find they make great progress in these classes!
- Classes are engaging and relaxed — reasonable workload, no tests!
- Language concepts are presented and practiced in a clear, practical way.
- Proprietary curriculum and materials created by Italiano With Jodina have proven effective with hundreds of students over 10+ years.
Help stamp out monolingualism . . . Sign up to learn the world’s most beautiful language today! 😀
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(Questions? Wondering which class or study strategy is best for you? Contact Jodina)
TEACHING APPROACH: “Hands on.” Not your typical language classes. Everything we learn in class, you’ll begin speaking and actively practicing right away. That’s the secret to getting comfortable with the language.
Unlike many language courses that dig down deep into grammar and then maybe one day (if you’ve stuck around) get down to the business of actually using it actively, we go there first and approach grammar through the side door, on an as-needed basis, to aid us in speaking better, not as an exercise unto itself. At IWJ the belief is that people studying a language have the goal first and foremost of communicating and being confident doing so, and that’s where we put our focus.
Any grammar (aka the mechanics of language) you learn will be in context – meaning you’ll first learn language to accomplish something practical, then have a closer look at the nerdy grammar underbelly.
Beginner 1 Italian 
REVIEWS
Aim: Begin acquiring the basic tools necessary to successfully understanding and communicating in Italian using basic language in practical situations. If your goal is to build a solid base to achieve fluency, it all starts here. This is the original Italiano With Jodina course featuring proprietary materials, content and practice techniques that take you beyond passive knowledge and get you speaking with confidence.
Skills / Topics / Applications . . .
♥ Greetings & introductions ♥ Polite expressions ♥ Questions & Requests ♥ Pronunciation (alphabet and sound system) ♥ Numbers ♥ Telling time & dates ♥ High-frequency vocabulary ♥ Restaurant & food ♥ Intro to common verbs (regular & irregular) in present tense ♥ Learn the “building-block” method to formulate simple sentences and communicate basic concepts ♥ Basic Grammar ♥ Gender & plural of nouns ♥ Articles ♥ Prepositions ♥ Adjectives ♥
This class will give you a good grounding in the basic language structure of Italian in an easily digestible format. You’ll gain a solid foundation to build on toward fluency.
Register Now!
Beginner 2 Italian
This class picks up where the Beginner 1 course leaves off. For students who’ve taken a Beginner 1 course (or the equivalent) and are ready to continue progressing toward fluency. The focus is on reinforcing basic skills and knowledge gained in Beginner 1, while adding new vocabulary, grammar and syntax, always with a view to practical usage.
Skills / Topics / Applications . . .
New topics (additional to Beg 1 topics) include family, travel, transport, directions, shopping, and related simple everyday conversations. Grammatically, you’ll learn about possessive adjectives and pronouns, object pronouns, and reflexive pronouns.
The aim is to increase vocabulary, basic grammar understanding, and fluency in expressing and accomplishing essential concepts and tasks in Italian. The Beginner 2 course also paves the way for transition to a pre-intermediate class.
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Pre-intermediate (‘in-between’) Italian
This class addresses that in-between place of beyond-beginner/pre-intermediate, but not yet solid intermediate. It’s for you if you need a stronger grasp on grammar, a chance to solidify (or review) some of the basics, build on what you already know and gain confidence without completely starting over. Rusty Italian? This is the class for you!
Skills / Topics / Applications . . .
Additionally to reinforcing/mastering Beginner 1 and 2 content, you’ll learn/reinforce knowledge of the passato prossimo tense, expressions of time and frequency, talking about your everyday life and routines, Italian life and culture, and glimpse into the imperfetto tense.
Travel Italian ✈️ – Italy made easy! REVIEWS
We’ll cover these important travel topics:♦ Meeting, greeting & requesting ♦ Airports ♦ Taxis ♦ Trains ♦ Driving ♦ Directions ♦ Hotels ♦ Banks & money ♦ Telling time & Dates ♦ Making reservations ♦ Shopping ♦ Restaurants ♦ Coffee shops & coffee culture ♦ Packing savvy ♦ Cell phones & electronics ♦ Personal safety ♦ Local customs ♦
An 8-week Italian travel adventure from the comfort of your own home/computer!
👉 Student comments:
“… We returned from our 3-week Italy trip and I found my Italian very useful, particularly as to directions and numbers. I was able to save us hours on directions and ensure that all prices were fair.”
“… I want to tell you that taking your class helped me so much during my trip to Italy in May-June. I was surprised how well I could speak and understand. It was just wonderful, especially with family that live there, even though they speak il dialetto siciliano.”
Italian Conversation (Intermediate & beyond)
Put that passive knowledge to work, and become a more confident and fluent speaker of Italian!
Who this class is for: Intermediate level and beyond. You have a functional grasp on grammar, and you’re ready for an opportunity to speak more, to hear and understand spoken Italian, and express yourself with greater ease in response.
What we do: Ahead of each class meeting, students read/study/familiarize themselves with an assigned reading or other content in Italian that will serve as our springboard to discussion. Typical themes: Italian culture, travel, traditions, celebrations, biographies, customs, arts, history, geography, and gastronomy.
Aim & Focus: The aim of the Italian Conversation course is to encourage speaking and increase fluency while building vocabulary and the ability to express thoughts and opinions with greater ease and confidence.
‘Spot Treatments’: During class, we’ll address and practice new or challenging language and grammar on the spot as they come up, providing an excellent opportunity for real-time help and feedback.
Note: Though grammar isn’t the main focus of instruction in this course, students are encouraged to study, review and practice grammar between classes, because it’s so valuable to comprehension and speaking skills.
We’ll focus on using the most useful Italian tenses for language learners (presente indicativo, passato prossimo, imperfetto, futuro, condizionale). If you know other tenses, they’re welcome, too!
This class is conducted entirely in Italian.
👉Here’s what students like about this fluency-focused course:
“It gave me that push I needed to speak more.”
“I enjoyed getting to know each other in a small group, and I felt safe trying to speak and making the inevitable mistakes you make when you’re learning and improving.”
“Learning new words in the context of a conversation or theme was helpful for me.”
“I liked being able to get diagnostic feedback on grammar, pronunciation, and language usage right on the spot, in real-time, as we were speaking.”
(Questions? Wondering which level, class or study strategy is best for you? Contact Jodina)
BRIEF TEACHER BIO:
Jodina Gallo has over 25 years’ experience teaching Italian, Spanish, and English to adult learners from all walks of life (kiddos, too) in Italy, the U.S. and Mexico, in both private and public schools. She holds a current California teaching credential with a specialization in foreign language instruction.
Her innovative approach to language learning is dynamic and interactive. Jodina is a fluency expert and is known for her easy-to-follow and engaging teaching style. Her 10 years living, studying, working, and teaching in Milan, Italy, provide her with invaluable insight that she shares with her students.
