A few years ago, when I was working as an Italian language teacher in Warsaw, I had a student named Marta who really helped me grow as a teacher. How?
Marta always did her homework, learned and memorized new material, and was very clever. Nevertheless, during class she refused to speak Italian. She insisted on speaking only in Polish, confident that I could understand her. Every time I tried to speak Italian with her, she replied in Polish—even when I asked very simple things like: “Ciao Marta, come stai?”
One day, I asked her directly: “Marta, why don’t we try speaking a little bit in Italian?” And guess what she replied?
“When I have learned all the grammar, then I’ll talk.”
So I told her: “Ok, let’s do it your way.”
And we did as she wanted. A few months later, Marta quit.
That happened many years ago, but I still think about Marta sometimes. I made a mistake with her.
And I learned something very important for my career as an Italian language teacher.
Grammar is not the goal – speaking Italian is your goal.
Now I tell all my students that grammar knowledge is not the goal—it’s a tool. Grammar is useful and even necessary, but not on its own. You can learn grammar and practice speaking at the same time. Grammar knowledge and speaking confidence are two different skills, and they actually support each other.
When I was younger and less experienced, I couldn’t explain this properly to Marta. Luckily, now I am a better teacher, and my approach works much better.
With all my students, regardless of their level, I always speak at least some Italian. It may be about vacations, how they spent their weekend, or topics like ecology, politics, history, or personal issues. It doesn’t matter what the topic is.
Each person in my classes speaks Italian at the level they’ve reached—using the grammar they already know, improving step by step, and feeling satisfied because they are really learning a language, not just memorizing rules.
This is my approach, this is how I work at my Italian language school, and this is what I suggest to everyone.
What do you think about that? If you want to know more about my classes, look at this page and if you’re interested send me a message!