Mini classes of 3–58 weeksPrivate lessons included
The Italian class where everyone talks.
Start nowStart now ↓Ciao, I'm Eleonora
29, and Italian
lived in 6 countries (and too many hostel dorms)
best childhood memory? Making fresh pasta with nonna every week
50 jobs around the world…
…then I found mine: teaching Italian
words are my favourite souvenir
daily walk: non-negotiable
Live online Italian for beginners, in mini classes of three to five people. Private lessons included, and one Italian teacher who builds the course around the way you learn.
- Mini classes of 3–5
- 8 weeks
- Private lessons included
No charge until your group is confirmed.
I'm 29, Italian, and I've never been very good at staying put. I love change — slow change: living somewhere new, working there, making friends there. That's what languages have always done for me: they bring me closer to people.
I came to teaching the long way round. I tried a lot of different jobs in a lot of different places, partly to find out what I was good at, and I kept going, because I really wanted something I'd love doing every day. None of it felt wasted: working abroad meant I was learning languages along the way. Then I started teaching, a few years ago now, and I knew almost immediately. In Piazza is what I've built from there.
I know what it feels like to want to learn a language. It can be easy or hard, fun or dull — and mostly it comes down to finding your own way into it. At school I studied English and French the way most of us did: rules first, grammar first. Thirteen years of English in Italian schools, and I only really learned it the year after, when I spent a year in Australia. After that year, the whole world felt within reach. French went the same way: I really learned it working in a restaurant in France for two seasons. Spanish I picked up just by travelling. In Portugal I can't say I learned the language, and in Morocco I only had a handful of words — but I loved getting people to teach me new ones and trying them out. The moment I used them, however badly, a wall between us came down.
Rules on their own don't mean very much. In my experience, what changes everything is speaking, as soon as you possibly can. Grammar still matters — it's what lets you feel sure you're saying it right — but it belongs in the background, not at the front.
That's also why my classes are so small. Everyone learns differently, and everyone lights up about different things. It's not all books: some people like to read, some learn best through songs, some prefer interactive exercises, and some just want to talk. With three or four people around the table I can actually pay attention to that. With twenty, nobody can.
Starting from zero? Perfect — that's exactly who my classes are for. I'll guide you step by step, in English at first and less and less as we go. We'll use games, songs, simple slides, and, as soon as you're ready, a lot of talking. There's no textbook to buy. Instead, I use lots of different tools: materials I make myself, interactive exercises made just for you, and the best things I find online.
That variety is the point: no two students learn the same way, and that's the beauty of it.
A presto!
The beginning is the best part.
Maybe there's a trip coming, and you'd love to arrive able to say more than grazie.
Maybe your family came from Italy, and you'd like to speak the language they spoke — to your relatives, or just to the country itself.
Maybe you've always liked the sound of Italian, and you've quietly wanted to speak it for years.
Maybe you just want something that's yours — a new skill, learned slowly, with people whose names you'll remember.
Whatever brought you here, starting a language is a lovely feeling, and it deserves a good beginning: somewhere practical, somewhere small enough to be comfortable, where you're speaking from the first lesson instead of waiting your turn in a room of twenty.
That's what In Piazza is for.
The Piazza Method
In a piazza, nobody sits in rows. A few people stop, and they talk.
That's the whole idea.
Mini classes, three to five people
Classes are small on purpose, and never more than five. Everyone learns differently and everyone is curious about different things — with three or four people around the table, I can actually follow that. You speak in every lesson, and I know what you found difficult last week, because I was listening to you.
One-to-one lessons, included
Every student gets three private 45-minute lessons inside the course. Not an add-on — included. It's where I can help you with the one thing that's blocking you personally, and where you get to talk for 45 minutes with nobody waiting their turn.
Conversation is the goal — grammar is how we get there
Talking is what these classes are for, and it starts from the very first lesson. But at the beginning there's a foundation to build first, and that's where grammar comes in.
Grammar is never the main character here. Think of it as the track under the train: you don't spend the journey looking at it, and it's the reason you keep moving forward. Knowing the rule is what lets you feel sure that what you're saying is right — and that's where confidence comes from. So you learn a rule, and then you use it the same day, out loud, about your own life.
Everything happens live, with me. No pre-recorded videos, no course you watch alone. I'm an Italian teacher and this is the work I love most — what matters to me is that you actually learn, and I've been on your side of it enough times to know what that takes.
Antipasto — Italian from zero
The first course on the menu. Eight weeks, from I know nothing to your first real exchanges in Italian.
By the end, you'll be able to:
- Read anything in Italian, out loud — after one lesson. Not a typo: by the end of the very first class you'll be able to pick up a menu, a street sign, a song title, and read it properly. Even words you've never seen before.
- Handle numbers and prices, tell the time, and ask someone else for it
- Order food and drinks, and understand the answer you get back
- Say what you do, where you live, and what you love
- Get through everyday situations with the verbs you'll use most
- Ask for help when you don't understand — in Italian
What this course is
Antipasto is what comes before the meal. Eight weeks won't make you fluent — I'd rather tell you that now than have you discover it later. What you'll have at the end is a real foundation, your first proper conversations, and a clear sense of what comes next.
The format
Length
8 weeks
Group lessons
One 90-minute lesson per week (45 min + 10 min break + 45 min)
Class size
Mini classes of 3 to 5 students
Private lessons
3 × 45 minutes, included
Where
Live in your student area — never recorded
Materials
All included — no textbook to buy
When
Group: Monday 12 PM ET, Wednesday 10 AM ET, or Saturday 11 AM ET · Private: Fridays
Starts
January 15, 2027
What mystudents say
"I was so nervous to start taking lessons with a tutor but I wish I had started with her sooner. Lessons with Eleonora feel more like a friendly chat … you learn from her without even realising it."
"I’m learning Italian from zero and I can say that she is really patient. She loves to teach and aims to improve you where you have difficulties."
"Eleonora is engaging, passionate, patient, kind and even makes learning grammar fun! The classes are a perfect balance of speaking, vocabulary, grammar and culture. I look forward to my lessons."
"She was incredibly helpful in preparing me for a three-month stay in Florence in a short time … I felt confident enough with my Italian to use it in a professional context as well as in everyday life."
"Thanks to her I improved my Italian so much, I don’t need English any more in Italy! Also she wants you to succeed so much. Grazie mille Ele!"
"Above all, and perhaps most importantly, I always look forward to my lessons with Eleonora. She is a great conversationist, listener and ambassador of Italia. My Italian has improved tremendously in just a short period of time."
One course. One price. Everything included.
Antipasto
$650
- 12 hours of live group lessons — 8 × 90 minutes, in a mini class of 3 to 5
- 3 private 45-minute lessons with me, one to one
- All materials, included
- Your seat with the same group for the next course, if you'd like it
You're not charged until your group is confirmed. I hold your card, and payment is only taken once your group and start date are set. If it doesn't come together, you pay nothing.
Questions
Do I need to know any Italian?
Starting from zero is ideal — Antipasto was designed for exactly that. A few words picked up here and there is completely fine too; you'll still want to build the foundation properly. If you already have a real level in Italian, this particular course won't be the right fit for you.
Is there grammar?
Yes, and I think that's a good thing. You can't feel sure of a sentence if you don't know how it's put together. What there isn't is an hour of me explaining a rule while you take notes — you learn it, then you use it out loud in the same lesson.
Do I need to buy a textbook?
No — everything is included. I use lots of different tools: materials I make myself, personalized interactive exercises, and the best things I find online. A textbook gives everyone the same page; this way the lessons can follow you.
Do you speak English in class?
At the beginning, yes — enough that you're never lost. It fades quickly, and by the end of the eight weeks you'll be surprised how little we need it.
How small are the classes, really?
Between three and five people. Never more than five.
What if my group doesn't come together?
You pay nothing. I'll offer you another time or the next start date, and you decide.
What if I miss a lesson?
Lessons aren't recorded and can't be repeated — the whole point is that you're in them. Please let me know as early as you can. Whatever you missed, we'll pick up in your next private lesson so you can rejoin the group without feeling behind.
How do the private lessons work?
You book them in your student area, in the windows I keep open on Fridays — three sessions of 45 minutes across the eight weeks. They're not for new material: they're for practising what we've already covered and for whatever you personally need most. As you move through the menu, they become more and more about conversation.
What happens after Antipasto?
Primo opens next, and students who finish Antipasto get first pick of seats before it's offered publicly — usually with the same group. You're never committing to more than one course at a time.
What time are the classes?
All group times are set for North America: Monday 12 PM ET (9 AM PT), Wednesday 10 AM ET (7 AM PT), or Saturday 11 AM ET (8 AM PT). Private lessons are on Fridays, and you choose your slot.
Where do the lessons happen?
In your student area — that's also where you'll find your materials, your schedule, what you've paid for, and a calendar you can sync with Google.
Starting mid-January. Three possible times, mini classes of three to five.
Choose the times that work for you and reserve your seat — nothing is charged until your group is confirmed.