Italian with Deborah M.

Hello! I am a lifelong language learner. My early fascination with words and sounds led me to constantly seek out new ways to learn language and perfect my language skills. I moved to Italy after I graduated from college. There, I not only became bilingual in Italian and fluent in other European languages, I made friends with people all over Europe and those friendships are with me to this day. The best part of learning a language (at least in my opinion) is being able to connect to people in a real way. Sometimes I'll be on a plane going to Europe and people will be speaking all kinds of different languages and I understand all of them. It's an amazing feeling. It's also amazing to be able to read books, or listen to music, in the original language because it really isn't the same! I am a Joseph Campbell buff. I believe that all of life is a hero's journey and the challenges we meet make us stronger and wiser. The choices we make on that journey can open doors to new journeys and learning a language can open even more doors. I am a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. My martial arts training has helped me tremendously in my teaching because it has proven to me the value of repetition and drilling in learning any subject. Anytime you learn something, you are growing, and you are becoming able to connect with more and more people, and I feel like connection is what it's all about. At the same time, teaching has introduced me to some of my favorite people in the world and those people have helped me grow both as a teacher and as a person. Thank you for your interest!