Lauraラウラ

Lauraラウラ Tutor Interview

Q. Hi Laura! First, could you tell us about your hometown?

A. I was born in the island, Lido di Venezia (Venice Lido), which is famous for the Venice Film Festival. When I was very little, I grew up in the city of Venice, but by the time when I entered primary school, my family had moved to the small town, which located about 40 kilometers away form the center of Venice. There were lots of nature around that town, and I loved growing up there. In the weekends, my families and I often went out to Venice.

Q. Accoring to your profile, you have moved to Japan nine years ago! How is living in Japan?

A. I now live in Kobe. The area where I currently live is abandant in nature, which makes me very happy to live in. I used to live in Osaka for two years before, so Osaka is also my favorite place in Japan.

Q. How do you spend your time outside of your lessons? Do you have any hobbies and favorite things to do in your free time?

A. I love being surrounded by nature, so when it is nice outside, I often go on a hike or a walk with my family in Japan. Also, I enjoy painting some abstracts and making accessories based on the paintings I create. Painting and drawing are what I have always enjoyed since I was very little.

Q. What made you to decide teaching Italian? What motivates you as an Italian tutor?

A. I had some experiences of teaching Italian to some small groups of people in Osaka, but I had never taught online before I started teaching in Cafetalk. I felt nervous in the beginning, but it got more and more exciting as I kept teaching lessons. It also gave me a confidence to teach online. Cafetalk gave both me and my students a great opportunity to get to know each other. I hope to keep teaching fun and exciting lessons as much as I do now. Anyone will learn better when they enjoy what they are learning, that is what I believe.

Q. What do you believe contributes to your students’ improvement in their Italian?

A. Well, pronouncing the same phrases and words until remembering them seems working well to my students. Listening to what I say carefully and repeating it allows my students to increase their vocabularies little by little. Then, students gradually start expressing themselves by using words and knowledge that they have learned. Also, having a good conversation always makes the lessons enjoyable. I do not think students should push themselves hard. They should keep feeling a joy of learning throughout their lessons.

Q. To those students who might be interested, could you tell us about your lessons? What is your teaching style? Is there a lesson which you reccommend to your first-time students?

A. I change my lesson plans and contents accoring to each student’s level and interests. For example, some people want to learn some basic Italian before they go on a trip to Itali. Some people want to master their Italian pronuncaton. There are also people who wnat to improve their Italian conversation or want to pass Italian tests. So, I offer several different lessons to meet each student’s needs. To my advanced students, I offer reading comprehension and discussion based lessons.

Q. You have taught many students of various ages in Cafetalk. Do you have any lessons that you recommend specifically to children or to elderly students?

A. Regardless the student’s age, I recommend all beginners to start with my “Ciao!又はBuongiorno!から始める初級のイタリア語.” (Beginners Italian Starting with Ciao! and Buongiorno!) In that lesson, we learn some easy self-introduction and greetings, which both are the first steps to learn fun Italian conversation. For those students who want to learn Italian before they make a trip to Itali, I use the textbook, “初めてのイタリア語” (Hajimete no Italia-go) and let students learn words and phrases by doing some role-plays.

To those intermediate and advanced learners, I recommend “エスプレッソ・フリートーク・タイム” (Espresso Free Talk Time). Especially someone who just came back from studying abroad in Itali and do not want to forget their Italian may find this lesson beneficial.

Q. Finally, do you have any message to your current and future students?

A. When you cannot hear what your tutor says, it is totally fine to ask him/her to say it again, or to say it more slowly. Ask as many questions as you have! Those are the tips to improve your Italian. When you wish to improve your Italian conversation skills, you should not be afraid of making mistakes. Instead, have fun communicating with Italian speakers! My motto is, “Slowly but steadily, and passionately.”

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Lauraラウラ

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