Laura & Frank, Lakeway TX
Carlos is a unique language teacher and it is hard to put into words why it is a desired quality. So we will share our experience.
When we started, we wanted to be fluent Italian speakers. We started in April and that fall we took a trip to Italy. It changed our experience of Italy 100%. We have been to Italy many times, this time we were engaged with Italy! We could read more, hear more and most of all experience more of being in Italy.
This motivated us to sign up for an immersion class in Italy. Due to CoVid, we were delayed for 2 years, however we continued our work with Carlos. At immersion school, we realized we knew more than what was being taught in the advanced class for people studying for more than 10 years.
In the 3 plus years of working with Carlos, we learned it is not about being fluent speakers. What good is it if you can speak, however you can’t understand what is being said to you. It isn’t a matter of hearing, which is difficult as the language has many dialects, it is understanding the construct of the language. We were struck when our immersion teacher said “I don’t hear every word that is said, I hear certain words and I can tell from my understanding of Italian what was said.” Learning phrases may give you immediate gratification, it will not help you learn the language! If you want to learn Italian, invest in working with Carlos. You will not regret the decision, we haven’t! We look forward to continuing our journey with Carlos.