Learn Italian. Live Italian.

I have been studying with Marcella now for over two years. Initially with private classes and then with the main classes in Douglas Community Centre. The classes are enjoyable and based on real life activities and discussions. Homework is issued a few days prior to the class so we are able to prepare as best we can for the discussion. Emphasis is also put on grammar. The classes are fun, realistic and great banter and craic can be had with the other students. Lots of classes compare life in Italy with our experiences here in Ireland. I would very much recommend The Italian Academy and Marcella. Apart from the actual classes Marcella organises Coffee Mornings, Meet-Ups, Cultural Events and Short Trips to ITALY.

Following a short family holiday last January 2025 to view a purchased Villa up the Alps in Northern Italy I now have a need requirement for future longer visits and to learn basic Italian to interact with the locals in either two coffee shops or the local village supermarket or work out train times from a station to visit Milan. Hence on return from Italy I discovered The Italian Academy on the internet and have taken two online beginner courses. Both courses were well structured with the assistance of presentation slides along with learning group activity with others attending the weekly online courses. Our tutor Irene based in Italy was very helpful in assisting us to learn the basics and put sentences together to enable use our learning for every day social interaction with others. While it was a learning environment it was also very enjoyable with participation and interaction with others on the course and indeed Irene herself. We were all at the same starting level with our individual reasons for wanting to learn Italian. What was a great benefit was that each course session was recorded where I made time to play back from links e-mailed to us along with course slides. I found the play back videos to be of great benefit especially learning how to pronounce individual words and groups of sentences. In my past experience its a bit like learning to swim but you have to make time to keep learning to get where you want to get to your required level. From my experience I recommend the Italian Academy for anybody who wants a structured beginners course in Italian and as its an online course you are not confined to having to be at a specific location at a particular time which is a major benefit of remote learning. Pat McEnroy 8th July'25

Marcella is an amazing teacher making the content so based on real life and giving everyone an opportunity to engage. The classes will help you overcome shyness to speak and the homework is important to do as it keeps you accountable and progressing. There are times you will find it a struggle to learn a language and in those moments the best thing you can do is just to show up as even to listen to the teacher and students engage will help you to progress. I can not recommend these classes enough if you want to speak Italian. I am a returning learner and delighted I could be a part of it.

I cannot recommend Marcella highly enough. Her classes are relaxed, fun and varied.

I cannot praise Marcella enough for the help she gave to my daughter. Her kindness, patience & dedication are just outstanding. You are truly gifted at what you do Marcella & we will be forever grateful for the help you gave. You helped her face her exam with confidence which eliminated all the stress. Thx again 😊

Marcella has been an excellent teacher, very patient and also makes the lessons super fun and relatable, I couldn’t recommend Marcella and the Italian Academy enough!

Marcella is a brilliant tutor. Not only does she teach the language superbly but she tries to develop a love of everything Italian in her students. My daughter loved every minute of every lesson. Virtually every second was done through Italian and then there were the extras! Suggested books, movies, series and even local events. And on top of this she made the person feel important ( and she included us the family in that also). While we asked for Marcella's help to prepare our daughter for the Leaving Certificate we all feel she got a whole lot more out of it than exam preparation. The exam went really well too by the way ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

My daughter took online lessons with Marcella to sit the Junior Cert exam. Marcella really helped us out as our previous teacher stopped providing classes at the start of 3rd year. Always friendly, approachable and reliable, Marcella made lessons interesting and enjoyable. I would highly recommend Marcella to anyone looking to being learning Italian or improve their Italian skills.