The Marlow Language Centre Reviews

Jean-Michel is an experienced and empathetic teacher. I enjoy my weekly class on-line and it fits well with my current needs. If anything I would like to get more direct feedback on progress and in particular my areas of weakness to work on, be they grammar, vocabulary, etc and also strong direction on the things I can practice to improve.

The switch to online has been seamless and counter intuitively I think it has actually helped me to try and speak more. Less embarrassment with a screen than with a real face!

Have very much enjoyed my lessons and have already learned a lot and gained confidence in speaking

I really like the course, the teacher is really good and the online class is amazing as well. For me is perfect the both ways.

The class size has diminished over the year due to other commitments and also changes in business due to COVID. This has meant some changes in approach but Paola has used games, quizzes, recipes and other source material to keep the course lively. I feel I have made good progress my my Italian learning as a result .

I have just completed 8 weeks French tuition with Vanessa Francesconi, via an offer available through the Civil Service sports/social club. Vanessa tailored the course perfectly, striking the right balance for the 2 of us who were revisiting learning a foreign language after many years (more so in my case) away from a classroom. I thoroughly enjoyed our on line sessions and appreciated her patience when we were trying to remember things learnt long ago, as well as things forgotten in less than a couple of weeks. I extended my initial 6 weeks and was grateful Vanessa was willing to continue on a 1 to 1 basis for the extra 2 weeks. Her time living in France gave an extra dimension to the lessons and certainly added to the learning experience for me. Work permitting, I am hoping to enrol for a further course later in the year. I would be grateful if you could pass on my comments and record them in some way, so as to showcase the talents of this lady, who is undoubtedly an asset to your company. Many thanks, Pete L

The course is complimenting my existing skills and it was very easy to slot in. It is a mixture of new and revision for me which works just fine. I am grateful for the offer to join and am thoroughly enjoying it. Paola is a fantastic teacher and manages the different levels of knowledge of her students very well. Her classes are thoroughly enjoyable and she makes learning very easy. We have a lot of fun and banter which is great as we are a nice group and Paola has a lovely sense of humour. She keeps everyone engaged and learning and always goes the extra mile to ensure we all understand and move forward together. It is one of the best learning experiences I have ever had thanks to Paola. Kind regards, Gaby.

Paola has got my Italian off to a flying start, and been very friendly, professional and encouraging, especially given the challenging restrictions of the lockdown period. She has chosen interesting topics as the basis for her lessons, and been especially helpful at providing support in the form of worksheets and oral practice in the trickier grammatical areas, and I am really pleased with the progress that I have made.

Paola is a dedicated and enthusiastic Italian. Although teaching is not her first profession she is very patient and competent as a tutor. It is a pity that our little on-line course will last for only six weeks as I feel we would be able to learn so much more from her and master a reasonable level of speaking, reading and writing Italian in her care. Like other reviewers, I very much like that Paola introduces aspects of Italian culture and la cucina into her lessons to breath life into the formal mechanics of learning her first language. I hope to be able to speak Italian at least as well as she speaks English. This course is a good start...

I have had weekly lessons with Paola since January as part of a group and with one other student. Each week we follow a text book, which is quite challenging and focus on grammar, the basics and roots of the Italian language. The emphasis is on giving us a strong understanding of the language, to build on, rather than sentences for holiday chit chat. Paola is very patient, with a great sense of humour and passionate about passing on her culture and language. Some self study and revision during the week is recommended and definitely helps to aid understanding and progress. I will definitely continue with these lessons for some time.