Maria Conte Programs

“As a student of Maria’s in Italian I and Italian II, I would recommend her courses to anyone. Classes were held weekly and were very organized, very productive and featured a great deal of speaking and reading in the foreign language. She is a caring teacher–very patient but also of course very knowledgeable. The curriculum stresses basic syntactic structures of the language, and by the end of it, you come away with a pretty strong foundation in the language and the ability to start conversing with native speakers.”

“I met Maria about a year ago at one of her cultural events through a friend who took many courses with her.  It was a fun and interactive environment. It is a bit challenging for me to learn new things since I have a traumatic brain injury. In short, I was in a coma for a few months from a car accident. Afterwards, I took physical, occupational, and speech therapies to re-gain the basics of daily life. Then, I learned that Maria teaches Italian and Spanish. I knew a few words in Italian and was always interested in learning the language. I have heard that my last name, Diodato, means “God has given me!” I have learned a great deal of the Italian language and its heritage with Maria –of which has been both challenging and rewarding. I have also heard that learning another language is good for your brain and wards off symptoms of dementia. Now, I look forward to meeting with Maria twice a week for private tutoring. Maria uses a different technique with me, to help me better grasp and retain the words. She is a devoted, kind, and heartfelt person!”

“I have been taking Italian classes with Maria for more than a year now. She not only understands how to teach language to adult students but also has the patience to bring students along for an enjoyable learning experience. She has well designed reading materials with exercises that focus on learning grammatical skills which are then reinforced in a relaxed atmosphere in her classes. Maria clearly enjoys teaching students at all skill levels and her enthusiasm encourages her students to not only learn the Italian language but also better appreciate Italian culture. I highly recommend her.”