Italmente

Italmente is an online Italian school that teaches through live lessons with native Italian teachers, either one-to-one or in small groups, plus a weekly conversation club and a self-paced video course for beginners. Its About page says it was founded in Milan, Italy, by a team of specialists in language education, and the footer gives the company as Italmente srls with a Milan address. The free trial page shows a rating of 4.7/5 on Trustpilot and 500+ students. Everything happens online: lessons run on Zoom, and a student dashboard handles booking, materials and exercises.

How the school teaches

The About page describes the method as the communicative approach, following the guidelines of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). Grammar is part of every course but not its main focus; the aim is to get students using Italian for practical goals, from traveling in Italy to talking with business partners, and teachers and students speak only Italian in class. The group course FAQ says English may be used in the first stages of a beginner group, but knowledge of English is not required.

All teachers are native speakers. The group course FAQ calls them "certified Teachers of Italian as a Second Language", and the About page says each has a specialization in teaching Italian as a foreign language. The teachers listed by name include Laura Calcagno, Elena Fantuzzi, Simona Rapanà and Elena Cicoria. The founder and CEO, Francesco De Chirico, studied the teaching of Italian as a foreign language at the University for Foreigners of Siena, taught Italian for 4 years in Saint Petersburg, and later directed a center at the Liden & Denz language institute. A student review shown on every course page notes that the lessons are based on the Nuovo Espresso books, "which provide a good structure."

The platform ties the formats together. The About page describes a student dashboard where individual lessons are booked on a calendar, teacher and student share study materials, and online quizzes and exercises are available for practice between lessons.

Private plans

Private lessons are the core of the tutoring offer: one-to-one with a native teacher, fully tailored, with a video course and digital textbook included and access to the Speaking Club. The private plans start from €210 and come in three packages:

• Essential: 4 private lessons, Italian phrasebooks, 2 textbook chapters and a Survival Italian Guide, to be used within 2 months.
• Progress, marked "Best Value": everything in Essential, with 10 private lessons, the Italmente Foundations video course, Speaking Club access and the full digital Italian textbook, to be used within 6 months.
• Fluency: everything in Essential, with 25 private lessons, a monthly pronunciation clinic, a personalized progress report and priority lesson booking, to be used within 12 months.

The page notes that lessons are not cumulative: each package carries its own lesson count. The private plans come with a 30-day money back guarantee, in the site's words a full refund "provided no more than 4 lessons have been used within 30 days from the purchase", valid for private plans only and subject to the terms and conditions. Learners who would rather discuss a plan can fill in a form, and the school says it replies within 1 business day.

Group courses

The group course is a live Zoom class for up to 8 students, run in 8-week cycles. The group page lists eight levels, each covering half a CEFR level, from A1.1 for full beginners through A1.2, A2.1 and A2.2 to B1.1, B1.2, B2.1 and B2.2 (upper intermediate). Each level comes with a list of what students will be able to do, from ordering in restaurants and booking a hotel at A1 to writing a cover letter, making hypotheses and engaging in complex arguments higher up.

Classes meet on Tuesday and Thursday from 8:00 to 9:40 PM Italian time, for a total of 32 academic hours over the 8 weeks. The price is two installments of €160, which the page advertises as only €10 per hour, and an interactive digital textbook with a license valid for 14 months is included. Every lesson is recorded, so a missed class can be watched later. When a cycle ends, the group can continue into the next one as long as at least 2 participants want to. A certificate of attendance is issued on request. The FAQ says many students live outside Europe and simply need the evening slot to suit their time zone, and asks for a stable connection, a microphone and a webcam, ideally on a computer or tablet. Reserving a place requires no payment upfront; the school contacts the learner to confirm it.

Speaking Club and video course

The Italian Speaking Club is a 1-hour session each week, led by an Italmente teacher, where students communicate in Italian with other learners. It has a 7-day free trial, the Progress private plan includes it, and group course students get a 50% discount on it.

Italmente Foundations is a self-paced A1 course of 12 video lessons, taught by Francesco De Chirico, for €149.00 plus VAT if applicable. It covers phonetics, introductions, jobs, hobbies, invitations, restaurants, daily routines, hotels and getting around a city, traditions and holidays, shopping, past events and families. Lessons are taught in Italian with subtitles in English, Spanish and French, can be watched on any device as many times as a learner likes, and come with hundreds of interactive quizzes with answers and explanations, plus grammar and vocabulary sheets. Free preview lessons can be watched straight away, without creating an account. The FAQ is explicit that the video course has no formal exam and no certificate.

Free trial lesson

New students can book one free trial lesson: 50 minutes, one-to-one, with a qualified native teacher, and no credit card required. The booking form asks for level, course type, time zone and preferred times (mornings, afternoons or evenings, weekdays or weekends) and matches the learner with a tutor. Missing the lesson without notice incurs the class fee, and cancellations must happen at least 18 hours before the start. For group courses, the trial can come with a short placement test.

Who it suits and who it does not

Italmente suits adult learners who want a live native teacher and printed prices before they commit. The private plans give a clear choice between a short 4-lesson start and a 25-lesson package with pronunciation work and progress reports, backed by a conditional refund window. The group course is an inexpensive way to study with others at a fixed rhythm, with recordings for missed classes, and the Speaking Club adds weekly conversation practice. Complete beginners can start with the Foundations video course and move to live lessons later.

The limits are mostly about timing and scope. Group classes run only on Tuesday and Thursday evenings Italian time, so learners far from Europe should check that the slot fits their day, as the FAQ itself advises. The group levels stop at B2, the video course covers A1 only and carries no certificate, and certificates for live courses are certificates of attendance rather than formal exam results. Learners who want in-person classes in Italy need another school, since Italmente teaches online only.