Breaking Through the Intermediate Plateau: English–Italian Syntax, Tense Harmony, and the Subjunctive
You've probably noticed it yourself: past B1, adding new words barely moves the needle. What actually holds you back is the quiet, persistent habit of thinking in English while speaking Italian — reaching for the word order you're used to, the tense you'd pick in English, the pronoun placement that feels "right" because it mirrors your L1. That's linguistic interference, and it's the main thing standing between you and real fluency.
This is the course we built to fix that.
Instead of rehashing the grammar you already know, we'll do a side-by-side teardown of where English and Italian actually clash — structurally, not just lexically. Take something as simple as "I thought you would call me." In Italian, that's not a word-for-word swap; the whole sentence reorganizes around a different hierarchy: Pensavo che mi chiamassi. Getting there means internalizing how tense agreement (the consecutio temporum), mood choice, and pronoun position work together — not as separate rules, but as one system.
What we'll be tackling
Where the sentence structures genuinely diverge. We'll pull apart complex clauses where English and Italian differ not just in word order but in how they package and sequence information, then rebuild them the Italian way.
The congiuntivo, as it actually functions.Not another conjugation drill. We'll look at why certain matrix verbs force the subjunctive, how subordinate clause structure triggers it, and where your English instincts will lead you astray.
Pronouns that fight back. Ci, ne, glielo — the combined clitics that make your brain stutter. We'll work through placement in different sentence environments until it stops feeling like a puzzle.
False friends that trip up professionals. Words like pretendere and constatare look like their English cousins but mean something quite different. We'll sort out the semantic shifts that quietly undermine your precision.
How it works
This is a small, intensive seminar for people who want to actually understand why Italian works the way it does, not just memorize patterns. Expect contrastive analysis, translation exercises where we critique each other's work, and a lot of talking through the syntax out loud.
Level: B1–B2 (solid intermediate / upper-intermediate)
When: Mondays, 10:00 AM, 90 minutes, online — 10 weeks, November 9, 2026 → January 11, 2027
Class size: Max 10 people, so you'll actually get attention and the discussion stays sharp
Week 5 is hybrid: If you're in NYC, come in person — we'll do it over coffee and biscotti and you'll meet the rest of the group. Everyone else joins on Zoom as usual.
Tuition: $400
To sign up, just email comunitalinguistica@gmail.com.
Grazie, e a presto!
Join our Comunità
We have a New Group Beginning!
Intermediate / Upper-Intermediate
(B1–B2)
A 10-week course meeting on Mondays from 10:00 - 11:30 AM
November 9, 2026, to January 11, 2027
Domina to Donna:
Two Millennia of Italian Women.
From Roman empress Agrippina Minor to Nobel laureate Rita Levi-Montalcini, this ten-week course focuses on women who acquired fame for their contributions to art, literature, philosophy, and the active life of public affairs. We will examine the biographies of prominent figures, such as Caterina da Siena and Artemisia Gentileschi, along with unsung women whose achievements deserve to be equally celebrated.
Classes meet weekly and run 120 minutes on Zoom with a maximum of nine participants.
A free ten minute conversation over the phone is required before enrolling.
The Three Crowns of Italian Literature:
Dante Alighieri
Francesco Petrarca
Giovanni Boccaccio
Reading and commentary of La Divina Commedia, Il Canzoniere, and the Decameron in the original language. This series of studies explores the opera magna of Italian Literature through an analysis of their biographies within the social, political, and philosophical context of the late Middle Ages.
We will spend ten sessions in the company of each poet.
Classes meet weekly and run 120 minutes on Zoom with a maximum of nine participants.
A free ten minute conversation over the phone is required before enrolling.
Language Acquisition:
Group and private classes
Minimum of ten sessions
A free ten minute conversation over the phone is required prior to enrolling.