Weilà Group Lessons
I teach weekly Italian grammar and conversation lessons on Zoom! To attend a lesson, email me at info@weilatom.com to sign up for my mailing list and to receive the weekly Group Lesson Invitation Email.
1. What are Group Lessons?
Every Friday at 5:30pm US EST and Sunday at 10am US EST, I teach live group lessons on Zoom! On Fridays, we cover conversational topics that don’t follow a particular format and are bilingual English-Italian. On Sundays, we cover grammatical topics in an organized, structured manner. The Sunday lessons include a custom homework exercise I make based on the material we covered in class and an answer key. If you’ve seen my Zero to Hero Italian Grammar Series on YouTube (click here to watch), you will be familiar with how I teach structured lessons.
Our Sunday Grammar lessons are taught in English and our Friday Conversation lessons are conducted mostly in Italian, but are more bilingual. I take notes on my digital whiteboard throughout every lesson and email students a copy after class.
2. How can I sign up?
Join my free mailing list by emailing me at info@weilatom.com to receive the Group Lesson Invitation email I send out every Wednesday. To attend a lesson, simply reply to that email to let me know which lesson(s) you’d like to attend and you’ll receive the lesson invoice in a separate email to secure your spot. (I also post the Invitation Email on my Instagram Stories @weilatom)
Once payment is received, you’ll receive the Zoom link for Friday lessons on Friday and for the Sunday lessons, the Zoom link is sent out on Saturday.
Don’t know how your schedule will look for the weekend and need more time to RSVP? No problem! Most times I am able to accept RSVPs up until 30 minutes prior to the start of our lesson. This gives us enough time to communicate and for payment to be processed.
3. How much does it cost?
$20 USD, per student.
$10 USD if you’d just like the class notes + homework and cannot attend the live lesson.
I operate on a “pay-as-you-go” method, meaning you can attend as many lessons with me as you’d like. We have a great mix of long time and newcomer students. All are welcome!
Payments are handled securely through PayPal and must be processed prior to the start of the lesson in order to receive the Zoom link. You do not need a PayPal account to pay the invoice. PayPal accepts several different payment methods, including Venmo, Debit or Credit Card. Please be sure to check your spam or junk folder as the email for the invoice comes from PayPal and not from my email address.
4. What happens if I pay but then can’t make it?
Life happens and sometimes you may not be able to make it to class. Whatever the case may be, please send me an email at info@weilatom.com to let me know. At this time, all lessons are final sale and no refunds are available. However, students are able to put the payment for the missed lesson towards the following week’s lesson. Or, they can opt just to receive the class notes and homework (if a Sunday lesson).
5. Will I get called on? Do I have to participate?
I want all students to get whatever they want out of our lessons. No one is called on and it is up to you whether you participate during class. Some students like to participate a lot and others like to just be in the company of other learners, everyone is different and all are welcome.
One of the great things about our lessons is that we have a lively and engaged group of students of all ages who join us week after week. I very much encourage and want student participation. I also want students to share when they do or don’t understand something, to ask questions, and to share any tips and tricks they have to help fellow students better understand something.
While our Grammar lessons are conducted in English, students are more than welcome to speak in Italian when participating and I will respond in Italian. While Conversation lessons are conducted mostly in Italian, we use English as a facilitator to help make sense of any difficult-to-understand or new words and to translate something a student would like to say, but doesn’t know how to. Conversation lessons are more than just a space to speak Italian, they’re a place for learning how to speak Italian.
When not participating during a lesson, students are asked to mute their microphone so no outside noise enters the classroom. Students are can choose to keep their cameras on or off. Our lessons are never recorded.
6. Does it matter if I’m a beginner or advanced student?
All of my Group Lessons, whether on Grammar or Conversation, are open to students of all levels of Italian. It is suggested that students have at least an A2 level (upper beginner). Most students that join our lessons are between A2-B2 (upper beginner to upper intermediate).
Our lessons are always centered around a specific topic, but we always go off on tangents in different directions and include more material as we go. I like the lessons to go wherever they lead us, whether because the material warrants it or because a student had a particular question that we wanted to entertain further. I like to simulate what its like when you’re in Italy and surrounded by the language in all of its forms at once.
A good way to know if Conversation lessons are right for you would be to determine if you can successfully ask or answer simple questions in Italian. In other words, beyond just saying “si” or “no.” But if you can support your thoughts with something like: “Sì, mi piace questa idea” or “Direi di no, preferisco farlo così.” As long as you’ve spent some time with Italian, you should be just fine in Conversation lessons.
7. Still have more questions?
Feel free to email me at info@weilatom.com with any additional questions. Due to volume, I may not get to your email right away. I do my best to get to every email I receive, but if you do not hear back from me within a few days, you can feel free to send me a follow up email.
By RSVP-ing to a Weilà Group Lesson, you agree to the terms and conditions listed here on this page and to the Weilà Tom Privacy Policy and Return Policy.
Hope to see you in class!