About me

Every time I help someone learn my mother tongue, I feel something deeply beautiful and not easy to explain. I feel it is one of the things I love doing most in life.

— Brandon, June 2026 — 

Working is essential for living; nevertheless, for as long as I am able, I believe that the quality of the relationship between me and the person who is learning takes precedence over material compensation.

— Brandon, September 2026 — 

👋🏻 Hi, my name is Brandon and I'm an independent language trainer, self-taught and a native Italian speaker.

I'm Sicilian, I've lived in Florence for 7 years, and I work online with students (mostly Chinese), artists, and professionals from all over the world who want to learn Italian for study, work, or out of passion.

I work on pronunciation, diction, natural conversation, and Italian culture and mentality. I like to look at grammar through a logical-emotional lens, which makes it more accessible and easier to understand. I don't rely on a traditional textbook.

I believe that a language is something alive, because it is born from a people's way of feeling and thinking, shaped by the historical period and by their experience in the land where they have lived.

Ever since I was a child, even before I could speak, I could sense that every tone, word, and sentence was an outward expression of something we carry inside us (a thought or a feeling).

I was very enthusiastic about learning to speak, and I noticed that the more input I received, the more I managed to make that language, which was constantly around me, deeply my own.

In my hometown, it was rare to meet people of other nationalities. The few I met over the years were often closed off in a bubble, because they could barely communicate with anyone. And the narrow-minded mentality of the place made it easy for them to fall into indifference or mockery from others. I was deeply affected by this; I felt sadness and also anger about the situation. Inside, I clearly felt that one day I would want to do something for them.

In the following years, however, life seemed to row relentlessly elsewhere, dragging me into circumstances that took me away from that reality. And yet, I never stopped believing in it, because I felt it was mine, deeply mine.

Despite a long and delicate period with my health, I devoted a large part of my time and energy to linguistic, cultural, and above all human exchanges with people from many parts of the world. It was a rather intense experience, one that changed me deeply and helped make me the language tutor I am today.

My approach LA BUSSOLA ITALIANA® 🧭🇮🇹, is the fruit of a deep inner journey and over 10 years of experience, study, and research. It is my natural way of being applied to teaching the Italian language. A more natural path, based on the living experience of the language, on listening, and on guided exploration, which leads to a deeper linguistic awareness that goes well beyond the simple memorization of words and grammar rules.

In my way of teaching, you will find presence, respect, acceptance, empathy, enthusiasm, and spontaneity. I'm not inclined to judge, and I don't see the person in front of me as a mere "student," but as a person who is attempting a path of linguistic, cultural, and personal growth.

Because of the standardization of the education system, fewer and fewer people tend to notice that learning a language, even one's own, means absorbing a way of feeling and thinking, a way of seeing ourselves and the world. It is not just memorizing rules and words; it is a genuine broadening of horizons. Over time, this transforms us, because it enriches and diversifies the way we experience things.

"A passion turned into a profession" – Personal Story

"Learning: When context makes all the difference" – Personal Experience