Yu Jiawen

handwritten version ✍🏻 – digital version

Translation:

Hello everyone,

I met Brandon at the end of last July. During our first lesson, I was very nervous — I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to understand what he was saying. But Brandon welcomed me with a smile and a calm tone, just like an old friend, and I never really had any trouble understanding him, because after speaking in Italian, he would also play the Chinese translation. This immediately put me at ease. Later on, the extensive training in listening, speaking, reading, and writing helped me tremendously.

I study opera singing at the conservatory, and his lessons have been of great help to my musical journey. In my home country, I had never been exposed to the Italian language — I had only sung pieces in Chinese, and I didn’t understand Italian or German at all. We did a lot of practice on Italian pronunciation, on clear articulation of words, and on linguistic details — all of which are essential for singing. When I needed to study pieces in German, he also helped me with German pronunciation, which was truly very beneficial.

Over these months, we’ve done many interesting exercises together, like conversation training and singing songs together. The practical conversations are very useful. In addition, there are his grammar PDFs, which are real treasures: written in Italian, English, and Chinese, they are very easy to understand. Each single PDF has helped me to overcome a difficult point.

He never criticizes me harshly: even when I make mistakes, he always corrects me patiently and gently, and I never feel uncomfortable.

When I was feeling down, Brandon would notice it right away and comfort me like a friend, helping me regain a good mood. He is truly excellent at this. He doesn’t just care about my language learning; he also takes care of my emotional and psychological state — and this has been an enormous support for me during the times of great pressure while preparing for my exam.

My Italian is becoming more and more fluent: I speak with greater confidence, I understand better, and I am able to express myself more naturally. And above all, I’m no longer afraid to speak with Italians. For us Chinese students, this is a really important step.

To me, Brandon is not just a teacher, but also a friend who has accompanied me in my personal growth. He has helped me progress in the language, move forward in my musical path, and gain greater self-confidence.

Yu Jiawen

Milan, 05/19/2025