Edinburgh’s Italian community has flavoured the city for over a century. Learn the language properly with live online lessons from a native Sicilian teacher.
Looking for an Italian tutor in Edinburgh? Lessons are one-to-one over Microsoft Teams, tailored to you — complete beginner, GCSE revision, holiday Italian or reconnecting with the family language. As a private Italian tutor I charge £30 an hour, with no travel time and no course-book padding: we spend the whole lesson actually speaking.
Learn Italian from anywhere in the UK with live online lessons taught by Laura — a native Italian speaker from Sicily with over 20 years’ teaching experience, fully qualified with QTS, a PGCE and the Cambridge CELTA.
How online lessons work
- Live video lessons — real conversation with a real teacher, not an app
- One-to-one tuition — £30/hour, scheduled around you, Monday to Friday
- Small group courses — £15 per 1.5-hour session, 10-week terms from £150
- Interactive materials — custom resources, BookWidgets and Kahoot activities, all provided
Who they’re for
- Complete beginners building the foundations
- Improvers and returners who want structured conversation practice
- Students preparing for IB Diploma, GCSE or A-level Italian examinations
- Anyone with Italian family, travel plans, or a love of the language
Every lesson is tailored to your goals and level. As a specialist SEN-trained teacher, Laura is particularly experienced at supporting learners who find languages daunting — and at making every session genuinely enjoyable.
Ready to start? Get in touch for a free chat about your level and goals, or meet Laura in her welcome video — wherever you are in the UK.
Ready to start? Join the 10-week online beginners’ course — starts 16 September (£150)
Not ready yet? Grab the free 50 Essential Italian Phrases PDF
“Laura is a great teacher — warm, friendly, knowledgeable and encouraging. I really like the style of the lessons with a combination of conversation and worked exercises.”
— Jess Read all my Google reviews →
Edinburgh’s Italian connection
Edinburgh’s Italian story runs deep, and much of it began in Leith. Valvona & Crolla, founded in 1934 to serve the young immigrant community, is Scotland’s oldest delicatessen and Italian wine merchant, still a family business today. The community endured hard times too: on 10 June 1940 riots damaged over a hundred Italian-run shops — even though one shopkeeper had two sons serving in the Black Watch.
Today more than 30% of Italian nationals in Scotland live in Edinburgh, Italy opened its new Italy House — consulate and cultural institute together — here in February 2025, and the University of Edinburgh created the UK’s first online archive of Italian migration to Scotland. Learning Italian here belongs — and I’d love to teach you.
Common questions
Are your lessons for Edinburgh students online or in person?
Online over Microsoft Teams — the distance between Gloucestershire and Edinburgh is no obstacle at all. My Scottish students get the same warm, structured lessons as everyone else: live conversation, clear explanations and materials shared on screen, all from the comfort of home.
How much do you charge for lessons?
£30 per hour for one-to-one lessons. If you’re a beginner and enjoy learning in company, my ten-week online course costs £150 — Wednesdays 5.00 to 6.30pm from 16 September, in a small group.
Can I learn Italian from scratch with you?
Absolutely. Starting from scratch is nothing to worry about — it’s how nearly all my students begin. I’ll give you a clear structure, plenty of speaking practice and honest, kind correction. My ten-week beginners course is a lovely first step if you’d like company along the way.
Is there really a living Italian community in Edinburgh today?
Very much so. Over 30% of Italian nationals living in Scotland are based in Edinburgh, and the consular district covering Scotland and Northern Ireland counts more than 27,000 registered Italian citizens. In February 2025 Italy inaugurated ‘Italy House’ in the city, joint premises for its Consulate General and Italian Cultural Institute — building on a heritage that stretches back to Leith’s cafes and Valvona & Crolla, founded in 1934.