Italian

Gladstone Languages was conceived in 2006 primarily teaching Brazilian Portuguese, which still is the main language of our school.

The school has since expanded to offer a bilingual support service where English is taught by English native speakers and supported by native speakers of other languages as we believe that learners of a second language should use their previous language knowledge to support the acquisition of a new one.

All our classes focus on speaking, as learning a new language should be much more than learning new grammar rules. For instance, take someone that’s learning how to swim, that person could stand outside the pool and understand the steps and the logic behind the strokes, however if he doesn’t go in the pool, get wet and get it wrong many times, he will only have the knowledge, but won’t be able to swim. The same applies when learning a new language. In our classes we make sure that students understand concepts but more than that, we make sure that they use the language learnt.

We carefully assess our students and make sure that they are challenged but not overwhelmed. It’s an enjoyable experience, a safe environment and we often have a good laugh during the lessons. It’s a fun way to exercise your brain!

We offer private lessons, online lessons and group lessons. In our small tailored groups students have the opportunity to effectively use the target language.

Other languages are offered with our native speakers/guest teachers of Spanish, French and Italian.

Val Moreira is the founder and principal Portuguese teacher at Gladstone languages. She is a degree qualified Portuguese teacher, who has been teaching Portuguese as a second language for over ten years in Australia and internationally.

Val is a curious individual with a passion and a flair for languages and education.