Nicola Nino

Best language professor I've ever had. If you are stuck with one of the other professors in the department who learned their italian in america, then try to switch to his. I am not sure why an ivy league school is hiring non-native speakers to teach their language courses, but regardless, Di Nino saves is the best option we have for the beginner level. I hated languages and became proficient enough in italian to communicate well when I went over to Italy for vacation. Great teacher and an even cooler guy.

Professor Di Nino is excellent at keeping subject matter interesting and fresh by integrating media and visuals into his coursework. He is energetic and brings out the same enthusiasm from his students. His exercises are appropriate, effective, and directly related to the material on quizzes. They are also obviously put together with consideration for his current class. He is a great person and a great instructor! He is thoughtful, and he genuinely cares about the success of his students. I went to his office hours (but he actually receives you anytime you need him) and he was incredible helpful. He remembered pieces from my compositions and reminded me of them to hel me understand concept.

Nicola was the best and most engaging Italian professor I’ve had during my four semesters of Italian at Columbia. He didn’t give us any unnecessary work, and in class made sure to cater each and every lesson to our individual needs. He didn’t stop until everyone understood exactly what he was teaching, and encouraged us to all ask questions. He is such a nice guy and he is always helpful. He made class fun and a great learning environment It was a treasure having him as a professor!!!

The norm for Italian: quizzes every two weeks, homeworks every week, compositions (draft and final), midterm and final

This is honestly the WORST class I have ever taken in my time at Columbia. If you want a professor who picks a few favorites from the beginning and is outright rude and demeaning to everyone else, take this class. Nicola would pretend to snore during students' presentations, stand over students while they were taking quizzes even though he knew this made them nervous and give students nicknames that were blatantly rude. Your grade was a reflection of how much he liked you and no matter how hard you tried to make your grade better, it stayed the same because of his ridiculous subjectivity. Some grades were never handed back and he had to be asked after the course in order to get them. Every single day I dreaded going to this class. This professor befriended students and talked about everyone in the class to them, saying things that completely ridiculous and even if they had been true they should have never been said to a student. He was condescending and outright mean and good luck if you aren't picked as one of his favorite students because your grade will not be pleasant.

Some daily exercises, bi-weekly (give or take) compositions, a few readings, quizzes, a written midterm and final and two oral presentations.

I've had Nicola for the entire year so far in Intermediate Italian. Honestly, he's probably one of the best professors I've had a Columbia thus far. He puts a ton of energy into class through preparing extensive and elaborate handouts and activities for us to do in class. He expects us to work, obviously, but makes it pleasurable by making class fun. He's funny, charismatic, and really wants his students to succeed in learning the language. I'd definitely recommend him for any student who wants to be challenged to actually learn how to speak Italian.