How can I improve my Italian?

A very effective way to learn and improve a language is to communicate with a native speaker. This grants the chance to improve your listening and communicative skills. Obviously, a background knowledge of the main grammatical structure of the language is required. In my past experiences as a tutor, I have always been succesful in helping students understand their mistakes in order to improve their fluency. If a student is sitting an A-Level Italian, it is likely that he has prior knowledge of the language and its grammar structures. As a tutor, I could hence be helping the student develop essay ('tema') wiritng skills; teaching them how to write a solid, coherent, analytical Italian essay.