Teaching by Doing: How One Teacher Is Transforming Language Learning In Italy

Meet Kikka Uchino, a former professional tennis player turned teacher trainer who inadvertently started a movement to change how languages are taught in schools. She's a language educator and founder of a teaching approach designed to move away from grammar-heavy instruction toward a more natural mode of language acquisition. Her method is now the subject of a 10 year research study.

From Tennis Coach to Language Teacher

Kikka didn’t set out to become a language teacher — in fact, it never even crossed her mind. After a career as a professional tennis player, she transitioned to coaching, and then studied environmental science. She grew up in a bilingual Japanese/English family in the US. But when she moved to Italy, she knew she wanted her own family to be bilingual as well. But this time it would be an Italian/English household. But it wasn’t until her youngest son struggled with English that something clicked.

“He just spoke Italian and didn’t want to speak English until he was about 14. It was very hard for him. It was a second language process.”

By that time Kikka had been teaching English in local schools as a “mother tongue” teacher. These were special teachers who would come in with native command of the language and teach a short 5 or 10 week course. She quickly noticed that the traditional classroom setup just wasn’t working. She was shocked at the level of English spoken by students; they were far below their capacity. Out of necessity, having no teaching experience, she started created her own teaching activities — and soon, other teachers were asking to use them too.

A New Approach: Learning by Speaking

Rather than teaching about language, Kikka encourages students to use it from day one.

Her approach, which she calls guided speaking, emphasizes language acquisition through speaking, doing, and interacting — not just memorizing rules.

Kikka is clear it’s not language teaching. It’s language acquisition. Students learn by using the language in real-time, and they learn better when the body is involved. Hence the emphasis on playing games, moving, and laughing. It sticks.

As teachers asked for her methods and activities, she shifted into teacher training. She’s now known across Italy for her teacher training workshops which are packed with active, hands-on methods. Teachers find themselves literally running through the hallways playing games and passing notes — something almost unthinkable in the traditional classroom.

For Kikka, the most powerful impact comes not just from what students learn — but from how teachers feel in the classroom.

“I had a teacher come to me after an 18-hour course. She said, ‘This has changed my life...when we started playing the games and doing the activities, that’s when we learned the material. I’ve realized that the years I’ve been teaching, my students didn’t learn anything.’”

Creating the Laugh & Learn system

To keep us with demand, Kikka needed formalize her method in order to scale it. She couldn't be in every classroom telling other teachers what to do. So she built her own library of materials: slides, games, and printable activities tailored to different levels and topics and structured it into what she calls 'Laugh & Learn'. Teachers can find whatever they need for any level with clear instructions, all designed to make lesson prep faster and more fun — and to bring real interaction back into the classroom. Thus far, Kikka has prioritized a low tech approach.

“I’ve tried to do this so it could be inclusive on a global scale. All they need to do is print out different games and activities and use them in the classroom. The most they would have to do is print out some paper. Many games don’t require that either. ”

But Kikka’s not stopping there. She’s also exploring ways to apply digital tools — like using apps for homework. For example, she's partnering with Edumo to conduct a trial to support students remotely with structured speaking exercises. Thus far the emphasis has been on the classroom but the plan is to give learners more tools out of the classroom but keep the fun and engagement. It's still early days but as Edumo grows and its audio and AI capabilities expand, there may be new ground for more robust collaboration. 

What's next for Kikka?

Kikka’s hard work has paid off and her methods are now being put to the test in a 10-year longitudinal study with a Swedish neurolinguist. The study will be conducted in three Italian school districts, starting with children 3 years old, and tracking them until they are 13. It will measuring the long-term impact of her learning-by-speaking approach; something which has both excited and kept her very busy.

When asked what advice she would give new teachers, Kikka’s response was simple — and referenced back to her early days as a 'mother tongue' language teacher:

“Listen to your students. They’ll guide you. Don’t assume you have all the answers. The best solutions come when you tune into what they need.”

You can find Kikka’s work on YouTube and her website.