Skip to Content

About Chiara Maggi — Language Coach in Brussels

Struggling to speak a language despite taking endless courses?

Do you want to learn Italian, English, French, or Dutch online - but feel too exhausted after work to attend evening classes?

That's exactly why I built Fluency by Frequency.

Hi, I’m Chiara

I'm originally from Lecco, Lake Como in Italy, and since 2018 I've been living in Brussels. I speak Italian, English, French, Flemish Dutch, and Persian — and in every case, what actually made me fluent wasn't the classroom. It was daily contact with the language, in real life, with real people.

I help adult learners speak Italian, English, French, or Dutch naturally — without live classes, without Zoom fatigue, and without adding extra hours at your desk.

You can work with me starting from scratch, or use my method to activate what you've already learned in your courses. Yes, you can learn to speak a language from zero asynchronously, without living in the country.

Why Is Speaking So Difficult?

Many learners struggle because traditional language courses neglect speaking practice.

Speaking requires:

  • Confidence (built only through real-life experience)
  • Pronunciation and articulation (which can cover grammar mistakes)
  • Consistency (short, daily practice—not just once a week in class)

That's why Fluency by Frequency is designed around small daily steps, not intensive weekly sessions without follow-up.

How I Got Here

I used to work as a communication consultant in Brussels. Six months in, I started compulsively listening to entrepreneurship podcasts. When COVID hit, I quit and followed what I'd always loved: helping people learn languages through speaking.

When I'm not coaching, you'll probably find me walking around Brussels listening to music, joining conversation tables to help newcomers with French and Dutch, or playing the daf — an Iranian frame drum — at home.

Reviews Learn with me Download my case study (FREE)

Language Projects and Volunteering

Language is not only what I teach. It is also what I build, facilitate, and contribute to outside of my coaching work. I write more about it here.

Lessico Tematico

In 2024 I collaborated with Piet Mertens, a former professor of the KU Leuven, on the Lessico Tematico - a free thematic bilingual lexicon covering Italian and Dutch. My role was to review translations from the perspective of a native Italian speaker with a solid command of Dutch: checking not just accuracy but naturalness, register, and consistency. The work took almost a year and required the kind of precision that only comes from caring about both languages seriously.

The Lessico Tematico is available as a free app on Android and Apple, and covers over 700 pages of vocabulary organised by theme - from the human body to politics, from food to history. As of April 2026, each entry includes a CEFR level indicator, making it accessible to learners at every stage.

Conversation tables

I volunteer as a facilitator at two conversation tables in Belgium.

In Leuven, I facilitate at Bab(b)el - a monthly multilingual conversation initiative run by International House Leuven, the Leuven city library, and the city's diversity and equal opportunities department. Sessions take place on the first Saturday of the month.

In Brussels, I am part of a small team of four volunteers who run a weekly French and Dutch conversation table every Sunday at Au Bassin (Quai aux Briques 74, 1000 Brussels). No registration needed - anyone is welcome to join at any level from A2 upwards.