mariag

I am a teacher and lucky enough to have the summers off. I am looking for a place to study Italian in Italy this summer for 2 weeks. I would also like a place that has adults, and not just college students. I have looked up some but it is confusing!! I like the idea of the ones that offer cultural activities as well. Has anybody ever been to any of these? Can you reccomend one? What is the best place in italy to go? Any information you have at all will be appreciated.

cmt

I have no first-hand knowledge about these summer programs in Italy. If you don't find anyone with personal recommendations, you might look for information here: http://italian.about.com/cs/languageschools/index.htm

susanna

I have been saving this school for a future date (still undecided). It has been written very favorable twice in our local paper in a section called :Follow the reader (SF Cronicle)...
http://www.parlital.it/index.html
It seems to have a good school as well as cultural activities....let me know if you end up going there!

la_dolce_vita

I have talked to locals about this. Apparently Perugia has a top rated school that governments send their folks to. Sorry don't know the name.

BTilke

I've been thinking about doing this myself, as I work with an Italian company. Recommendations from my colleagues include this school in Verona: http://www.it-schools.com/scuole/idea/link.htm (I would like to be based in Verona).

jmb67

I am also looking into a school in Italy. I have heard that Leonardo Da Vinci in Florence is good. Their school in Rome did not get as good reviews. They also have one in Siena. From my research, the students are mostly in late teens early 20s, with a mix of 30-40 year olds.

Being that you are going in the summer, realize that a lot of "young" students also study in the summer.

Travel_Fan

I took Italian lessons at the Scuola di Leonardo da Vinci in Florence last month. There was a mix of younger and older students. The students in your particular class depend on your level and the time of year and luck. The first 2 weeks I was in a class with a reasonable mix of young/older students. The last 2 weeks, the students were, for the most part, young and not terribly serious.

I thought the school was good, and my grammar and vocabulary certainly improved during the month.

I heard from one of the students who studied both in Siena and Florence that the school in Florence was better. Your experience is also dependent on the specific teachers. If you don't like them, you can always request a transfer to another class.

MyriamC

My sister and her teenage daughter have taken various Italian classes at the Piccola Università Italiana in Tropea (Calabria). It's more than just a language class that includes a lot of cultural activities.
Website: http://www.caffeitalianoclub.net/

mariag

Thank you for all the help! I have found out the name of the school in Perugia from another forum. It is at www.comitatolinguistico.com if anyone else is interested. I think I might be better off, as suggested at a smaller school in a less touristy place. The parlital.it/index.html site looks interesting too. My thought on accomodations is to get a single room in a shared apartment. Does anyone have any experience with that?

susanna

Mariag:

Here is another link to a school in Todi. They also have cooking classes, painting, ceramics, ect. This one was recomended by one of my Italian teachers, it took me a couple of days to locate the info, it is similiar to the other one I recomended. I have no info on sharing an apartment.
http://www.wellanguage.com/

mariag

Thanks Susanna. I appreciate your efforts. I checked that last site out but it looks a little too intensive for me.

Italian_in_Italy

I found this discussion and I woul like to give a fresh suggestion.
I attended a course at this school:
http://www.centropuccini.it/
I was very happy.

Tatjanasimcic

I am new in this forum so I don't know if mariag has already been to Italy. Anyway, I attended Italian classes at www. comitatolinguistico.com and according to me the school is excellent. The teachers were so qualified and especially helpfull and the admin. staff was extremely flexible: once they changed the course schedule only for me, otherwise I would have missed a couple of classes.

annhig

hi mariag,


I know that there were a couple of earlier threads about this but the search engine isn't playing ball.

ones we were talking about were in siena, Bologna, and Sicily. I'm fairly certain that one of the contributors had been to the one in Siena and liked it a lot.

WHen we have been discussing it in our Italian class, we have thought that staying with a family would give us the best experience as we would be speaking italian with them too. [hopefully]. this worked for me when i learnt German.

annhig

ps I've topped another thread for you, which mentions the threads i was thinking abou.

HenryBlackadder

Hello,
I travelled a bit in Italy and know many expats. I know some schools around, little and cheap schools but with fine teachers:
in Olbia I like IT (recommended in the summer)
in San Remo italy-amo
in Rome Dante Alighieri's Kappa school
in Siena and Perugia your best option are the universities for foreigners though I'm not sure they have intensive courses.
I think they all those schools have classes with mix ages, but you should email them to be sure!
bye!

Buzzarino

Italy-Amo in San Remo is run by two very personable and helpful people. Silvia is patient and has a good grasp of how to teach Italian to Americans. She and Walter will help you navigate through the city as well. I enjoyed this school and the private lessons were helpful. Be sure to eat at Cocoon for lunch and take a bike ride along the 25 mile bike path fronting the sea.