Foreign Language School
 

I'm in the process of finalizing plans for a trip to Italy to attend a wedding. What was intended to be an exciting trip with my husband took a turn, due to work obligations, leaving me as the sole traveler.
In considering the length of my stay I have looked at the possibility of doing a 1 week Italian Language Course in the city of Milan.
Has anyone here had any experience with foreign language schools offering these short term courses?
Thanks for any help you may have to offer.

yes. do you know any Italian?

Well, I'm thinking that in Italy, Italian isn't a foreign language. :-)

That said, how long will you be in Italy and what other languages do you know to any degree beyond hello/goodbye/please/thank you? Spanish has some similarity to Italian, although the latter is far more complicated (there are 7 ways to say "the" in Italian, 4 in Spanish; Italian has a LOT of conjunctions, Spanish does not).

If you're going to be in Milan, there will be multilingual residents on a far more frequent basis than if you were staying south of Rome or on the Adriatic Coast. Generally, language concerns are overblown - I've been an illiterate whilst traveling in a country that uses nothing close to our language or our letters and navigated without problems.

I have taken a one week course in Bologna. The quality of the course far exceeded anything I could find in the US. Where I had difficulty was finding a one week course. Many schools are geared to offer courses at least 1 month long with 2 wks the usual shortest classes. Do you have to take a class in Milan? I think you can expand your choices if you can stay in another city. Also, spending time in a place where English is less spoken lets you practice your Italian. In places like Rome or Milan, the people would speak English to you even if you want to practice your Italian.

Hi WS,

I did a one-week italian course last year - click on my screen-name for my report about it. greg is right that most places are geared for courses that last at least 2 weeks, and for beginners it's compulsory.

my honest opinion? so long as you already have some italian, a week is better than nothing but 2 weeks are more than twice as good. at the end of the week I was really only just getting into it - another week would have been much, much better.

I've no idea what language schools are available in Milan; i was looking at Tuscany and e-mailed about 20, narrowing it down to 5 before I made my choice. I tried to find ones that weren't solely aimed at school -age students and which offered interesting visits after classes.

you can also usually combine the group lessons [usually in the morning] with private lessons which might make the week more productive. also staying with a family is another way of expanding your experiences.

buona fortuna!

i think the big one in Milano is Scuola Leonardo da Vinci , but honestly 1 week if you do not have any background is hard. it may take you 1 week to learn possesive adjectives and another how to conjugate verbs after you learned that.
i suggest getting rosetta stone and getting down some basics first. get the whole set for around $500.
with that said, i really like when someone takes the initiative to learn another language, Bravo ! just hope you enjoy Italia and dont spend too much time in school. dont miss this opportunity to see the area.
maybe if you enjoy cooking you can take cooking classes and learn some Italian while you cook. the best way is to interact with those speaking it.

I'm using VerbalPlanet to skype courses one-on-one. It gives you a bit of a start on the like of rossetta stone. Might be worth a read up.

Thank each of you SO much for taking the time to give me a bit of guidance.
In response to the question of my exposure to La Lingua Italiano...I have a good basic knowledge of the language thanks to my personal love of the country of my birth and my sweet little Italian Mama (who rarely spoke Italian in our home mainly due to her ongoing quest to learn the English language). Italian born but Mississippi, USA raised I was only a month old when my Dad brought my mother and me to our new home in America.
I was exposed to the language solely through the occasional chatter between my parents when they didn't want my brother and me to understand the discussion or phone conversations I would hear as my Mom spoke with my Nonni and Zii. Outside of those occasions, I would listen to Italian language 45s (when I felt like it) sent to me by my Nonna and eventually did more serious personal study with store bought workbooks, tapes, etc.
We were blessed to visit and stay with our relatives 3 times during my growing up years. At the age of 20 years I traveled alone to Italy to immerse myself in the "native" experience although my relatives spoke no English. It was sink or swim, which I knew would be challenging but felt sure it would be one of the most beneficial attempts at learning more of the language. Naturally, I had a variety of study aids to get help me along the way. : )
In 1999-2000 we hosted an Italian exchange student who lived with us for 9 months and graduated from our local high school. The focus was on helping him to polish his English but he would occasionally humor my attempts at Italian. : )
One of the most important things that I believe I ever did in my sporadic attempts at learning the language was to learn the pronunciation of the Italian ALPHABET. This has proven INVALUABLE in reading and pronunciation of the language.
I understand much better than I speak but can often get "the idea" across to whoever I am attempting to converse with. I have a LONG way to go to speak the language the way I desire.
I have just become familiar with the Scuola Leonardo da Vinci via the internet and am very interested in this possibility. Has anyone had personal experience with this school or know of anyone who has?
Once again, thanks for taking the time to help a fellow traveler.

Hi WisdomSeeker,

My wife (second-generation American) was also raised in an Italian-American community in Mississippi - in the Shelby area. Many of her experiences with Italian mirrored yours. Interesting!

Hi Wisdomseeker,

With your background I think you'll find very rewarding going further in learning the language.

Do you need to stay in Milan to attend language school? I find that attending in a smaller city is much more conducive to practicing the language outside the school.

Ach - that should have been contractions, not conjunctions. Bloody English language. At least we only have one word for "the."

You might also look into the Societa Dante Alighieri, which is based in Milan. I took a 6-week course in the Rome branch many moons ago. It was "Italian for Foreigners" and no English was spoken, as there were people from all over the world in the class.

At the time, like you, I had some knowledge of Italian and the "Italian only" format was excellent. You are really forced to listen and learn.

If there are courses that suit your time frame, I'd recommend your looking into it. Buona Fortuna.

I have a good basic knowledge of the language thanks to my personal love of the country of my birth and my sweet little Italian Mama>>

sounds good. if you decide to go to a school, the first thing they do is to give you a little test, and probably talk to you too, in order to grade you. if you want to be able to gauge your level in advance, many have their own on-line tests which you can take and be graded before you go. some also have very good on-line information - the school in Venice is one of these.

http://www.istitutovenezia.com/en/

I considered it for my trip and fodorite caroline_edinburgh [who has moved to Venice with her husband] is studying there now.

I ended up going somewhere a lot smaller, which had its advantages and disadvantages, as I set out in my TR. If I could find the right school, [the one I wanted was booked up] Bologna seems to me to have a lot to recommend it.

Greg - Which language school did you attend in Bologna?

>>>most places are geared for courses that last at least 2 weeks, and for beginners it's compulsory.<<<

Most places allow you to take a week only. Beginners in the lowest level can also take just a week if they start on week one of a typical session (all will have course dates listed on their websites).

If you are a sole female traveler I recommend La Accademia Lingua Italiana Assisi. Here is their website... http://www.aliassisi.it/en/courses/training-courses/

I attended La Accademia for a month 10 years ago. Assisi is an incredibly beautiful and safe little hill town that is pedestrian friendly and easy to navigate. We return often just to relax and take in the ambiance.

La Accademia can assist with lodgings. We also have friends who run a little hotel and restaurant there if you would be looking for a family type environment.

I hope you are better learning Italian than I!

A piu' tardi.