Kathleen_DiPaolo

There is a blog re: the ABC school, but I'm wondering if anyone else out there has had a more recent experience at a school in Florence,,,,,really would appreciate any input any of you have!
Kat

annhig

sorry kat, i looked at Florence when I was looking for a language school last year, but ended up at one in southern Tuscany, at a town called Orbetello.

one of the reasons was that there were so many schools in Florence, I couldn't sort the wheat from the chaff. i ended up e-mailing a number of schools, and making a short-list of the ones that sent me the most helpful replies, from which i made my final choice.

Golfergal

I haven't been there, but there are some good reviews of ABC school on Slowtrav.com. The other two popular ones on that forum are Koine and Michelangelo. There is a whole FAQ on Italian classes too. Lots of people recommend not going to Florence for language classes because English is so widely spoken. Since I am going alone, I chose Florence since I know I will be comfortable there and not worrying about whether I like my surroundings. Siena and Lucca are other towns that people rave about for language classes.

Good luck!

annhig

Lots of people recommend not going to Florence for language classes because English is so widely spoken.>>

surprisingly few, when i was there last year, actually, golfergal. i stayed near santa Croce and deliberately stayed away from the most popular tourist destinations. i went into little local shops, and avoided big chains and names like the plague.

hardly anyone spoke to me in anything but italian-and very kindly tolerated my approximations to it.

good luck with your trip!

PRLCH

We did the ABC Language school for 2 weeks, so that is all I can comment on. My review can be found here http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ool-review.cfm

kawh

my husband did a 5 day beginner's class in florence last summer with Koine. these are his thoughts...

very good instructors -- particularly Moira--

small classes -- there were 6 in the intermediate class and i was the only beginner. therefor, instead of a 4 hour group class, i had 2 hours of individual instruction. i would have preferred that they had let me know ahead of time that this was the case.

there were no excursions included in the class... (when i did the following week with Koine in Bologna, there were several excursions included.)

all in all-- i found the Koine class in Bologna to be more welcoming and helpful. better communication than Koine in Florence as well. (I feel that it very much reflects the towns--- Bologna being a more informal town than Florence-- with a more egalitarian feel.)
let me know if you have any other specific questions.
kawh

Seat_62

There are many good language schools in Florence, with many good teachers (which IMO is even more important than going to a 'good' school).

Scuola Toscana has been in existence over 20 years and is worth looking in to.

annhig

Seat 62 - you do know that advertising isn't allowed here, don't you?

kwah - i think that it is more common than you think that schools offer private lessons instead of group ones. it was pure luck that at the school i went to, all 4 of us were at roughly the same level; the week before someone had turned up with considerably less italian than the rest; she had private lessons til she caught up, which she did quite quickly i think.

although they give the impression that they carefully grade and select people, basically unless it is a very big school they take all -comers and then do the best they can with what they've got.

one of my reservations about some of the schools in Florence was that I couldn't really tell whether excursions were included or not.

yayoye

I do not work for Scuola Toscana. I do recommend them. I took 2 weeks of private lessons there last May after an exhaustive search of schools in Florence. They were very responsive to my needs and provided me with an excellent teacher. They took a lot of time to find suitable references for me to check before I registered with them. They ran excursions around Florence almost every day after class which were very interesting (in Italian of course) as well as some excursions outside of Florence on the weekend. I met a wide variety of students of many ages and from many countries. They were happy with the support of the school with finding accomodation for example. They all felt they were placed with a suitable group of learners. I was happy with my private lessons because the teacher was very flexible about the content of the course and was willing to have some of our classes out and about around the city to give me real life practice. And, most important, my Italian was much improved after the course.

annhig

I do not work for Scuola Toscana. I do recommend them>>

yayoye - i never said that YOU did. your lessons sound as if they were a great success.

Seat_62

annhig...the OP asked for anyone with recent experience and I gave it. I studied 4 weeks (6hrs a day) just over 2 years ago and now speak Italian. I chose Scuola Toscana because it wasn't full of young American kids with little interest in learning. Not very conducive to learning if you are stuck in a group who are only there because mom or dad paid them to get some 'culture'.
There are hundreds of language schools in Italy, but who wants to be stuck out in the back of beyond for a month when you could be staying somewhere like Florence?

annhig

Seat - 62 - if you'd said all that the first time, then i wouldn't have suspected you were advertising. when i looked at your profile, i found only two posts, both very brief and pushing companies with very little justification or background which is typical advertiser behaviour.

who is suggesting that the OP spends a month in the back of beyond?

Golfergal

annhig - You actually proved my point that you had to be conscience of avoiding places many places. I certainly didn't say that the whole city speaks English, but rather that in Florence as compared to many smaller towns, you may be more likely to find people who speak English and want to practice their English on you. I'm not saying you can't go to Florence and only speak Italian, just that the temptation may be there more so than smaller towns and one needs to make a commitment to speaking only Italian.

I was also clear it was other people's caution about Florence and clearly advice that I personally chose to ignore.

I'm also staying on Santa Croce area for the very reason you stated. I am committed to speaking only Italian and I hope I am as lucky as you in that all will be patient and only speak Italian with me.

annhig

good luck, golfergal. by and large i succeeded in speaking only italian in florence - it sometimes surprises me how many people in the little shops and restaurants don't speak english. not so in the centre around the Duomo and the major shops, but I'm not interested in them!

buona fortuna!