Italian language school

Ciao a tutti!
Don’t forget the preposition “a” (to) or I’ll have to give you an F.

Where in Italy?
There are Italian language schools for foreigners in most major cities, especially those popular with tourists.

My sister went to an Italian language school in Firenze and was there for 8 months. She loved it. Yes as Bay Area Firenze says there's schools all over. Which city would you like to spend a week in? Italy is your oyster and you can choose. Buona Fortuna.

I need to spend at least 6 months to a year in Italy to work on my Italian. Luckily I'm speaking it daily with my dad and he corrects me but alas sometimes he doesn't remember a word because of his dementia. Google Translate helps when he forgets. Ciao

Yes they are everywhere. That’s why I was looking for recommendations. I prefer northern Italy, Tuscany, Bologna, Venezia…. I want to study hard in the morning 4 hours or so.

Grazie Roberto. Ne non avevo mai sentito parlare prima. Wow. Mi dispiace … non mi ricordo mai di usare “a” con tutti. (Sei un harsh grader!)🙂

Just a personal opinion, but if I regret anything about attending a language school, it is that I picked a city where English was widely spoken (Siena) - it was just too easy to switch my mind back to English rather than continue to think in Italian.

Where I to do it again, I would probably look for somewhere less popula with tourists.

Good suggestion. Thanks

I enjoyed the Lucca Italian School (in Lucca, obviously). I'm hoping to return at the end of this September assuming Italy will have me. I liked that Lucca was a smaller city but relatively easy to travel to other places, either as a day trip or in between other spots on the itinerary. I think Italians are very patient about letting me practice my Italian and I felt this was even more true in Lucca (but agree with previous poster about not being tempted to go back to English). Maybe they are very accustomed to students or maybe it was just my imagination due to gained confidence after speaking Italian in class all day. You have a lot of good choices!

An English couple that I know moved from Scotland to Venice about ten years ago, and took an intensive course here:
https://www.istitutovenezia.com/

They still live in Venice. Also another friend did a one week course at the same school. Easy to get to, vaporetto to Ca’ Rezzonico and then five minutes walk.

Thank you, Kristin. I think also Italians studying English welcome the opportunity to speak English

Thanks, Aussie. I’ll check that out

I don’t have a school to suggest in particular. My wife went to the
Scuola Dante Alighieri in Florence over 20 years ago. I couldn’t go for work reasons, so she learned a lot mainly because she stayed with my parents (who spoke zero English) and I wasn’t around to be the interpreter so she had to struggle on her own to communicate with my parents. She told me she also made friends at the school and spoke Italian with them since none were American in her class (hard to believe in Florence).

As mentioned above, the risk in cities like Florence, Rome, Venice, etc. is that, given the fact many people speak English and also there are so many Americans and Britons in those places, you will end up making friends with anglophone people, and learn nothing because you will be speaking English all the time with them.

My suggestion would be to choose a small town that is off the radar for English speaking visitors. The smaller and more rural the place, the better. The trick to learn the language is to practice with locals who speak no English (like my parents in the case of my wife).

Absolutely right!! I looked at Il Sasso in Montepulcino for that very reason. Also, I found when I was in Florence many young Italians want to practice their English. Good advice.

harrinanan,

I stopped by the Italian language school in Assisi when I was there a few years ago, and it seemed to be a very professional and well run school. At that time they were offering in-person classes but it appears they mostly offer online classes at the moment. If you're interested, have a look at their website - https://www.aliassisi.it/en/ .

Buona fortuna!

Thank you, Ken. I will check that out

While still at home, you could also consider a remote Italian tutor online. They are much cheaper than an equivalent in the US. You can find one using the platforms below. They are highly rated.

www.Italki.com
www.preply.com
www.verbling.com
www.wyzant.com