Learn Italian in Italy?

Do you know where you are going? It might help people recommend a specific school if you said what city/cities you'll be near.

Either way, if you're on a tight budget you could probably find someone on the couchsurfing site who would be down with bartering some English language conversation for some basic Italian conversational skills. Extra bonus: you'll have someone who knows the area well to talk to.

Barbara, the Italian Consulate in Montreal used to give Italian lessons, and perhaps still does, and if I wanted to pursue that in Italy I would contact the Consulate. Is there a Consulate in Vancouver or Victoria where you could inquire re this? If not, call the Embassy in Ottawa.

Barbara,

I've also considered studying Italian for a couple of months in Italy, and in my research so far I've found there are LOTS of schools in various parts of Italy. I probably won't be able to pursue this until I retire, but this is always a recurring item that comes up when I'm planning trips to Italy.

You might have a look at www.linguasi.it/en/ or www.it-schools.com/ for examples of some of the language training schools in Italy.

Buona Fortuna!

Why not learn some Italian before you go to Italy and spend your time seeing Italy and practicing your Italian by interacting with locals instead of sitting in a classroom? I've used Rosetta Stone software and it will give you a very good jumping off point with your Italian. When conversing with locals, I have found them more than willing to help me when I am at a loss for the right words.

hi Barbara, the two Universities for Foreigners (Universita per Stranieri) in Perugia and Siena are well-established schools running accredited courses for foreigners from around the world. While they offer regular semester-long courses for serious students, they also have one-month courses and summer courses. You learn very quickly as it's an immersive environment. They sometimes offer scholarships for foreigners through the Italian Institutes of Culture or Italian embassies. Best to check with the embassy on the options.

IMHO rather than spending a week in Italy taking classes, do what a previous poster suggested and learn in advance and then practice when you're there. My personal opinion, a 1 week course isn't going to make that much difference in what you can say or understand and a week of your time is better spent exploring the country and culture. If you have more time that's a completely different story; given 3 or 4 weeks you could probably see a noticeable difference in your language ability.

Wow, we have been to Italy /Sicily at least a half a dozen times, and I would never waste any precious moment I had....... to take a language lesson.

There is just so much to see and experience, and the people are so wonderful!

I don't worry about it. I just stumble thru, with a big smile on my face, and do a lot of arm waving. Sooner or later some sort of comprehension, between the two parties, occurs.

I study on the plane trip over, and promptly forget all that I learned.

There is an excellent guide that you can read for free online called 'Language School Secrets' (.com). The writer was an agent in the past, booking students into language schools. He has some unique ideas on how you can choose schools and how you can book in a way that your tuition fees will be discounted. Its a good read and the info would definitely be relevant to Italy (its a free pdf).

I don't see any problem learning Italian in Italy! Indeed, learning the language with a total immersion in a native-spoken environment helps the learning process a lot. Two issues with your idea, though: (1) One week is not really effective for any meaningful learning. You need at least a month-long course. (2) Don't choose a big city with many tourists and foreigners. Go to a place like Camerino, Urbino or else where Italian, not English, will be your real language of communication.

Um, guys, this is a zombie thread from over two years ago. Presumably Barbara is fluent in Italian by now. :-)