Where to study Italian?

I did ALIA (Assisi) for two weeks in April/May 2015. What kind of experience are you looking for? Are you starting from scratch? Is your intent primarily to learn Italian or to meet other travelers in a social setting where you have a common goal?

Hello Michael, My goal is to improve my Italiano and speak it with others. I am at the immediate level and recently took a month course at Lucca Italian School. It was a wonderful trip, however, I was not too impressed with the classes. Everyone spoke English and there was not sufficient grammar instruction. Every week new students entered the class and I sat through the same lesson a few times. The instructors did speak in Italian but I don't think many people understood them. However, we did take a few trips and I enjoyed Lucca. I am enrolling in Italian classes at a local college. My next trip to Italy I plan to attend a school where I will make more progress.

I stopped at the school in Assisi on my last visit there to check it out, but haven't yet taken a course there. I found the staff to be very professional and well qualified. They have different programs and I was told that only Italian is spoken in class.

I'm thinking of taking a course in Italy and the school in Assisi is definitely one that I'll consider.

They do indeed speak only Italian at ALIA/Assisi. They give you a test when you arrive to make sure that they put you in the correct level. (I was put in the highest level because I have been studying for more than 10 years. There were five of us in that class - two of whom were in over their heads.)

They stress a lot of grammar, with a good bit of homework. I was told that the intro level classes have a lot of students from China, paid for by the Chinese government as part of the their expansion of influence into European countries. That seemed to be the case from the glimpses I got at the other classes. ALIA has their own textbook that they developed. It's perfectly fine, albeit very heavy to lug around.

Assisi is a small town (stunningly beautiful) and the good thing that comes with a small town is that you will kind of get to know some of the locals if you go to the same places for meals. (I can recommend several restaurants and pastry shops.)

The school will arrange for lodging for you, and it can range from a tiny room looking onto a noisy piazza, to the large two bedroom apartment with full kitchen and washing machine that I was given. Probably 800 sq ft.

Siena, obviously, is much larger and there are SCADS of foreign students, mostly college age. Assisi seems to attract a broader age range.

Let me know if you have any specific questions.

Thank you Michael. Will I be with the same instructor and students for the duration of the class? Do you think the Assisi school is a better fitter for an older person?

Todi also has a language school. Lovely small town.

When I was at the school, they told me about the entrance exam that Michael mentioned to establish proficiency level. I've also been studying Italian for about 10 years, but was a bit worried about what level I might be assigned to. I suppose that's normal procedure though. Studying in a smaller town is appealing so that's one I"m going to look at more closely when I have the money. The "good bit of homework" is not appealing but I suppose that's normal too.

The problem with language schools in Italy is that they are likely to be attended by English speaking people like you, maybe from your very same hometown (don't discount that possibility, it really happened to people I know). Those English speaking school mates will become your friends, since we all tend to quickly comingle with people from our own country when abroad, and outside of the school setting where the teacher will force you to speak Italian, you will be hanging around with them speaking English.

So it doesn't really matter which school you attend, as long as you manage to make Italian friends who speak no English and hang out with them. If you can find accommodations living with an Italian family even better.

I recently spent a month at the Istituto di Michelangelo at Firenze, attended by people from all over the world. I was in the advanced course and sat through grammar instructions I had already learned at Italidea in Chicago. I think you are setting yourself up for disappointment if you continue to look for a school that will give you the degree of language skills you seek.

It's better to see these schools for the brilliant work they do in bringing people together from all over the world, ostensibly to learn the language yes, but it's far more exciting to learn the realities of their lives back home, like the two brothers whose father saved to support them in Italy all summer to avoid life in a family home with no electricity, the young college girls with no bed to sleep in back home take refuge in the Italian language schools.

These schools offer a variety of sleeping and living arrangements. They serve a social function at their orientations, meet and greets, art and cooking classes, nighttime visits to ristoranti, and tours of the countryside. Michelangelo walked, bussed, and trained us all over Tuscany! LOL! I can still see one of my teachers climb the hills of Siena in Birkenstocks! He was the Guide and the only one upright at the end of the day! LOL!

In other words, these language schools are a home away from home, it's home base. You always have a place to go for WiFi, to meet up with others, and you will make lifelong friends from everywhere! And learn something about the Administrative mentality of the driving force of these schools. They know what they are doing and you will have more Fun if you go with the Flow!

I'd do as Roberto says, get with an Italian family and make good friends with them, let them teach you conversational Italian. Be sure they invite you back time after time. I know gals who returned to Michelangelo just because their host family invited them back time after time. They had a real home to go to out in the wider Firenze community! And went along with the family on their own excursions! And they stayed in touch year around! Can it get better?

So the experiences are endless! I learned more conversations from deli owners and shopkeepers who took time to teach us! I got more Love from strangers who extended a genuine interest in me. I celebrated my birthday at the school with a big cake from Conad City! We listened to a young student sing Puccini at his statue in Lucca! And another young gal dance opera in her native costume along with hand instruments!

So I'd go for the wider learning experiences these schools afford you. Given the nature of language, you won't get its nuances in a classroom anyway no matter where it's at.

Sandra thank you for your lovely post. I did have some memorable experiences and met some very interesting people while I was in Lucca. I did speak Italian with the locals and met two Italian women who worked in the hospitality industry. They took me and another woman on a tour of Cinque Terra and spoke to me in Italian. Also the other woman was very interesting and we exchanged numbers. I quess I have to look at the big picture. Roberto was right in his post. I will consider staying with an Italian family since l felt a little isolated in the apartment. However, being an older woman, I am a little reluctant. Thank you all for the replies. I will keep you posted.

Don't be reluctant my friend. I'm 71 and the women I talked about who lived with local families are all middle-age! They grieved at departure because the children cried!! The families loved them like their own. I lived alone in an apartment as well, but would not do that again.

Thank you! Now I have to decide whether to go to Assisi or Todi. I did not find any reviews for the school in Todi. Does anyone have any information about it? Which town could be a good fit? They both sound wonderful. I have visited Assisi but only spent a few hours at two of the famous churches. Also I would like to visit in the warmer weather. What do you think about a June visit? Thanks again for all your help!

Assisi would be lovely in June. You will likely be with the same instructor the whole time, as well as the same students. My concern with Assisi is that you might end up in a class with only students from China. They might stick together outside of class, leaving you socially on your own. There won't be any way to know who the other students will be until you show up.

As for the "living with a family" thing, that can be a roll of the dice. I have a friend who did that (can't remember which town/city) while attending a language school and the family wanted nothing to do with her. They were clearly hosting a student just for the money. But it certainly has the potential to be a wonderful experience.

I don't know Todi at all, but feel confident that it would not have the same tourist influx as Assisi.

Todi is the site of a number of study-abroad programs for US universities. I think from the standpoint of a language student, that would have more negative impact than the constant influx of day-trippers to Assisi.

One thing I suggested in another thread was checking out the possibilities for side trips from each possible study site. If you're only in class for part of the day and are studying in a small city, you'll probably run out of local things to do long before your class ends. How many neighboring towns can you get to by bus within about 60 minutes from Assisi vs. Todi?

As for the "living with a family" thing, that can be a roll of the dice.

That makes me think of my older son who spent 4 weeks in Nicaragua doing immersion Spanish. He was supposed to stay with his tutor. When he walked up the path to her front door, her son emerged carrying a toilet. He said: "Don't worry, everything will be fine!" My son decided to check himself in at the little hotel at town that charged $15.00 a night, including breakfast.

This was his first trip to Central America that he did without any assistance in arranging lodging, transportation, etc. He was a little apprehensive. The morning he was to catch the bus to return to Managua to catch the flight home, he found the town square filled with agitated townsfolk. He asked someone what was going on. They said: "Haven't you heard? Your country invaded Iraq last night!".

I wouldn't go to a language school in a small town or remote area where you had to bus or train out for entertainment. If there were problems with the family or the class, there'd be less recourse available to make things better.

I'd always choose a city and a school with lots of class options. And I know Michelangelo at Firenze would remove a student from any family that wanted nothing to do with her, but that's Florence and they had other families, and even if you had to live alone, the school had so many class options and so much going on socially and culturally with all kinds of get-togethers and day trips, that you'd still be highly involved and happy. And if Michelangelo didn't have a family for you, they would tell you. They also had the option of sharing apartments with other students; i know people who did this and loved it.

Even if you found yourself alone, Florence doesn't care, its magic and beauty still available to you for the price of a bus ticket, cabs are cheap there, or walk it, it's not that big. Hop on hop off buses go up in the woods and hills and near major sites.

Michelangelo had an awesomely diverse student population with a major dominant South American presence. And They were the best students! Rumor had it in the halls of Michelangelo that hi-tech hotshot Japanese students dominated Rome's language schools and that they were so good at Italian language they were the leaders of the class there!

So yes all the comments and precautionary tales above have merit. I'm thinking that a city and good school will give you good experiences.

Hi Sandra: Checked out the Micaelangelo school and liked that they have an art program. Do you know anything about it? I was thinking about going in June for Italian and three afternoons of art. I would rent a studio through the school for a month. Thank you for your help.

Yes a famous art program. I didn't do the art myself but a large tour group from Australia attended the art program for the month I was there and they loved it.

I'm so excited for you. Michelangelo is well organized with smart caring Administrators. And the students are smart and loving. We still keep in touch. I know you probably know Florence and Tuscany very well, but I don't know of a finer language school.

BTW, the Italian Institute of Chicago recommended Michelangelo to me, out of All the schools in Italy.

Sandra, loved all the info on the Michelangelo Institute as that is the school I have been interested in attending with a friend. Are the living arrangements that the school provides located close to the school? We are a little nervous about taking a chance on the living arrangements and are considering finding an apartment on our own.

Well the Istituto di Michelangelo rents out very nice apartments that are built right inside the school with their own inside stairways and everything. Some of my classmates stayed at these apartments and loved them! They have apartments for singles and couples.

I was assigned to an apartment on the corner of Via della Mattonaia and Borgo La Croce. I was on third floor (American count), it's the second floor in Italy as their main floor is Zero. A very nice large apartment, furnished, comfortable. Cost me 900 Euro for a whole month. It had WiFi and fans. It was across from the Monkey Bar which went until 4 AM. Florence night life takes over the street so I don't remember getting much sleep on that corner! LOL!

My Landlady was cool. They came one day to show the apartment, her whole family and several potential tenants, and they all surprised me with my summer shirt up to my waist and no panties on! They couldn't stop laughing, made a special point to invite me back via email, and I survived!

The only complaint I heard about a school-appointed apartment was from an Australian who said it was hard on her to climb to the fourth floor, that'd be third floor Italian count. But she liked the apartment! Another gal did say that her first school-appointed apartment didn't have WiFi and that she asked the school to move her to an apartment with WiFi and they did that for her and she was happy.

Michelangelo is at Via Ghibellina 88, 50122, near Via dei Pepi, and as far as I could tell, all apartments were located on that same near east end of Florence center. Some closer, some farther from the school, but all within walking distance of each other and the school. I had two different tiny buses I could board on my corner, and I did at times, but Florence is walkable and that's what people do, they walk Florence and I walked it plenty. The bus cops do board these tiny buses and fine people without validated tickets, so be prepared.

You can share your living preferences with the school. All landlords are screened and selected by the school, so we don't have to do that. The school wants its students happy and comfortable. And they're always watching!

When I was there, an American woman died in her apartment but nobody knew her name. The Administrators and teachers stood at the door until All American women students were accounted for! Another time my teacher took a group of us on a historical tour that passed my apartment and so I ducked out to use my toilet. LOL! I heard about that for days after!

Thanks Sandra! I feel better now about renting through the school. You are a wealth of iniformation!

I've attended language school twice in Italy (and once at the Lucca Italian school), and although I've enjoyed the experiences, I would be reluctant as well to return to a classroom situation. You could request one-on-one instruction, which of course would cost more, but would obviously be tailored to your level, and you would not have to listen to other students struggle. I did that once to supplement the classes. Or, you could consider a home stay (which has been mentioned). Here's a link to a homestay program that I know about, but have not yet used: Studentessa Matta Homestays. Good for you for wanting to deepen your understanding of Italian!