Dear students,

In accordance with the latest national and regional regulations (https://www.regione.emilia-romagna.it/notizie/primo-piano/ordinanza-regionale-in-emilia-romagna-nuove-misure-anti-assembramenti), all our courses will be carried out online, at the same day and time as always, starting from Monday 17 November until 3rd December.

To participate in your course, email us BEFORE YOUR LESSONS (at the address info@madrelinguabologna.com) so that we can send you the link and all the details. We will record presences and absences as normal. We are sorry, but given the new rules we are not able to offer alternatives to online teaching, such as for instance the suspension of your course or a refund.

Ci vediamo online al più presto!

The Autumn/Fall session of Italian evening classes in Bologna reaches its midpoint! If you’ll be around our city for a while longer yet, why not join us to improve your Italian?

For anyone working or studying here, taking two evening lessons per week is an ideal way to improve your Italian. It’s also a great opportunity to make new friends, and so speak Italian socially (while maintaining social-distancing, of course!)

We’ve got two continuing groups: an elementary/pre-intermediate (A1/A2) class, which runs each Monday and Wednesday evening from 18.00 to 21.00, along with an intermediate group (B1/B2) at the same time and on the same days.

NEW though, is a BEGINNER class, which will run on Tuesdays and Thursdays, starting from Tuesday 17/11/20. Join us, if you can!

However, what if you can’t make the evening classes, or are a long way from Bologna? Well, there’s always the option to take personalised individual lessons, even online, via Skype!

Or you could plan ahead… our Italian courses page has details about standard and intensive Italian courses (which are still running, though realistically, we don’t expect things to get busy again until the spring…)

Find out more:

Bologna | Italian Courses | Prices | FAQ | How To Book | Contact Us

P.S.

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The editor is Stefi, owner/receptionist/teacher at Madrelingua. The news broadcasts are recorded by her son, Tom.

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The Autumn session of 2020 Italian evening classes in Bologna has begun. Why not join us to improve your Italian?

We’ve got three groups, an A1/A2 (elementary/pre-intermediate) which began last week on Monday 28th of September, a B1/B2 (intermediate/upper-intermediate) which starts this evening (Monday 05/10/20), and a C1/C2 (advanced), programmed for Tue/Thurs 18.00-21.00 but not yet confirmed.

Our usual maximum group size is ten, but due to the necessity for social-distancing, especially in enclosed spaces, we’re limiting the numbers in each group to between five and seven, depending on the size of the classroom – that way we can make sure everyone stays at a safe distance!

Students’ and staff body temperatures are measured on entry, liquids are available so everyone can disinfect their hands, and mask-wearing is, of course, obligatory at all times students/visitors are in the school building.

Classrooms are cleaned (table tops, the backs of chairs, door handles etc.) before a new group enters to begin their lesson, and the date/time of the cleaning is recorded on a sheet affixed on the classroom door. Do check!

If you’re working or studying in Bologna, taking two evening lessons per week is an excellent way to improve your Italian, while making new friends.

If you’re not sure which class is right for you, please contact us to arrange a test. And if we don’t have a place for you right now, not to worry – the evening class modules are just three weeks long (18 hours of lessons in total), so we’ll book you in for the next one instead!

But suppose you’re not available in the evenings, or a long way from Bologna right now? Other Italian course options include:

• Individual lessons in the school at a day/time to suit you
• Online Italian lessons, wherever you may be in the world!
• ‘Full-time’ study, each morning from Monday to Friday
• ‘Intensive’ courses of up to thirty hours a week!

To find out more:

Italian Courses | Prices | FAQ | How To Book | Contact Us

P.S.

Have you subscribed to EasyItalianNews.com, yet? It’s free, and by doing so you’ll receive simplified news bulletins in Italian three times a week, which is an excellent way to maintain or improve your Italian, especially for anyone who is not currently able to travel.

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Those of you who are in the Bologna area over the next few weeks or months and are interested in improving your Italian will want to know that Madrelingua’s Italian evening classes are starting next week and the week after, according to the level.

We’ve got three groups scheduled:

• A1/A2 (elementary/pre-intermediate) Mon/Wed 18.00-21.00 from 28/9/20
• B1/B2 (intermediate/upper-intermediate) Mon/Wed 18.00-21.00 from 05/10/20
• C1/C2 (advanced) Tue/Thurs 18.00-21.00 from 6/10/20

If you’re working or studying in Bologna, taking two evening lessons per week is an excellent way to improve your Italian, while making new friends!

Join us, if you can, on Monday 28th of September or the week after on Monday 5th October / Tuesday 6th of October. If you’re not sure which class is right for you, please contact us to arrange a test.

But suppose you’re a long way from Bologna? No worries! On the Italian courses page of our website you’ll find details about standard and intensive Italian courses. Perhaps you could start planning your next visit?

Besides the group courses, we offer personalised individual lessons, and these can be done online. To find out more:

Bologna | Italian Courses | Prices | FAQ | How To Book | Contact Us

P.S.

Subscribe (for free) to EasyItalianNews.com and you’ll receive simplified news bulletins in Italian three times a week, every week!

It’s an excellent way to maintain or improve your Italian, especially if you’re currently unable to travel to Italy.

Enter your email address on this page to receive EasyItalianNews.com bulletins, directly in your email inbox, each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday!

Or click here to read/listen to the most recent bulletin of ‘easy’ Italian news.

If you’ll be working or studying in Bologna this coming academic year, you might be interested to know that the dates for the 2020-21 Italian evening classes are now live on the school website.

Attending two evening lessons per week is a fantastic way to improve your Italian without taking time off from your job or university course, while making new friends to practice with!

Click here to find out more.

But what if you’re not in Bologna yet?

Then check out our Italian courses page to choose from standard or intensive Italian courses, or personalised individual lessons.

And for those who definitely won’t be able to come to Italy in the 2020-21 academic year?

Well, there’s always the option of studying Italian online!

Thanks to the magic of Skype video calling, you can take an online lesson, or lessons, with one of our team of experienced Italian teachers no matter where you are in the world!

To find out more about the various ways Madrelingua Italian Language School can help you improve your Italian:

Italian Courses | Prices | FAQ | How To Book | Contact Us

It’s September, and finally the uncomfortable heat of August is abating here in Bologna. The mercury has fallen ten degrees, so the city is once more coming to life, its streets filling with traffic, shoppers, and crowds of giggling teens enjoying the sunshine and each other’s company, savouring their final days of freedom before the schools open again on the 14th. Just like any other year, in fact.

After all the drama, things in Italy seem normal once more. Aromas waft from pizzerias and restuarants as you pass, ‘aperitivos’ are being served, these days mostly to people sitting at outside tables, even the museums and galleries are open. And there’s no need to queue!

But of course, with borders closed all over the world, and transport options limited or costly, it’ll likely be a while until Bologna is as alive with foreign visitors as it has been for the last few years.

Madrelingua has been open throughout the summer, teaching small group courses (not more than five or six students per classroom, carefully spaced apart and all wearing masks), along with the occasional individual student. Some of our teachers are working normally, some are still at home, waiting for things to pick up.

Most of those learning Italian with us right now are Europeans, for obvious reasons. But we JUST CAN’T WAIT to see our friends from the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South America, and all the other countries our students hail from.

Come back soon – we miss you!

Italian courses in Italy or online | The school | Bologna | Contact us

Given the way the Covid 19 situation has impacted people in countries around the world, you won’t be surprised to hear that our Italian school in Bologna suffered a wave of cancellations and people leaving before they had finished their courses.

Then we were closed, by order of the Italian government, and then we were stuck at home in lockdown for several months. So there wasn’t much we could do about the school.

But now, well it seems the world is perking up a little, or at least Europe is. The school is open again, and we have classes running, and students!

So it seemed like a good time to take a look at our Terms and Conditions, with a view to making sure the various legal bits and pieces were still appropriate to a world dragging itself through a pandemic.

And in fact, they weren’t really. So I’ve tweaked them a little. If you paid a deposit for an Italian course in the past, but never came to study with us, for whatever reason, virus or otherwise, then you’ll want to know about this.

The bit that I wasn’t happy with was in section 4. Cancellation or postponement of Italian language courses (click here to view the whole thing):

Students who cancel an Italian language course at least 10 days before the beginning of the course will be refunded the full cost of the course… less the deposit of €150, which will be considered lost.

That part is fine, sorry. We try to make it very clear to people who pay a deposit for a language course that it is non-refundable (for example on this page and in the T&C.)

Non-refundable deposits are common in many industries, and we rely on people to turn up when they say they will (we have obligations to our staff, and to other students.)

HOWEVER, what we do IN PRACTICE, when anyone has a problem, can’t come when they expected to, or whatever the situation is, is to say, look don’t worry – come some other time. We’ll hold your deposit as a credit!

After all, it’s in our interest that students actually come, take a course, learn Italian and go home and tell their friends what a wonderful time they had in Bologna. We’re not in the business of profiting from the small print.

A few lines down in section 4. Cancellation or postponement of Italian language courses, though, there was this:

…the school reserves the right to issue a credit equal to the value of the part of the course not used. Such a credit can be used as payment for a future Italian language course. Any such credit must be used within 12 months from the moment it is issued. Credits may not be transferred to third parties. Credits not used within 12 months will be automatically considered void and no longer valid.

Well! That seems rather mean, don’t you think?

I’m sure there were good reasons why I wrote it that way, years back, but it isn’t the way we’ve actually been doing things. If you paid a deposit, or started a course but didn’t finish it, we’re almost always happy to agree a credit for a future course, and would be disappointed if you chose not to use it.

It must be said, too, that in these uncertain times a second wave could engulf any of us, any time. People are understandably wary about making plans right now, so dissuading them with punitive clauses seems foolish.

So this is the revised version, with the parts I added highlighted in bold:

…the school reserves the right to issue a credit equal to the value of the part of the course not used. Such a credit can be used as payment for a future Italian language course. Any such credit must be used within 12 months from the moment it is issued, except at the discretion of the school. Credits may not be transferred to third parties, except at the discretion of the school. Credits not used within 12 months will be automatically considered void and no longer valid, except at the discretion of the school.

You can see I was feeling lazy. But what does that mean, ‘except at the discretion of the school’?

It means that we’ll ensure that whatever you paid, towards or for your Italian course, is available to you or someone you know to actually use to learn Italian at our school. If you paid a deposit years back and had been thinking that you lost your money, well no. Come and do a course. What you paid will count towards it.

If you choose to book a course and pay a (non-refundable) deposit now, and then, right after, get hit by a second wave, we’ll still be here when your lockdown ends. Don’t worry, as long as you still intend to come and study Italian with us, you won’t loose anything.

OK, and what about refunds? It’s a subject that has come up a few times over the past few months.

There are three situations in which we refund payments. The first is for people who need a visa to study in Italy. The consulate (not us) insists that they pay the entire cost of their Italian course in advance. That same consulate may then refuse the visa application anyway. For this reason, we commit to refunding the full cost of the course paid in advance EXCEPT for the deposit (there’s a lot of work involved in helping people apply for visas.)

The second situation, as mentioned in section 1. of the T&C, is if you book a course, turn up on the appointed day, and through no fault of yours, we do not have the minimum number of students at your level (which we often don’t know in advance, though we try to find out.)

Rather than put you into a class that is too easy or to hard for you, we’ll open a new group, just for you, or for you and up two other students – our minimum is four. Because of the cost implications of running an additional, smaller class with below the minimum number of students we need to pay the teacher etc., our solution is to shorten the length of the daily lessons, so you might study for 2.5, 3 or 3.5 hours (just 1, 2 or 3 students in your mini-group), instead of the usual four. And if you’re not happy with that option? We’ll repay everything, including your deposit.

Bear in mind that we take bookings from people sometimes a year or more ahead, so this is how we can PROMISE we will have a class for you, no matter what your level is. Most people are fine with that, as a smaller class means much more speaking time, which compensates for the fact that the lesson is shorter each day. I’m not sure we’ve ever had someone ask for their money back on that basis, though it IS an option.

Situation no. 3 is what the T&C describes as ‘serious illness, death in the family’. One time we had a student who had such a nice time with us that upon leaving he paid four (!) deposits, probably maxing out his credit card, and promised to come back shortly but this time with his wife. Then he went home and died. A few months later the widow got in touch and we refunded her the whole amount.

What about situation 4? You were planning to come to Italy and study, you paid a deposit, but now your plans have changed, for one of a thousand reasons, but usually virus-related.

There isn’t a situation 4. You have our sympathy. The same thing happened to us. We booked a holiday, had to cancel, lost our deposit. I was not at all happy.

But non-refundable means what it says – we have staff who are furloughed, we have rent to pay even though our revenues are close to zero, and we have obligations to stay in business for students who DO plan to come and study with us, who have also paid a deposit. Repaying everyone who paid a deposit would close us down overnight, and that’s not going to happen, so why would we give in when people bug us and threaten?

Sure we can’t persuade you to come to Bologna and learn Italian? Your deposit payment won’t expire.

Perhaps when the world is back to normal you’ll reconsider?

We hope so!

N.b. If you have paid a deposit previously but have your plans on hold for now, why not fill in our course booking form and so let Stefi know (even provisionally) when we can expect to see you? Later this year, maybe? Or in the spring. It would really help us to have some idea!

And it your plans change? No worries. As long as you let us know in advance that you can’t come when you specified… except at the discretion of the school, remember? The deposit will still be valid for when you CAN come.

What about those of you who are new to Madelingua? Well of course we’d love to see you! As I wrote above, we’re open, and plan to be open all the way through the summer, however hot it gets.

Below are some links to get you started:

Italian courses | Prices | How to book | Contact us

With apologies to everyone who is still locked down, or is currently in a country that has travel restrictions to or from Italy. We’ve been there. We feel for you!

And of course, we’re very sorry if any of our former, or future, students are currently, for health reasons, unable to travel.

For the rest of you, though, this might be a GREAT TIME to book an Italian course in Italy!

Here’s why:

• Classes are smaller than usual (we have to ensure social distancing), which means you get more attention from the teacher, and more time to speak!
• Bologna’s shops, museums and places to eat are open as normal, and have been for a while now. And with the local council having suspended the tax restuarants and bars pay to put tables outside, al fresco dining is a thing!
• The weather is lovely at the moment (that could change… July and August can be very hot.) September and October are predicitably warm and sunny. November’s misty, but not too cold. Just saying…
• Like everywhere, tourism in Italy has taken a huge hit from Covid 19. Which means that there are likely to be bargains to be had when it comes to booking flights and accommodation. Why not take a look?
• In short, Bologna is still Bologna. Just without the crowds! What’s not to like?

Worried about infection? Take a look at how we’ll keep you safe while you study: Covid 19: How we’ll protect you during your Italian course

And we have a new page on our website (currently useful mainly to students from England): Covid 19: Can I travel to Italy to study and return home safely?

Tempted? Then check out our website to begin planning your Italian course in Bologna:

Bologna | Courses | Prices | Accommodation | How to book | Contact us

For anyone working or studying in Bologna, or who is once more able to travel (borders are opening up, at least here in Europe), Madrelingua’s Italian classes will be starting again from next week!

‘Standard’ and Individual Classes

We have three ‘standard’ classes planned from June 15th 2020, A1 (beginner/elementary), B1 (intermediate) and C1 (advanced). These will involve studying each morning from Monday to Friday, the minimum period being just a week.

We’re hoping to confirm the groups and select the teachers by this Wednesday. If you’d like to join us (with strict social distancing, masks, temperature checks etc.) do get in touch. Find out more!

We’re also now in a position to organise individual or personalised classes at the school. You won’t be surprised to hear that, opening up after a three-month lockdown, we have classrooms and teachers in abundance. This could be a great moment to organise yourself a one-to-one or small group course, in a professional language school with experienced teachers. Find out more!

Evening Classes

Also from June 15th, we’re hoping to begin our Italian evening classes once more.

Two evening Italian lessons a week is an effective way to improve your Italian without having to take time off from your job or studies. As well as of making new friends to practise with!

We have the nucleus of an A1 (beginner/elementary) group and a B1 (intermediate) class. Neither is yet confirmed, though we hope to do so by Wednesday. If interested, please reach out to us. Find out more!

Online Classes

What about if you definitely won’t be able to come to Italy in 2020? No worries! There’s still the option of learning Italian online.

We use Skype video calling, meaning that you can take an online lesson with one of our team of experienced Italian teachers no matter where you might be in the world. Find out more!

Italian Courses | Prices | How To Book | Contact Us | FAQ

Just to let you know that Bologna still has no confirmed cases of the corona virus and, although schools and universities will remain closed until at least Saturday 7th March, museums and so on are set to reopen.

Life here is much as it always is, though the streets are a little less busy and it’s slightly easier to get a seat on public transport. Like most businesses, Madrelingua will be open as usual this coming week, though with fewer students than we would like!

Many thanks to those of you who have confirmed that you will be joining us on Monday, and above all to the students who have stuck it out with us this last, rather stressful, week. We appreciate, and will not forget, your support.

For students who have booked a course at some future point, clearly there is a lot of uncertainty as to whether your visit to Italy will go ahead as planned. Anyone wishing to modify the dates of their course, or postpone it indefinitely, should please contact us to let us know. Of course, we will be happy to hold your deposit as part-payment for a course at another time.

A presto!

Daniel and Stefania
Madrelingua Italian Language School
Bologna