(Seen this email before? I sent it on the same day last year. But nothing much has changed since then, so we’re using it again!)

This week I’ve published articles about ‘Why learn Italian?‘, ‘Why Study Italian in Bologna?‘ and ‘Why Study Italian at Madrelingua?‘

Today then, I’m assuming that you’ve already decided to learn Italian, that you’ve picked out Bologna as an appropriate destination, and that you’ve selected Madrelingua as your choice of Italian language school.

Brava!

Or ‘Bravo!’ if you’re a guy.

If there’s two of you, and one’s male, that would be ‘Bravi!’

‘Brave!’ if you’re twin sisters and make this type of decision together.

Anyway, having decided to study and where, naturally you might be wondering what to expect from your Italian course.

So that’s today’s topic.

But, as it’s been a busy week, I’m planning to cheat a little and, rather than try to cover everything in one article, link to lots of things on the school website that you might find helpful.

For example, this article from way back in 2014:

‘What should I expect on my first day at your Italian school?‘

Liked that?

There are LOADS of articles in a similar vein in our archive ‘Best Articles About Learning Italian‘.

Suppose you’ve done your background reading but still can’t quite visualise yourself, sitting in a language classroom in the center of historic Bologna?

Check out this webpage with pictures of our school and its immediate surroundings.

Still got questions?

Hah! That’s why we have a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page.

Personally I’ll always read the FAQ when I buy something, though perhaps that’s just me.

Plenty of people just email us with their questions.

Yesterday (actually ‘yesterday’ a year ago when I originally wrote this) somone from Israel phoned. Yes, we speak English. No, not Hebrew, sorry!

Here’s how to contact us.

That’s it for today – short and sweet, as I’ve still got to write my speech for this afternoon’s staff Christmas lunch.

A domani.

2020 Italian Course Offer – Save 20%!

Get your act together this week to save 20% on 2020 group Italian courses in Bologna!

• The ‘Winter Offer – 20%’ course deposit is just €120 instead of the usual €150…
• … which ‘locks in’ a saving of 20% on the whole price of your course!
• N.b. This offer is good for group courses, not individual or online lessons
• Your course can be of any length, from a week to a year!
• No need to decide the dates now – email us when you know
• As every year, this offer ends at midnight on Christmas Day. But why wait?

For more information:

Save 20%! | Italian Courses | Prices | How To Book | FAQ | Contact us

(Seen this email before? I sent it on the same day last year. But it’s just as true now, perhaps more so, so we’re using it again…)

The 2020 Italian Course ‘Save 20%!” offer proceeds, with a good number of people from around the world having already paid a small deposit to lock in a great saving on their next Italian course!

The more-organised ones, I suppose.

Yesterday I wrote about why Bologna is a great place (maybe the best!) to study Italian.

So today, in all modesty, let’s consider which school to choose in Bologna.

Madrelingua is a member of the national association of Italian Schools, ASILS, as you can verify by clicking through to their website.

And as you will see there, two other Bologna schools are also members.

Both are respected and valid associates.

Either is worthy of your consideration.

So what makes OUR school, the newest of the three, actually, the final choice for a lot of students?

Perhaps it’s the price?

We’re neither the most expensive, nor the cheapest.

Though from a marketing point of view, that’s a perilous position to be in.

Maybe it’s the fact that we have the ugliest website?

I’m a great believer in home-made marketing tools.

ANYONE can have a nice-looking website – just throw enough money at a graphic designer – but it takes time and patience to put together something that looks like it’s run by a bunch of (sniff) ‘language teachers’.

Besides the website, one reason people sign up to study Italian at Madrelingua is because my wife, Stefania, valiantly answers the phone and responds to emails seven days a week, three hundred and sixty five days a year.

On any given Sunday afternoon, a potential student might be pondering the search results chucked up by Google and, at a loss as to which to choose, decide to shoot off an email to all of the schools they see in Bologna.

An hour or so later, despite it being the weekend, they get a reply, patiently answering their questions. (Try it!)

What else?

Tomorrow, by the way, is our staff Christmas lunch.

It’ll be at the end of the morning on the final day of teaching before the Christmas/New Year holiday, which is the