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

Since our seasonal offer began, 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’ two years 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 the kids are back from college and I’ve meals to prepare and dishes to wash.

A domani.

2022 Italian Course Offer – Save 20%!

Act this week to save 20% on 2022 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 two years ago. But it’s just as true now, perhaps more so, so we’re using it again…)

The 2022 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 optimistic ones, I suppose.

On Friday 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?

Thursday, 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 only period of the year when we close (though Stefi still answers the phone and replies to emails!)

It’s traditional at these events for the boss (that’s me) to stand up and make a speech, the contents of which must include heartfelt thanks to everyone for their hard work, self-sacrifice, and so on.

We’ll all drink too much wine, Secret Santa gifts will be exchanged, and the company credit card will take a hit when it’s time to pay the bill.

Everyone then winds their way home to sleep it off – another Christmas lunch over and done with, nothing very remarkable having happened, little being different from similar events attended in many previous years (OBVIOUSLY THIS IS NO LONGER TRUE – THIS HAS BEEN A REMARKABLE PERIOD!)

Mostly it’s the same faces each time – Stefi and I, and our team of permanent Italian teachers: Francesca, who’s in charge, Paola, Giula and Angela, but also whichever of the regular or more-occasional freelancers happens to be available and up for a free pizza – Giovanni, for instance.

Many of them have been with us since the early days.

Paola was, I recall, the first ever ‘permanent’ employee we hired (a daunting and complex process under Italian law). Francesca came not much later, a refugee from a competitor, then Giulia, all fresh-faced and just starting out after uni (now she’s a mum, and complaining about a mid-life crisis!)

And freelancer Giovanni was MY Italian teacher (at a competitor school) twenty years back, before we’d even considered opening Madrelingua, which was started in 2005.

And here we all still are!

Between you and me, and leaving aside that I still have to write the speech for the Christmas lunch, the staff certainly have SOMETHING to do with the school’s success.

It can’t be just the fantastic marketing…

I’m just not sure what it is, exactly.

It’s not so much that we have permanent teachers, which in theory should lock in experience and lead to ‘better’ teaching.

Neither is it that the teachers have decades of experience – and not between them, either – each!

I’ve worked in other schools with permanent staff who’ve been there for years, and many of them haven’t given a fig (so to speak) about their clients.

It’s not so much that the teachers are particularly talented, compared, say, with other Italian teachers in other schools.

Nor that they are necessarily any kinder, or more interesting.

I just think it’s that each and every one of them, in some small way, views their job as to actually CARE about the students who study with us.

So they know their names, where they’re from, and why they’re learning Italian.

And they DO THEIR BEST to help clients reach their goals, whatever those may be.

This work of ‘caring’ goes on week after week, year after year.

And as a consequence, time after time, former clients come back to study with us again – a second, third, fourth, or fifth time!

I’ll put that in the speech, I think. Though I’ll have to pretty it up a bit, and add some jokes.

Other reasons to choose Madrelingua for your Italian course?

Here’s a list – some points are trivial, but anyway:

• Check on Google Maps and you’ll see that we’re absolutely the most CENTRALLY-LOCATED
• Madrelingua is on the first floor of a historic building, right alongside the cathedral
• Every classroom has air-conditioning, which is vital in the summer
• We all speak English (though it’s better for you if we communicate in Italian)
• The school is a family business, run by an English/Italian husband and wife team. Got a problem? Talk to the owners
• And no, we DON’T offer ‘third age’ courses. We have a good mix of ages and nationalites and everyone gets along just fine

What else can I add?

People really do learn Italian, and to a good level, at that!

Assuming they stick with it long enough, of course.

In the end, it’s just a question of time – the human brain is programed to learn foreign languages, given the need and the opportunity.

The important thing is that you feel SAFE, comfortable and interested enough to keep at it, until the magic happens!

We want you to feel at home, but more stimulated, if you see what I mean…

(Read what students say about Madrelingua: Tripadvisor | Reviews on the school site )

2022 Italian Course Offer!

Just a reminder: this week, save 20% on group Italian courses of any length beginning in 2022 at our school in Bologna!

• Pay the ‘Winter Offer – 20%’ course deposit (€120 instead of the usual €150)
• That ‘locks in’ a saving of 20% on your whole course!
• This promotion is valid for group courses only, not individual or online lessons
• Courses can be of any length: the more you study, the more you learn!
• Don’t worry about deciding the dates of your course now – just email us when you know
• The offer ends at midnight on Christmas Day – 25th December 2021

For more information, check out these pages on the school website:

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

(Seen this email before? I sent it on this day two years ago. But Bologna hasn’t changed much since then, so I’m using it again for the current promotion.)

It must be said that Italy has a lot of language-travel destinations to choose from.

So why study Italian in Bologna?

Here are some reasons…

1.) History – 3000 years of it!

Ok, most of Italy has history going back millenia, not just Bologna.

But look at a map, look at the ‘Pianura Padana‘ (the rich, flat sediment of the River Po’s flood plain).

At a glance, it’s obvious that this place will have been inhabited since the earliest days of agriculture.

Before the modern era, in the middle ages, Bologna was one of Europe’s largest cities.

It’s said (depending on who you ask) that we have the world’s oldest university. Students have been coming here to study law, then medicine, for almost a thousand years.

Before that, Bologna was the Roman city of Bononia.

And back even further, to around a thousand years before the Christian era (so three thousand years ago!) this place was an Etruscan city, known as Felsina.

Suffice it to say, Bologna is a very OLD city, and one that people have been coming to to learn for a good chunk of recorded history.

(Find out more about Bologna on Wikipedia.)

2.) Easy to get to

OK, here’s a little quiz for you.

On Tuesday 18th December (two years ago, this is an old article…), Bologna Marconi ‘Aeroporto di Bologna’ was expecting arrivals from these international airports (excuse the occasional Italian spellings):

Alicante, Amman, Amsterdam, Bacau, Barcelona, Berlin, Budapest, Brussels, Casablanca, Chisinau, Copenhagen, Craiova, Dubai, Eindhoven, Frankfurt, Istanbul, Kiev, Krakow, Lisbon, London, Lyon, Madrid, Marrakech, Moscow, Munich, Paris, Prague, Seville Sofia, Suceava, Tenerife, Timisoara, Tirana, Valencia, Vienna

Bet you can’t tell me (without checking on the Internet, as I had to) which countries ALL those places are in??

There were also flights arriving from these rather far-flung Italian destinations:

Bari, Brindisi, Cagliari, Catania, Lamezia Terme, Palermo, Roma, Trapani

A bonus point if you know where all of those are. I didn’t.

You’ll notice there are no international arrivals from the USA or Australia?

That’ll be because the really long distance flights arrive at the hub airports of Milan and Rome.

But not to worry – there are fast (and inexpensive) trains to Bologna from just about everywhere.

And travel times, in these days of high-speed trains, are amazing!

Milan (1.01) is just an hour and a minute away, for example, while Rome (2.15) is only two and a quarter hours these days.

Talking of trains, once you’re here, if you fancy a day trip to Florence (0.34), Venice (1.27) or even Naples (3.15) – well, why not?

In short, Bologna is an excellent base for exploring Italy. Read this article I wrote years back: Psst! Wanna see Italy? Start here!

Or this one: 6 (cheap) day-trips from Bologna by train

(The train times quoted are from the Trenitalia website. Use it to plan your weekends!)

But maybe trains aren’t your thing?

So rent a car!

Interstates (U.S.A.), motorways (U.K.) – Italians call them ‘autostrade’ – leave Bologna in all possible directions.

3.) Not too big, not too small!

Bologna is Italy’s seventh largest city.

Which, in my opinion, makes it just about right.

Not too big, and yet not to small, either.

Students stay within walking distance of the school, which is nice.

And you can get around easily on foot, or hop on a bus, or rent a bicyle.

Green hills are visible from many places in the city. The countryside is just a few minutes walk away.

And yet it IS a city, still, with more or less everything that you might need…

4.) Lots to do (and eat!)

We run a language school, not a tourist information service.

But if I ever change role, I won’t be short of things to promote.

There’s Bologna’s world famous gastronomy, dozens of museums, a modern art gallery, a choice of theaters and movie houses, live music venues, street markets, and luxury shops.

Plus churches, piazzas, porticoes, and so on.

This is a medieval walled city, though the walls are mostly gone now. It’s laid out like a wheel, with spokes going out from the central piazza.

If you have an idle moment, just follow one of the spokes and gaze around you as you walk.

When you get out to the city gate (which marks the boundry of the old town), walk around the main road and come back in on a different ‘spoke’.

Each quarter is different and there’s so much to discover. Plus, walking is cheaper and more fun than going to the gym!

Monday: Why Study Italian at Madrelingua?

2022 Italian Course Offer!

Until 25th December 2021, you can save 20% on group Italian courses of any length beginning in 2022 at our school in Bologna!

• All you need to do is to pay the ‘Winter Offer – 20%’ course deposit (€120 instead of the usual €150)
• The deposit guarantees you a saving of 20% on your whole course!
• This offer applies to group courses only, not to individual or online lessons
• Your course can be of any length: the more you study, the more you learn!
• There’s no need to decide the dates of your course now – just email us when you know
• This promotion ends at midnight on Christmas Day – 25th December 2021

Click here to Save 20%!

Or visit the school website:

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

(Seen this email before? I sent it on this day two years ago – there was no offer last year because of the pandemic. But people liked it, so we’re using it again!)

But WHY do you want to learn Italian, rather than, say, wasting away your days in front of Netflix?

It’s not such a silly question.

Learning a language is, after all, a major undertaking. It can take months, or even years, to get to a level at which you can hold your own in a conversation.

And you’ll need to wrap your head around all sorts of unexpected complexities – irregular verbs, gender, unpronounceable words, and many more – all waiting to snag you and impede your progress.

So why bother? Why learn Italian at all?

There’s the obvious answer, and then there are the not-so-obvious reasons.

For a lot of students of Italian, it’s probably a combination of things that drives them to keep studying and improving.

The obvious reason is that people speak Italian to be able to understand others and to express themselves in that language.

At Madrelingua we have students who have, for example, bought a holiday home in Italy, or have an Italian partner, or who simply love to visit or travel here.

There may be connected reasons, such as a love of art or opera, or plans to work or retire in Italy.

One common one is having Italian grandparents or more distant relatives, so therefore the desire to better understand your (linguistic) heritage.

But everyone in this category (and not everyone IS in this category) has some sort of recognisable NEED to learn the language.

If I improve my Italian, I’ll be able to understand people when they speak to me, and express my ideas in turn.

But there are a host of OTHER reasons for taking Italian courses.

There are, for example, people who enter retirement and realise they have additional time to fill.

Taking an Italian course is a way to meet people, sometimes no more than that. Perhaps you start a class simply because your friend is doing it and has suggested you come along.

That might be the (rather trivial) initial reason. But as I mentioned, mastering a language is a major undertaking.

It requires sustained effort, strong motivation, and decision-making.

It’s a little like climbing a mountain.

Which brings to mind the famous quote from early Everest climber, George Mallory, who took part in three expeditions but died on the mountain (decades before it was finally successfully summitted…)

Asked why he wanted to climb Mount Everest, he replied:

“Because it’s there.” (Wikiquote.org)

So for the sense of achievement, then.

To prove something to yourself?

Because it’s a challenge (unlike watching Netflix…)

I bet that’s a big part of it for a lot of people, even if it’s not always acknowledged.

You might start out with a beginners’ course before a holiday in Italy, but there’s a real danger (as with scaling a Himalaya) that you’ll get hooked and end up spending years on your quest!

And as you learn, something interesting happens.

Decades back I worked in Turkey as an English teacher and started to pick up Turkish, in bars mostly.

People I met used to tell me something like “If you speak one language you are just one person, but when you learn a new language, you become a new person”.

As well, presumably, rather than instead.

I guess the idea is that you gain new knowledge, but also different points of view, fresh perspectives on the world.

As you study grammar, learn to read, listen to new sources of information about the world, you gain another dimension to your self, along with everything that goes with that: friends who speak the new language, a sense of ‘belonging’, and so on.

It’s true: you really do become ‘someone new’.

Sort of.

There’s a final reason people learn languages, unrelated to any obvious ‘need’, and beyond the satisfaction of opening doors to the world outside your own head.

It’s got to do with the pleasure that can be had from achieving mastery of something.

Think, for example, of that corny ‘Kung Fu‘ TV series from the ‘seventies, featuring a monk called Caine with amazing martial art skills.

To get good at Kung Fu (presumably), you’d need to make effective use of your time, exercise self-discipline, and become more AWARE:

Master Po: Close your eyes. What do you hear?
Young Caine: I hear the water, I hear the birds.
Po: Do you hear your own heartbeat?
Caine: No.
Po: Do you hear the grasshopper which is at your feet?
Caine: Old man, how is it that you hear these things?
Po: Young man, how is it that you do not?

In short, first you have to learn to learn, whatever it is, whether a martial art or a foreign language.

Only then can you really begin to master the new skill.

And that process of learning that you CAN acquire new skills – and learning to do so more effectively – is liberating.

After much time, and much effort, you’ll finally figure out just how much you’re capable of.

2022 Italian Course Offer!

Save 20% on group Italian courses of any length starting in 2022 at our school in Bologna, Italy!

• Just pay the ‘Winter Offer – 20%’ course deposit (€120 instead of the usual €150)
• That guarantees you a saving of 20%, not just on the deposit, but on the whole course
• This promotion applies to group courses only, not to individual or online lessons
• Your course can be of any length: the longer you study, the more you learn!
• No need to decide the dates of your course now – just email us when you know
• Offer ends at midnight on Christmas Day – 25th December 2021

Save 20% today!

Or visit our the school website to find out more:

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

As I mentioned last week, December is the month when we run our popular ‘Best Offer Of The Year’ on Italian courses over the coming twelve-month period.

And the waiting is over!

Starting today you can save a full 20% on group Italian courses of any length starting in 2022 at our school in Bologna, Italy.

This is what you need to know:

• Pay the ‘Winter Offer – 20%’ course deposit (just €120 instead of the usual €150)
• You’ll save 20%, not just on the deposit, but on the whole cost of your course
• The offer applies to group courses only, not to individual or online lessons
• Your course can be of any length: the longer you study, the more you learn

Read more in our online shop.

This promotion runs from today until Christmas Day (25th December 2021).

But why wait? Start making your plans today!

1. Choose your Italian course and check the price
2. Check out flights to Bologna and accommodation
3. Read about our simple booking process
4. Then over to our online shop to pay your course / accommodation deposit
5. That’s it – you’ve saved 20% on your 2022 Italian course!

Of course, you may not yet know when exactly in 2022 you’ll be able to devote some time to improving your Italian…

No problem!

There’s no need to decide the details of your course right now. Pay the deposit to lock in your discount (this offer won’t be repeated for another twelve months.)

Then just send us an email with the start and finish dates when you’ve finalized your plans.

So, you’ll have some questions, I expect.

Write to Stefania, who’ll be happy to help you! Her email is: info@madrelinguaitalian.com (or reply to any email you receive from us.)

Here are some links to pages on our site where you can find out more.

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

The Christmas/New Year festivities are not much more than two weeks away!

But even that can seem like a long time if you’re waiting for Santa to come down the chimney with a jute sack over his shoulder…

To keep you busy then, we’ve scheduled our ‘2022 Italian Course Offer’ for the next fortnight!

You’ll be able to save 20% on group Italian courses at our school in Bologna.

Study for as little as a week, or as long as a year, at a fantastic discount!

You don’t even have to decide WHEN in 2022.

This is a busy period, after all.

Watch out on Monday 13th December 2021 for more details about the offer…

In the meantime, take a look at these articles about learning Italian.

For instance:

‘Why can’t I understand spoken Italian?’

and if you have time…

‘Ever wished for the super power of learning languages?’

There’s even…

Will an Italian course make me richer and more attractive?’

You’ll find more like this on our ‘best articles’ page.

Plus, Madrelingua also has a FAQ.

Suppose reading’s not your thing?

No worries!

Whatever you want to know about Italian courses in Bologna in 2022, just ask Stefi!

Ready to answer your questions!!

Just a quick announcement to all current, former and perhaps future Madrelingua students – our annual 20% discount promotion is coming soon!

The 2022 Italian Course Offer will begin on Monday 13th of December 2021, and end at midnight on Christmas Day, which is the Saturday of the week after.

During that period you’ll be able to save a full 20% on group Italian courses OF ANY LENGTH at our school in Bologna.

A lot of our regulars pay a small deposit during the annual December offer, then decide later, depending on their circumstances, when to do their course and for how long.

That’s just fine!

That way, there’s no need for you to spend time making definite plans during this busy period before Christmas. While we get an idea of how many people are interested in courses for the coming year, and can therefore more confidently plan staffing and so on

Anyway, there’ll be full details of the 2022 Italian course promotion on Monday 13th.

In the meantime, I want to alert anyone who is NO LONGER INTERESTED IN LEARNING ITALIAN that now would be the ideal time to unsubscribe from our email list, so ensuring that you won’t be bothered in future.

Articles that we publish on the school website (like this one) are emailed out automatically. But there will always be an ‘unsubscribe’ link, either at the top or the bottom, or both.

To remove your email from the list, just click that link and follow the simple instructions. It should take just seconds.

But if you are, definitely, still interested?

Remember, the offer doesn’t begin until Dec. 13th, so don’t go booking your course immediately (someone always does…), unless you don’t care about the discount, of course.

Instead, you could check out the Italian courses page on the website, look at course prices (remember to mentally deduct 20%), read the FAQ and, if you questions are not answered there, contact us.

My wife, Stefi, will be happy to respond to your email, talk to you on the phone, or welcome you if you decide to come by the school to take a look around.

Two final comments – firstly, anyone who has previously paid a course deposit but not actually come to do a course (perhaps because of the pandemic), absolutely need not pay again. Your deposit will remain valid. All you need to do is email the dates you intend to study. You could even do that now…

And secondly, what if you KNOW YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO DO A COURSE IN 2022 but still want to learn or improve your Italian?

Some of the school staff and teachers also work on other projects that might interest you.

For example, EasyItalianNews.com, which offers FREE audio + transcript ‘easy’ news broadcasts three times a week.

And of course there’s OnlineItalianClub.com, which features thousands of pages of FREE exercises and practice material, plus articles about learning Italian.

You could even take some Italian lessons online, without ever leaving the comfort of your home or office!

That’s everything, I think.

Buona giornata, allora.

P.S.

Don’t forget, if you’d rather not hear about the 2022 Italian course promotion, look for the ‘Unsubscribe’ link, at the top or bottom of any email you receive from us.

The Autumn/Fall session of Italian evening classes in Bologna is underway, so if you’re in our city, 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 the language socially.

We’ve got three continuing groups, all running from 18.00 to 21.00:

A1 (beginner/elementary) – Mon./Wed., 5 places left – new module begins Wed. 20th October 2021
A2/B1 (pre-intermediate/intermediate) – Tue./Thu., 4 places left – new module begins Tue. 19th October 2021
B1/B2 (intermediate/upper intermediate) – Tue./Thu., 2 places left – new module begins Tue. 19th October 2021

Plus there’s a group that will begin when we have sufficient enrollments:

C1/C2 (advanced) – Mon./Wed., start date to confirm

But what if you can’t make the evening classes, or are a long way from Bologna?

There’s always the option to take personalised individual lessons, even online, via Skype or Zoom!

Or you could plan a visit… our Italian courses page has details about standard and intensive Italian courses.

To find out more, follow these links: Bologna | Italian Courses | Prices | FAQ | How To Book | Contact Us

P.S.

Are you one of the over ten thousand five hundred students of Italian from around the world who have already subscribed (for free) to receive simplified news bulletins three times a week from EasyItalianNews.com?

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

Sign up here to receive the FREE simplified EasyItalianNews.com bulletins (text + audio) each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, directly in your email inbox.

Or visit the website and take a look around.

From next week (Sept. 27th 2021), we have two Italian evening classes starting at our Italian school in Bologna.

They are:

A1/A2 (elementary/pre-intermediate) on Mondays and Wednesdays, 18.00-21.00 C.E.T.
A2/B1 (intermediate) on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 18.00-21.00 C.E.T.

We’re also hoping to open other levels – anyone interested should please let us know!

Why not join us to improve your Italian? With just two evening classes a week, and taking advantage of the gloomy months from October to December, you could improve an entire level!

The three-week (18 hour) ‘module’ starting next week will end by October 14th, after which there will then be three further modules, each also lasting three weeks (18 hours), from October 18th to November 04th, from November 08th to November 25th, and from November 29th to December 16th.

Full details, including prices, are available on our website.

If you’re unsure which class is right for you, please contact us to arrange a test.

So what about those of you who are not in Bologna, or who are not free in the evenings?

To find out more about our other Italian course options, follow these links:

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

P.S.

Have you subscribed (for FREE) to EasyItalianNews.com, yet? It offers simplified news bulletins in Italian, three times a week (text plus audio). There’s no better way to maintain or improve your Italian, especially for anyone who isn’t currently able to travel to Europe, or as a supplement to your Italian course!

Enter your email address on this page and watch your inbox for the ‘please confirm’ email, which contains the usual link to click to confirm you wish to receive this free content each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday (if you don’t see it, check your spam/junk folder!)

Take a look around EasyItalianNews.com!

Italian courses at Madrelingua in Bologna have been running throughout the summer ‘in presenza’, so no longer online, but things have obviously been a lot quieter than in a non-pandemic year.

But now, with the cooler weather, the universities starting their academic programs, and the ending of the requirement for visitors from Britain to quarantine for five days on arrival (you’ll still need a ‘green pass’ or recent negative test), things are finally looking up!

On Monday 6th of September we have a number of new students arriving, and so will be restarting our (free, supplementary) afternoon tutoring slot. The hours for that will be from 5 to 7 p.m. and we have a fresh, new university student tutor to help you with your homework, and practise speaking Italian with (this is in addition to your classes in the mornings, obviously.)

And because we’ll finally have a decent number of people in the school (don’t worry – it won’t be crowded, we have four spacious classrooms and two smaller ones, which permits ‘social distancing’), we’ll be emphasising the chance to participate in social activities, with other students and the tutor, so as to make friends to speak Italian with.

These might include going for a drink (tables on the sidewalk, not inside), a visit to a museum (visitor numbers strictly limited), or a walk around the city. So your course is more than just the basic lessons, but includes chances to interact with other people outside of the classroom, if you choose to do so.

Check the ‘information for tourists’ on this page to find out what the rules are for travelers from your country.

Find out about Bologna here, look at photos of the school here, read articles about learning Italian here.

Italian course information is here, the prices are here, and this page explains how to book.

And here’s how to contact us, if you have questions, or need more information.

Covid protocol notes!

The rules designed to keep you (and us) safe change often, and it’s not always clear who they apply to… For example, for over a month, schools were open ‘in presenza’ but language ‘courses’ like ours still had to be held online. Someone just forgot us, probably. Italy can be like that!

For the moment, we’re allowed to teach classes, with actual students, in physical classrooms, as long as we follow the sanitation rules, which we understand to be:

• everyone, staff and students, has to wear masks when they’re in the building, though not if you go out for coffee with your classmates, for example
• we check your temperature as you enter in the morning
• you’ll need to sit at least a metre away from other students (we arrange the tables to make this possible)
• we discourage crowding in corridors, the entrance, the toilets, etc.
• the classrooms have to be well ventilated, which usually means leaving windows and doors open (how this will work in the winter, we’re unsure…)
• there’s hand-sterilisng solution everywhere
• the classrooms are cleaned after each use

N.b. It’s not yet clear if/when we will be required to check students’ ‘green passes’ or equivalent. Not everyone has them, yet.

Italian kids are due to go back to school in a couple of weeks, and there’s still a lot of debate about the hows and the whos of green pass checking – for the staff, but also for the children, many of whom won’t have had the chance to be vaccinated.

There’s also discussion about whether employers in sectors other than education will have to check their employee’s green passes, or not. It’s controversial!

Watch this space for further details, as they become available!