Today I’m republishing an article originally called ‘How Italian courses for adults aren’t like high school French’.
If you remember it from the first time, scroll down to the end to get to the part about saving 20% on your 2017 Italian course in Bologna.
But if you’re new around here?
Well, you might want to read on.
Find out HOW we’ll help you learn to speak Italian!
Remember studying languages at school? This is different!
I studied French at school.
Several times a week, for what always seemed like forever.
Remember that cliched scene of a surging crowd of noisy children finally released from the tedium of school work?
That was us.
I started at the age of around nine, and endured studying a foreign language until I was permitted to give up at the age of sixteen.
Do I speak French now?
Of course not.
But I have fond memories of our French teacher, who once grabbed my ear and twisted it painfully.
She regularly lamented my horrible French pronunciation in front of the class.
Without, so far as I remember, giving me any clear idea what I should do about it.
Thirty years have passed and now I own an Italian language school, which specialises in courses for adult learners.
Clients include university students and young people, but also professionals – business people, teachers, the occasional diplomat or sports star – and many, many retired people.
They choose to study Italian at our school in Bologna because Italian is a great language and Bologna is the ideal place to study it.
But mostly because someone who had already learnt Italian with us told them that they should try it.
Clients who’ve learnt a lot of Italian at our school come back, again and again.
And they tell their friends!
For this to happen, we ensure that our Italian courses for adults are absolutely NOT like my French lessons at high school!
Here are some thoughts on that:
- Our success depends on your positive response to what we do and how we do it. And on the improvement in your Italian as a result of the time and money you invest. Obviously, not every student will easiy reach their goals, and we won’t be able to please everyone all of the time. But we do our best!
- Your teacher is trained to teach adults. She (it’s usually a she) does that every working day of her career, so there’s no reason for her to talk down to you, and every reason for her to be encouraging and supportive.
- Your Italian classs will have a maximum 10 students, so you can count on plenty of opportunities to speak, and you can expect feedback on the mistakes you make (but in a positive, encouraging way!) The other students will be from various countries and should have approximately the same level in Italian. Hopefully, you’ll make friends, and so have people to practice speaking Italian with, both inside and outside class.
- Grammar’s important in Italian, but we don’t fill class time with boring, repetitive exercises. Homework is optional – we set it because it may help you consolidate your learning and progress faster. Whether you do it or not is completely up to you. Oh, and we understand you want to learn to SPEAK and UNDERSTAND Italian, which means you’ll need plenty of opportunities to interact in Italian during class time. We’re on that.
- Speaking of speaking, the ‘lingua-franca’ of our school is Italian, not English. We don’t do English-language medium Italian lessons because we believe they’re counter-productive (and because not all our students even speak English.) You’ll be studying in Italian from the first minute of the first lesson.
- Learning happens outside of class too. For example, the ‘coffee break’ is not just a break but a chance to chat in Italian with students and teachers from other classes, all together in the local coffee bar. The same is true for the regular social activities we organise – you and your class can see the city, drink wine, visit a museum, eat out – but it should always be in Italian!
- Finding your class hard-going, or way too easy? Talk to your teacher first. And if you get no joy with her, try the Director of Studies (the teacher’s boss), who’s there to make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible. One or the other of them will be able to help you. We might, for example, suggest changing to an easier/harder class.
- Most days there’ll be a tutor available in our library to help you with your homework (you’re not expected to sweat over it alone!) You can also ask the tutor for extra speaking practice, or to go over things you didn’t quite understand from your lessons. He/she is usually a university student or teacher-trainee gaining the experience needed to graduate.
And if your Italian pronunication is not up to scratch?
Don’t worry – we won’t twist your ear!
+++
A few days ago we had a good review on our site.
It was from Paul (Thanks Paul!)
As he put so much effort into writing it, I thought it was worth republishing here.
It works as a sort of P.S. to the article above.
I have been a student at Madrelingua twice, for three weeks in 2015 and for two weeks in 2016. As soon as I boarded the plane to leave Italy—and Madrelingua—I began scheming to come back. Studying at Madrelingua is easily the best language learning experience I’ve ever had—and I’ve had many, mostly boring and mostly not terribly successful. The teachers at Madrelingua are full of energy and are clearly concerned for their students’ success. The office staff could not possibly be warmer and more helpful. The teaching assistants, drawn from the University of Bologna, are as engaged and available as the permanent teachers..
But there’s more. The students are fun. Spending hours together, speaking an unfamiliar language in a beautiful city is a bonding experience. Madrelingua tries hard to help students get to know one another through social events that are scheduled almost every day. I remember each of my fellow students fondly.
Finally, the formal education itself is wonderful. The classes are small and the emphasis is almost entirely on conversation. There is, of course, attention to grammar, but grammatical structures are immediately used in conversation. These alone—the small classes and the emphasis on conversation—make Madrelingua very different from my previous language learning experiences. I cannot recommend Madrelingua highly enough. There are simply not enough stars. To study a gorgeous language, in a beautiful city, with talented and committed teachers and staff is a privilege and a joy.
Read more reviews on our site here.
Or if you’ve studied at our school, why not write your own?
Also, check out what people have written about Madrelingua on Tripadvisor.
Save 20% on your 2017 Italian course!
The ‘best offer of the year’ promotion is ON, and people are already saving €€€!
Full details can be found in yesterday’s article:
Best Offer On 2017 Italian Courses – Starts Today!
You have until midnight on Dec. 25th to save 20% on your 2017 Italian course.
But why wait?
There’s still shopping to do, and a turkey to baste!
So get this done now, while you think about it.
It’ll take just a minute or two.
And there’s no need to decide now when, or for how long, you’ll be studying at our school.
Which keeps things simple, doesn’t it?
Just let us know when you’ll be coming once you’ve finalised your plans.
All you have to do TODAY is to pay the special, reduced deposit of €120.
That will lock in an unbeatable 20% saving, not just on the deposit but on the whole cost of your 2017 group Italian course, however many weeks you stay:
Pay the special ‘Save 20%’ deposit NOW!
Click the link above.
Add the product to your cart.
Proceed with the payment (Paypal, credit card, bank transfer.)
And that’s it – you’ve saved 20% on your 2017 Italian course!
Need help?
Email Stefi on info@madrelinguaitalian.com
(or just reply to any email you receive from us, including this one.)
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