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Madrelingua Italian Language School

Italian courses in the historic centre of Bologna, Italy, or online from your home or office!

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You are here: Home / Archives for Uncategorized

Up Bologna’s second highest tower to see Granny

March 21, 2018 by Daniel

Bologna, Italy, is famous for gastronomy.

But also for it’s towers.

The street where our Italian school is to be found runs down the right-hand side of San Pietro cathedral, and is home to two of them.

From classroom 1 at the rear of the building, where I’m writing this now, I can turn my head and look up at the twelfth-century Azzoguidi tower.

It’s sixty metres or so high, though rather squat and featureless, save for a small barred window near the top.

On a warmer day there’d be a damsel in distress craning her neck out as far as possible, looking in vain for a way down.

From the front of the school, you can look across to the flank of the cathedral.

Down at street level are the windows of the ‘sagrestie’, which seems to be a sort of dressing room cum dining room for the church’s staff, and is apparently home to several noted works of art.

Looking skywards from the window of classroom 5, there’s the ‘Campanile’ (bell tower), which looms above the cathedral.

At seventy-something metres, it’s supposed to be the city’s second tallest tower, after the perilous Asinelli tower.

Take a look at the picture below.

(Don’t see the picture? Click here to read this article on the school website…)

On the left you can see the Azzoguidi tower (the squat one), with the Campanile and the cathedral immediately behind it. The school is somewhere in between…

Rear view of Bologna's San Pietro cathedral, seen from the Asinelli tower

Photo: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bologna-San_Pietro_visto_dalla_Torre_degli_Asinelli.jpg

If you’re very lucky, as I was, you’ll chance across the Campanile when it’s open to the public.

There was a volunteer bell ringer, who told us the history and explained how the bells are rung.

Check out this video. It could have been taken by the same fellow.

You probably won’t understand much of what he says, but the views are worth it.

The male voice is saying something like:

“And there’s another church, but I don’t recall right now what it’s called. Oh and over there? Another church. Now what was that one called, again? It escapes me right now. And see that big church over there? That’s… um…”

Be patient until the two-and-a-half-minute mark and you can see exactly how the bells are rung.

For those who don’t have time for the video, the answer is ‘manually’, by a bunch of guys balanced confidently on ancient wooden beams running between a series of huge brass bells swinging in three-hundred-and-sixty-degree arcs.

It’s a bit like one of those video games when you have to avoid the axes swinging down in front of you, but seventy metres up in the sky, in a five-hundred-year-old tower, made of bricks.

The guide cheerfully pointed out a plaque on the wall of the bell-chamber.

It commemorates a young man who was looking the wrong way when the bells started swinging, and so was squashed flat.

Turns out Youtube is full of bell-ringing videos.

This one starts with nice views over the city. The ‘one-two-three-mind your head’ moment comes at minute 1:59. And after that? Bells ringing.

I’ve seen quite a few of these videos while writing this article, and so have become attuned to the nuances!

For example, this one begins with the bell-ringers gossiping while listening to a loudspeaker relaying the service from the cathedral seventy metres below.

You can hear the priests chanting in Latin in the background, while in the foreground the bellringers are recounting what they had for lunch and complaining about their wives’ halitosis.

Quentin Tarantino it isn’t.

But then, after about a minute, the bells start up.

Great! The bells are the stars in bell-ringing videos!

But not this time – it seems the cathedral service was a funeral.

So it’s DONG pause, DONG pause, DONG pause, and so on.

For six minutes!

According to our guide, when a priest dies, they ring a bell thirty-three times!

A bishop gets sixty-six.

And the Pope?

Ninety-nine, of course.

So now you know – Bologna is the place for gastronomy, but also for towers, and bells!

And Granny?

‘Nonna’ (Granny) is the name of the biggest bell in the tower.

She weighs about three tons, apparently.

Go take a look yourself one Saturday afternoon!

+++

Currently the Campanile is open only on Saturdays, between two and four in the afternoon.

Donations of at least five euros are expected, though given the views and the engaging guide, it’s more than worth it.

+++

For more information about studying Italian in Bologna

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

Filed Under: Uncategorized

2018 Italian Course Offer: Have you saved 20% yet?

December 22, 2017 by Daniel

Have you saved 20% on your 2018 Italian course, yet?

If so, you might want to take a look at this classic article from 2014:

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

If not, well perhaps there are still some questions in your mind…

Our FAQ should deal with a lot of them.

Read the Frequently Asked Questions

And be sure to check out these reviews from former students.

Our Tripadvisor page is also worth a look.

And if you STILL have doubts?

Well, why not email, phone or even visit us?

Stefi and Natalia, our reception staff, both speak excellent English.

They’ll be happy to take your call and/or respond to questions in an email.

Contact us

All questions answered?

All doubts resolved?

Then it’s time to…

Save 20% on your 2018 Italian course!

Thirty Italian-learners from around the world have already saved €€€ with this week’s ‘Best Offer of the Year’ promotion!

Why shouldn’t you be the thirty-first???

Full details can be found in Monday’s article:

2018 Italian Course Offer: Save 20% From Today!

The deadline to take advantage of this promotion is midnight on Dec. 25th.

That’s Monday, but why wait?

Get it done today, while you think about it.

It’ll take just a minute or two!

No need, even, to decide when, or for how long, you’ll be studying.

Just let us know the dates once you’ve finalised your plans.

Lock in your saving today with a small deposit, and you’re done!

Save 20% on your 2018 Italian Course

A domani!

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

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Last few hours to save 20% on Italian courses in Bologna

December 25, 2014 by Daniel

Hope you had/are having a very enjoyable Christmas Day.

This is just a quick, last-minute reminder that the 20% discount offer on Italian courses in Bologna ends in just a few hours.

At midnight Italian time.

That’s 9 a.m. on Boxing Day in Sydney, Australia but 11 p.m. this evening in London, 6 in the afternoon in New York, 3 p.m. on the U.S. west coast, and so on.

Wherever you are, it’s soon.

To take advantage of the year’s biggest savings, click here

You have been reminded.

Get it done.

Then, no more emails for a while!

Buon Natale!

P.S.

Make 2015 the year you get serious about learning Italian…

Go here to get your 20% discount!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Auguri di Buon Natale (& last day to save 20%!)

December 25, 2014 by Daniel

Stefi and Daniel, along with all of the teachers and support staff at Madrelingua Italian Language School, join to wish you, your family and your community:

‘Auguri di Buon Natale!’

We hope to see you at our school in Bologna in 2015, in particular all our old friends, but also many, many new faces!

‘Mille grazie’ to the many people who’ve already taken advantage of our ‘best offer of the year’ to save 20% on their next course.

The offer ends at midnight tonight (25th Dec.), so it’s still not too late to secure this great discount on your 2015 Italian course.

  • Save a fifth on any group Italian course, of any length, starting in 2015!
  • No need to decide the dates now – just let us know the period you want to study when you’ve decided
  • LAST DAY to get your 20% discount by paying a deposit of just €120
  • No more to pay until the first day of your course

CLICK THIS LINK NOW – it takes just seconds to pay your course deposit with a credit card or Paypal account.

Lock in your discount before the offer expires at midnight tonight. Go here to pay your €120 deposit.

Questions? Need more info?

Full details of this offer are here: I’m ready – tell me how to save 20% on my Italian course!

Stefi and I will be eating lunch with her extended (Italian) family in a cousin’s restaurant – these things tend to go on all afternoon.

But thanks to the wonders of smartphones, she’ll still be able to answer any questions you might have.

Contact her any time up until midnight tonight on: info@madrelinguaitalian.com

Or go here, now, to complete your deposit payment.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Don’t miss the CILS exam registration deadline next week!

April 23, 2014 by Daniel

If you need a push to improve your Italian, don’t forget the up-coming June session of CILS (Italian language) exams.

Registration ends at the end of April, which still leaves you time to look for cheap flights to Bologna and complete our extremely simple online booking process.

Take a look at these recent articles on why you might want to include an exam as part of your language learning:

  • An exam will help you learn more, faster (‘Force yourself to improve your Italian with these 6 psychological tricks’)
  • Taking an exam helps you measure your progress and set targets (‘What are CILS exams (and where might you take one)?’)

And don’t forget that if you take an Italian course at our school immediately before or after your exam date, we’ll discount your course by the cost of an A1 or A2 CILS exam (or equivalent amount if you’d prefer to take a higher level).

To turbo-charge your Italian studies and save €€ on your next Italian course, click here to visit our CILS page.

Remember, registrations for the June session of exams end a week today, Wednesday 30th of April.

More information on CILS exams in Bologna.

 

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Last chance to get your free Vermeer ticket – book today!

February 28, 2014 by Daniel

Take an Italian course in Bologna and see 'The Myth of the Golden Age' for free

Last day of our ‘Girl with a pearl earring’ offer!

The ‘Girl with a pearl earring’ offer ends at midnight tonight.

Book an Italian language course in Bologna for any time up to 11th April 2014, and your ticket to the ‘Myth of the Golden Age’ exhibition (just one street away from our school) is on us!

This offer applies AS WELL AS any other discounts you might find if you read our website carefully…

Full details of the offer are here.

Or contact us with your question(s).

But don’t hang about.

You have just 12 hours left to get your free ticket! [Read more…]

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When’s the best time of year to visit Bologna?

February 24, 2014 by Daniel

Why vist Bologna in March?

Why vist Bologna in March?

Well, anytime really.

There’s always lots to see and do.

Such as taking in the current ‘Girl with a pearl earring’ exhibition (see the special offer which ends this Friday).

However, we admit that Bologna doesn’t have the greatest climate in Italy (nowhere on the ‘pianura padana’ does…)

It can be uncomfortably hot and humid in July and August, and rather cold and humid during the winter.

So, if you’re planning on booking an Italian course, check out this page, which gives details of average minimum and maximum temperatures each month.

The words you need to understand the chart are: [Read more…]

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What’s the average age of people learning Italian at your school?

February 18, 2014 by Daniel

Madrelingua Italian School, Bologna

Study Italian in Bologna!

Would you feel awkard studying Italian in a class full of people who are much younger than you are?

Or perhaps you ARE one of those much younger people, and would hate the idea of being stuck with a bunch of retired folk?

Maybe that’s why “What’s the average age of people learning Italian at your school?” is a question we get asked rather often.

 

Sorry, we don’t know old our average student is…

It sounds rather evasive, but it’s true. We don’t know the average age of our Italian students.

Why? [Read more…]

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In Bologna? The Italian evening classes start again next week!

February 17, 2014 by Daniel

Italian evening classes, BolognaIf you’re not currently in or near Bologna, well… sorry to have disturbed you!

But if you ARE studying or working here, and need to improve your Italian in a hurry, you may be interested to know that the Italian evening classes restart again next week.

Are Italian evening classes right for you?

  • 2 evenings a week, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
  • classes planned for all levels (contact us for details)
  • lessons include grammar input and lots of opportunities to practice!
  • your teacher will help you prepare for a CILS exam in June 2014
  • minimum enrollment 1 module (3 weeks, 18 hours of lessons)
  • in 4 modules your Italian should improve a whole level
  • save money if you enroll immediately for 2, 3 or 4 modules!

Italian evening classes may be the only option if you study or work here in Bologna. But they also a good choice if you just prefer a less intensive experience.

And they’re a great way to meet people to socialise with during your time in Bologna.

Find out more about Italian evening classes in Bologna.

See all our Italian courses in Bologna.

Contact us

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Psst! Wanna see Italy? Start here!

November 22, 2013 by Daniel

Picture, I dunno, a tree.

Got an image of a tree in your mind? Brown trunk? Green bushy foliage.

OK, forget the foliage, as it’s almost winter. Bare branches then.

Your tree is Italy (makes a change from a boot, right?)

On the bottom left of the bushy part of the tree, where the leaves start (or will do, when it’s finally spring again), you have the border with France.

There’s a place called Ventimiglia (“twenty miles”) right there, on the border.

A little way along, on the underside of the tree at the angle with the trunk, there’s Genova.

And up from there, into the canopy, like a nesting bird, Turin. [Read more…]

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Madrelingua Italian Language School, Bologna, Italy

Madrelingua, Italian Language school, via Altabella, 11, Bologna, Italy

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© Copyright Madrelingua S.r.l. soggetta a direzione e controllo di Impariamo Holding Srl, P. Iva 02562811204 · All Rights Reserved ·
Via Altabella 11, 40126 Bologna, Italy · tel. +39 051 267 822 · info@madrelinguabologna.com