Here’s a quick update on the situation with the Italian evening classes at our language school in Bologna:

The A2 (pre-intermediate) started yesterday (17/01/22) and runs on Mondays and Wednesdays at 18.00-21.00 C.E.T. There’s space in the group if anyone would like to join us!

The B1/2 (intermediate/upper-intermediate) class, which was scheduled to begin this evening and will run on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 18.00-21.00 C.E.T. HAS BEEN POSTPONED A WEEK, so will now start this time next week, on Jan. 25th. Again, there’s still space in the group.

The reason for the postponement was the usual these days – someone in the assigned teacher’s family tested positive, so rather than use a substitute we decided to wait a week for the ‘all clear’.

We’re also hoping to open other levels, for example beginners and advanced, if there’s the interest. Contact Us

The three-week (18 hour) ‘module’ starting next week will end by February 3rd, after which there will then be three further modules, each also lasting three weeks (18 hours), from February 7th to February 24th, from February 28th to March 17th, and from March 21st to April 7th. (MENTALLY ADJUST THOSE DATES FOR THE CLASS STARTING A WEEK LATER!)

Those dates, and other information, can be consulted on our Italian Evening Courses page.

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

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

And for those of you who are not available to study in the evenings, C.E.T.?

Another option is to take one-to-one Italian lessons online. 

Find out more by following these links:

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

P.S.

Looking for a way to maintain or improve your Italian while traveling is so difficult?

EasyItalianNews.com publishes simplified Italian news bulletins (text plus audio), three times a week. They’re completely free!

To subscribe, just enter your email address on this page, then look out for the ‘please confirm’ email.

That contains a link to click to verify you wish to receive the ‘easy’ Italian news bulletins via email each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. If you don’t see that email, check your spam/junk folder!

Italian Courses | EasyItalianNews.com

From next week (Jan. 17th 2022), we have two Italian evening classes starting at our language school in the center of Bologna.

They are:

A2 (pre-intermediate) on Mondays and Wednesdays, 18.00-21.00 C.E.T.
B1/2 (intermediate/upper-intermediate) on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 18.00-21.00 C.E.T.

We’re also hoping to open other levels, for example beginners and advanced, if there’s the interest.

The three-week (18 hour) ‘module’ starting next week will end by February 3rd, after which there will then be three further modules, each also lasting three weeks (18 hours), from February 7th to February 24th, from February 28th to March 17th, and from March 21st to April 7th.

Those dates, and other information, can be consulted on our Italian Evening Courses page.

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

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

And for those of you who are not available to study in the evenings, C.E.T.?

Another option is to take one-to-one Italian lessons online. 

Find out more by following these links:

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

P.S.

EasyItalianNews.com publishes simplified news bulletins (text plus audio) in Italian, three times a week, and they’re completely free! There’s no better way to maintain or improve your Italian, especially for students who are not currently able to travel…

To subscribe (there’s no cost), enter your email address on this page, then look out for the ‘please confirm’ email, which contains a link to click to verify you wish to receive the ‘easy’ Italian news bulletins via email each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. If you don’t see that email, check your spam/junk folder!

Italian Courses | EasyItalianNews.com

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

This is just a quick, last-minute reminder that the 20% discount offer on 2022 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.

Save 20% now!

Then, no more emails for a while!

Buon Natale!

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

P.S.

Make 2022 the year you get serious about learning Italian…

Go here to get your 20% discount!

Stefi and Daniel, along with all of the teachers 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 2022, 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 2022 Italian course.

• Save a fifth on any group Italian course, of any length, starting in 2022!
• No need to decide the dates now – just let us know the period you want to study when you’ve decided
• TODAY IS THE 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: 2022 Italian Course Offer: Save 20% From Today!

Stefi and I will be eating lunch with her parents and our kids, just the seven of us, rather than in a cousin’s restaurant together with the whole clan, as in pre-pandemic times.

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: info@madrelinguabologna.com

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

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

There are just thirty-six hours left to take advantage of the ‘best offer of the year’!

So, in case you’ve been too busy to read your emails, here’s a summary of what you’re missing:

• save 20% on your next Italian course at our school in Bologna
• the discount is good for any GROUP course (not for individual lessons)
• you can start your Italian course on any date in 2022
• your saving applies to courses of any length – the longer you study, the more you save!
• you DON’T need to decide the dates, or the length of your course, right now
• just let us know once you’ve finalized your plans
• secure your 20% discount by sending a deposit, via Paypal or bank transfer, by midnight on Dec. 25th!

And here’s the summary summary:

• take two minutes to pay a small deposit by midnight on Christmas Day & save €€ on your 2022 Italian course!

As the kids say, this is a no-brainer.

But you’re probably pretty busy right now, right?

So here are step-by-step instructions on exactly what you have to do.

It’s a low-stress process that’ll take just minutes, promise.

Ready to go?

1. Click this link to visit our ‘How to book your Italian course’ page
2. If you’re not sure when in 2022 you’ll be coming, skip the booking form and go directly here
3. Click ‘Add to Cart’, then ‘Proceed to Checkout’
4. Fill in the form with your details
5. Choose your payment method – the ‘Paypal’ option includes credit and debit card payments
6. That’s it – see you in Bologna in 2022!

P.S.

We have real people ready to help you, or answer your questions about our Italian courses.

Just e-mail Stefi on info@madrelinguaitalian.com – she’ll sort you out with whatever help you need!

Even on Christmas Eve – try us!

Save 20% Now!

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

The ‘best offer of the year’ on 2022 Italian courses at our school in Bologna, Italy ends in 48 hours or so.

A two-week Italian course, which normally costs EUR 495, is just EUR 396 with the 20% discount.

What’s EUR 396 in real money?

• USD 448
• GBP 336
• AUD 624

*I worked these out myself using the most recent Euro foreign exchange rates listed on the European Central Bank site. But hey, I teach languages not math, so do double-check. And the rate your credit card provider, or Paypal, gives you is GUARANTEED to be worse…

Naturally you’ll have to add in the cost of accommodation (not much) and your flight (depends where you start from..)

But when all is said and done, you could be giving your Italian a major boost, and enjoying a great holiday in Bologna (home of Europe’s oldest university) for relatively little.

And to confirm your 20% discount, all that’s required is a deposit of EUR 120!

By midnight on Christmas Day.

No need to decide the dates of your course yet – just let us know when you know…

But don’t miss this chance to lock in the best saving of 2022!

Pay the EUR 120 deposit NOW to confirm your 20% discount.

More information on this offer.

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

Pay the EUR 120 deposit NOW to confirm your 20% discount.

Have you saved 20% on your 2022 Italian course, yet?

If not, well perhaps you still have some questions?

Our FAQ should deal with a lot of them – read Frequently Asked Questions.

And do check out these reviews from former students.

Our Tripadvisor page is also worth a look.

What if you STILL have doubts?

Why not email, phone or even visit us?

Our reception staff speak excellent English.

We’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 2022 Italian course!

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

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

Full details can be found in last Monday’s article: 2022 Italian Course Offer: Save 20% From Today!

The deadline to save 20% on your course is midnight on Dec. 25th.

That’s Saturday night.

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.

Let us know the dates later, once you’ve finalised your plans.

Today, all you need to do is to lock in your saving with a small deposit.

And you’re done!

Save 20% on your 2020 Italian Course

A domani!

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

Pay the €120 deposit / Save 20%!

(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