News about Italian courses, online lessons & CILS exams

Last few days for CILS enrollment and special offer!

April 28, 2014 by Daniel

CILS Italian language exams

This is a final reminder for anyone interested in taking a CILS exam in Bologna on 5th June.

Enrollments close on Wednesday 30th April, but not to worry: it takes just seconds to complete your enrollment and pay your exam fee in our online shop.

And don’t forget our special CILS offer for anyone planning on taking an Italian course in Bologna in the period immediately before (or after) the exam…

Choose Madrelingua for both your course and your CILS exam, and we’ll discount the course price by €40, which is the cost of the A1 and A2 level exams.

In effect, you’ll pay for your course, but get an A1/A2 exam completely free!

More about CILS Italian language exams here.

Go here to enrol for your CILS exam.

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.

What are CILS exams (and where might you take one)?

April 9, 2014 by Daniel

If you’ve studied foreign languages before, you’ll know that there are often exams available for the language that you’re learning.

Just taking a look at the most frequently learnt European languages, English has the famous TOEFL, plus a whole lot of other options, whereas if you’re learning French, there are DELF and DALF. The Goethe-Institut offers German language exams, and for Spanish, you could take a DELE test.

That’s not to mention, Japanese, Chinese, Russian, and so on.

But why would you bother? After all, it’s not as if taking a language exam is exactly a fun thing to do, right?

Well, that depends…

Why take a foreign language exam? [Read more…]

Force yourself to improve your Italian with these 6 psychological tricks

March 6, 2014 by Daniel

Sometimes the biggest issue with learning a language is not the grammar, the time required or even the cost.

For many people, the hardest thing is finding the motivation to actually study.

Getting started, and keeping going, are two of the biggest challenges when working towards a goal, even relatively simple ones.

And learning Italian is not simple, or fast, so the motivational challenges are formidable.

But hey, it needn’t be so hard…

You just need to cheat a bit.

Check out these six psychological tricks that you could employ to overcome the will-power hurdle, and so ‘force yourself’ to improve your Italian! [Read more…]

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

February 28, 2014 by Daniel

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…]

Italian language schools in Italy? Here’s what you need to know.

February 27, 2014 by Daniel

Take a course at an Italian school in Italy Learning a foreign language like Italian can be a life-transforming experience: your self-confidence will improve, and your view of the world, and your place in it, may change radically.

But there’s also no doubt that getting to the point where you’ll be able to speak and understand Italian can be a slow and frustrating process.

Which is why, sooner or later, you may find yourself considering whether you should take a more intensive course at an Italian language school in Italy.

Perhaps you would learn a lot, quickly.

But maybe you’d be better attending Italian classes in your home town?

Before you make up your mind, here’s what you need to know to decide if studying in Italy is the right option for you. [Read more…]

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

February 24, 2014 by Daniel

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…]

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

February 18, 2014 by Daniel

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…]

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

February 17, 2014 by Daniel

Italian evening classes, Bologna If 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.

Your chance to see Vermeer’s masterpiece ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ FREE!

February 8, 2014 by Daniel

See this painting in Bologna, for FREE!

‘La ragazza con l’orecchino di perla’ has come to Bologna!

The exhibition ‘Il mito della Golden Age’ (The Myth of the Golden Age) starts today, and guess what?

It’s just a street away from Madrelingua Italian Language School, at Palazzo Fava in Via Manzoni. Two minutes walk, max.

The exhibition features Vermeer’s masterpiece ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’, which is on loan from the Mauritshuis gallery in The Hague.

Its full title (translated) is:

The Myth of the Golden Age
From Vermeer to Rembrandt
Masterpieces of the Mauritshuis

Guess that means there’ll be lots of other great art to see, too!

You can catch the ‘mostra’ at any time from February 8th to May 25th 2014 (more details here), but…

How to get in FREE! [Read more…]

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