Prices from: was £350 now £315*

Finding your way through the winding, narrow medieval streets, the splendid squares and magnificent churches and walking along the banks of the gently flowing River Arno, you can capture the essence of the Renaissance city of Florence: its history, its charm, and its beauty, which is further enhanced by the flavours of one of the most famous cuisines in the world.

Among the most famous of the city’s landmarks attracting millions of people every year to visit the city are the Duomo with its bell tower by Giotto, the Church of Santa Croce, Palazzo Vecchio in Piazza della Signoria, Palazzo Pitti with its Boboli Gardens and the Palatine Gallery, Ponte Vecchio, the Uffizi Gallery, the Medici Chapels with the tomb of Lorenzo il Manifico, the Church of Santo Spirito, renowned for Botticelli’s Primavera, Michelangelo's David and the works by Titian - just to name a few.

To appreciate in its more modern outlook, one must, however, abandon looking at the past glories and experience the city’s cultural, social and economic vibrancy: all the street markets, shops, restaurants and meeting points. Combined with a strong Italian and international spirit, these qualities have made Florence a flourishing, cultural and multicultural centre for art, crafts, music, and fashion.

Young people from all around the world come to Florence and Tuscany to study Italian language and experience the culture by following language programmes involving history of art, fine arts, arts and crafts, cooking, fashion and design. All of Tuscany, the birthplace of the Italian language and Italian culture and one of the major melting pots of modern European culture, was and is a workshop of extraordinary artistic and cultural production, which has always had a strong influence on the rest of the continent.

*price per person, 1 WEEK SELF-CATERING, 10x50 mins ITALIAN LESSONS

Why study Italian in our school in Florence?

The school was founded in 1978, which makes it one of the city’s oldest schools teaching the Italian language and culture.

Over the years, the school has maintained a size which enables us to have daily contact with all our students, to spend time with them and to cater to their needs for the duration of their stay with us. The atmosphere at the school is informal and very friendly. Group numbers are small and learning is therefore interactive and fast-paced. The teachers take the needs of each individual student into consideration and exchanges between the students are made easy and more meaningful. Their students come from all over the world, a fact which promotes communication in Italian and compels teachers to be more creative. Furthermore, as communication is the basis for their method of teaching, emphasis is placed on oral expression and the use of other languages is kept to a minimum. The school is located in the city’s historic centre, Piazza Santo Spirito, a short walk from Ponte Vecchio. The Santo Spirito community is lively and home to artisans’ workshops, artists’ studios, shops, cafés, restaurants, and cultural events, which all make it one the preferred meeting places for Florentines.

Student accommodation is located in the historical centre within an easy walking distance. Not having to use public transport is an advantage, especially when returning home in the evening.

Dictated by their constant attention to the needs of the students, the school is continually adapting, refreshing and improving its courses and services. The academy offers a wide range of courses other than language courses such as fine art and arts and crafts courses in artists’ studios and artisans’ workshops, jewellery courses for both crafting and design, music and singing for opera lovers and singers, cooking for professionals and amateurs alike, as well as a host of other cultural or purely entertaining activities. All courses and activities are taught in Italian and are therefore also a stimulating occasion to practise one's communication skills.

The Test

On the first day of the language course, all students, with the exception of absolute beginners and those who wish to attend individual lessons, undertake a placement test. Every two weeks, there is another test to determine progression to the next level.

The Method

Apart from grammar and syntax, all the four fundamental skills - reading, writing, listening and speaking – are to be studied and developed right from the first level onwards to enable students to express their opinions, feelings and understand others when they are doing the same. To this end, real life situations are simulated in the classroom.

Structures and vocabulary are adapted to suit all the different levels and become progressively more complex until, at the more advanced levels, different types of text are used to encourage the recognition and reproduction of different language styles.

The structure and the contents of the programmes for all levels are based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (C.E.F.R.)

Common European Framework		Corresponding levels - Machiavelli	Certificate
BASIC LEVEL	A1	Level 1+, Level 2	CILS A1
	A2	Level 2+, Level 3	CILS A2
INDEPENDENT LEVEL	B1	Level 3+, Level 4	CILS B1
	B2	Level 5	CILS B2
PROFICIENT LEVEL	C1	Advanced C1	CILS C1
	C2	Advanced C2	CILS C2

Home Share:

The school offers various options for this type of accommodation: single or double rooms with use of the kitchen or half board (with breakfast and dinner). The apartments are occupied by either families, single people, foreign or Italian language students and are based on the concept of home-share. All apartments are in the centre within a walking distance or a short bus ride away. The rooms are not exactly the same but they are all functional and clean.

Hotels:

In the historical centre of Florence there are many bed and breakfast houses and "pensioni" (little hotels) with no more than 6-8 rooms. The price depends on the category, services and the view. B&B "Vecchia Firenze" is situated in the same building as the school.

All of the following hotels are within a walking distance from the school:

http://www.hotelesperanza.it/
http://www.vecchiafirenze.it/
http://www.hotelalbion.it/
http://www.freereservation.com/it/firenze_bed_breakfast/Althea_Rooms/

Florence is becoming increasingly more popular as a tourist destination. As a result, with frequent flights and good connections from all over the world, it has also become much easier to travel there.

Florence is served by two airports, Galileo Galilei Airport (Pisa International Airport), which handles international flights, and the smaller Florence Airport (Amerigo Vespucci), mainly dealing with domestic flights.

For more information, please, visit the following websites:

http://www.skyscanner.it/flights-to/flr/airlines-that-fly-to-florence-airport.html

http://www.cheapflights.co.uk/flights/Florence/