Learn Italian in Italy

I won’t deny that learning Italian is fun —I studied for a month splitting my time between Florence and Venice before travelling to Southern Italy via Rome.

I started Italian lessons as a beginner, not a complete beginner as I’d listened to Italian CD’s and had a few Italian lessons back in the UK (6 weeks at night school) but it was only when I got to Italy that my Italian really started to accelerate at a pace that surprised me as I didn’t realise just how much you pick up when studying in a country where Italian is spoken as you really do practice each day outside of the classroom.

Even if my confidence wasn’t that high to start with, by the end of week 1 I felt I’d almost reached lower elementary level of Italian as I’d been immersed in the language, I’d read road signs, ordered in cafes and heard nothing but Italian for the whole week and something was starting to click – the feeling was fantastic and a great confidence booster.  I no longer cared about looking silly when I got things wrong, I just had a go at speaking Italian and you know what – most of the time I was understood even if I did get a few funny looks to start with! 

If you learn Italian you have a chance to get a more intimate look at Italy. Taking a Italian course in Italy opens up a world of opportunities and promises to get you off the tourist trail where you can immerse yourself in the culture in a way that’s just not possible if you don’t speak Italian. 

I lived with a Italian host family which was great, I didn’t feel ‘mothered’ at all and was free to come & go as I pleased and my Italian vocabulary improved no end as you are forced to speak daily and ask for even just the basics like towels and ‘pass the salt’ – practical Italian all the way not to mention the amazing insight you have into life and culture living as a local.

Accents change as does dialect from country to country but all Italian language schools in Italy teach Italian to a level that you’d call the ‘Queen’s English’ in the UK so you don’t have to worry about where you learn Italian in Italy although it can be fun to split your Italian courses across different locations to experience life and different accents which will really help improve your Italian.

Rest assured, Italian courses are suitable for beginners to advanced Italian learners. Everyone is tested (don’t worry, there’s no gold stars or dunce hats here) on the first day before Italian lessons start so they can be placed in the right group for their level and will then progress rapidly but safe in the knowledge that their fellow classmates are at a similar Italian level to them.

Levels are generally as follows:
• Complete beginner Italian courses
• Beginner Italian courses
• Elementary Italian lessons (split into lower & upper)
• Intermediate Italian lessons (split into lower & upper)
• Advanced Italian courses (suitable for advanced levels of Italian up to fluency level)

In a month, I felt like I’d progressed my Italian from a beginner to upper elementary and was raring to go on my travels, confident I would be able to get by in day to day situations as well as being able to read and write Italian at a reasonable level if I ever needed to.

My confidence soared, I fell in love with learning the Italian language and soaked up new words and phrases every day without trying as my brain was now switched into ‘learn Italian’ mode.  Learning Italian is liberating, I felt like I was invited into the culture and countries I visited and no longer did I feel like ‘just a tourist’ and that can’t be bad.
To book your Italian course in Italy, visit GoLearnTo.com now