Scuola Interlingua organizes Italian Language Courses for foreigners throughout the year

The school is staffed by highly qualified and dedicated professional teachers who are on-hand for the students to discuss, advise and solve anything that might come up during the students' studies. The didactic method is the consolidated fruition of long experience in teaching the Italian language to non-native speakers.

The approach is strictly communicative and the students are encouraged to express themselves while pondering the linguistic and grammatical peculiarities of the Italian Language. The aim is to develop the diverse skills - especially expressive fluency and grammatical accuracy - so as to make it possible for our students to interact in the situations both of daily life and the working world.

A placement test, administered to the student before the course begins, establishes the student's level of Italian. Following the completion of a course, students are examined in the areas of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Upon successful completion of the exam a "Certificate of Studies" is offered to all our regular students and to external students who have paid the required fee. The Institute offers group courses, intensive courses (in minigroups), and individual lessons.

THE SCHOOL

Poggibonsi, a quiet Italian city of 30,000 residents, is situated in the heart of Tuscany. Surronded by green hills where the best Chianti wine originates from, it is ideally situated as a starting point for numerous excursions. Siena and Florence are a mere 30 Km. away and San Gimignano only 10 Km. This city offeres a pleasant stay and all the amenities commonly found only in large cities.

The schools are situated in the city centers, easily within reach on foot or by public trasport; the buidings are spacious and well-lit, and fit into the enviroment perfectly. The classrooms, set-up according to the needs of student and teacher favor a communicative approach, offering the technology necessary to develop linguistic skills. Varied courses of learning will be structured and tailored to the needs of students.

COURSE OBJECTIVE

ELEMENTARY I

To acquire capacity of expression in simple daily situations and to understand basic information.

ELEMENTARY II

To be capable of setting forth past experience; expressing future projects; communicating correctly at an elementary level both orally and in writing.

INTERMEDIATE I

To establish interpersonal contact of medium difficulty; to express desires and suggestions in an adequate manner - using grammatical structures of a medium difficulty level.

INTERMEDIATE II

To participate sufficiently secure in more exacting situations, and to expand fluency in the areas of speaking and writing.

ADVANCED I

To communicate correctly and fluently, formulating personal opinions and hypotheses on different arguments and subjects of interest, to understand and write texts of medium difficulty.

ADVANCED II

To reach an excellent knowledge of the oral and written Italian language; to actively participate in lively discussions on current events.

TOWARDS PERFECTION

To acquire the capacity of appropriate oral expression in practically any and all situations - both in daily life and the working world.

CULTURE

This course includes: brief history of Italian literature; presentation of the most important contemporary writers and the reading of some of their works; the perusal of the Italian Regions with some mention of the history of Italy in relation to the single regions being taken into consideration; analysis of the social trends, political and literary aspects of Italy today.

CONVERSATION

At various levels based on the expressive capacity and the needs of the participants.

CILS Certificate and AIL Diploma

CILS Certificate: CILS, Certification of Italian as a Foreign Language, issued by the "University of Siena", is recognised as an official title of linguistic achievement by Law 204 of 17/02/1992.

The CILS covers 4 levels: ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR. It is not necessary to have obtained lower levels of the CILS to attempt the attainment of a higher level. The CILS exams are scheduled twice a year, at the beginning of June and December. A fee is charged for sitting the exam.

ART and CULTURE

History of Italian Literature and Art: This courses offers an introduction to the most important artistic styles such as Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque. Students also have the opportunity to see the most famous works by artists such as Giotto, Botticelli, Leonardo and Michelangelo.

COOKING

COOKING Tuscany Cooking:This course introduces the typical produce of Tuscany and the to preparation of typical Tuscan dishes (to be combined with standard Italian courses).

FULL IMMERSION COURSES

Our full immersion courses are the best solution for business people needing to make progress in the choosen language.

The calm environment of Tuscany countryside - with a thousand opportunities for relaxation, excursions, walks in a panoramic setting of olives groves and Chianti vineyards - is the ideal condition where our students can learn.

Away from the preoccupations of everyday life, our motivated students can concentrate on their objective: to learn the language as quick as possible.

It is essential to know you well to prepare a programme adapted to your needs and objectives. This is the reason for the detailed linguistic evaluation conducted on Sunday afternoon.

Our long experience of teaching languages has taught us to be prepared for a wide variety of learners and not to impose just one programme of training for all of them.

The individual lessons can suit you best on the basis of your learning style, habits, needs.