Learn Italian in Florence: Language Courses

• Timetable: 9:00 am – 12:15 pm (alternative timetables may also apply)

A long term Italian language course in Florence, ideal for Gap Year, post Uni or adult students looking to learn Italian in depth over two, three or more months for true linguistic impact and progress. Check out the Italian Teaching details to understand the philosophy and course structure of the language school. Students can follow a structured Italian course from eight weeks up to a full year to gain maximum fluency (48 weeks courses are very good value for money, as they don’t include any cultural classes).

Languages for Life: 8 to 23 weeks duration

Languages for Life: 24 to 48 weeks duration

• Timetable: 9:00 am – 12:15 pm (alternative timetables may also apply)
• Set start dates during the year

These long term Italian language courses are the perfect solution for Gap Year students, graduates and adults looking to take a serious career break. A term Italian course allowing students to focus on all aspects of Italian and placing the language in a cultural context + leading to recognised Italian language exams. All lessons are held in the Italian language school in Florence (or in nearby Art studios etc), over several months. In-depth learning over an extended period ensures better mastery, subtler understanding and far greater long term retention of key language skills.

• Timetable: 9:00 am – 12:15 pm (alternative timetables may also apply)

Open to all language levels (but specific start dates offered for beginners/false beginners) these courses concentrate on developing general language skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing) and are always held in Italian. These short term Italian language courses are aimed at those who need to build on current skills or who want to learn Italian in Florence, from scratch on an Italian immersion course. Further information can be found in the Italian Teaching details.

• Timetable: 9:00 am – 12:15 pm (alternative timetables may also apply)
• Plus additional 10 lessons (Monday to Friday)

Follow the Standard Italian course in Florence, and build on this with additional study each week. The extra lessons generally concentrate on oral discussions/debates to ensure students hone conversational skills and give additional opportunity to put their Italian into practise.

• Timetable: 9:00 am – 12:15 pm (alternative timetables may also apply)
• Plus additional 10 lessons (Monday to Friday)

Combine the benefits of the group dynamic of the Standard Italian language course in Florence, with the personal attention of private tuition. The programme is ideal for those who relish the individual attention of the private classes with a personal tutor, but don’t want or need to book private tuition classes alone. An excellent way to work on general language skills and address personal needs at the same time.

Combined Course: 20 group + 5 private lessons

Combined Course: 20 group + 10 private lessons

• Timetable: 9:00 am – 12:15 pm (alternative timetables may also apply)
• Plus additional 10 lessons (Monday to Friday)

A short term Italian language course aimed at those who want the combined study experience of the camaraderie of the group course and the individual attention of the private classes with a personal tutor. If offers particular emphasis on specialised fields such as Italian for Lawyers or Italian for Medical personnel etc. Students must have Intermediate level Italian to cover specialised areas in private lessons.

• Timetable: 9:00 am – 12:15 pm (alternative timetables may also apply)
• Group lessons follow the Standard Course format
• Set start dates are offered
• In the morning you will take part in the Italian language group lessons according to your language level
• In the afternoon or evening you will enjoy cultural activities suggested by the school.
• Programme itinerary is subject to change

First Week: Afternoon programme

Orientation tour of the city; half-day excursion to the vineyards of the “Chianti” area; visit to a wine cellar including a ‘merenda’ (typical Tuscan afternoon snack); Guided history of art visit; tour of Artisan workshops (ceramics, etching, Florentine paper, shoemaker etc); traditional Italian dinner in a typical ‘Trattoria’

Second Week: Afternoon programme

Weekend excursion in Tuscany (Siena, Pisa or Lucca); Visit to Fiesole and the Roman Theatre or Visit of Renaissance Villas and Gardens; tour of Fashion Workshops or Shopping at an Outlet; lesson on Tuscan cuisine; visit of a museum or ‘Palazzo’; ‘Apericena’ (rich buffet with typical snacks)

• Timetable: 9:00 am – 12:15 pm (alternative timetables may also apply)

In the private lessons students are given a detailed explanation of the professional language and culture surrounding the world of Opera. A short term Italian language course aimed at those who want the combined learning experience of the camaraderie of the group course and the individual attention of the private classes with a personal tutor.
NB: Students below intermediate level, must attend an Italian Standard/Languages for Life course before enrolling on this course.

Dates: every 2 weeks
Duration: 2 weeks, can be extended
Description: The Language of the Libretti course has a duration of two weeks and consists of four lessons in a intensive language course plus two private tutorials on the professional field of the language of the Opera, each day.

• Timetable: 9:00 am – 12:15 pm (alternative timetables may also apply)

This is a concentrated, fast paced small group Italian language course aimed at those who require rapid results from their studies in Florence. Should there only be one student at a particular level, the lesson format is altered to the Italian Combined course format.

• Timetable: 9:00 am – 12:15 pm (alternative timetables may also apply)

An extremely intensive Italian language course, ideal for those who wish to make maximum language progress over a one or two+ week period. Aimed at business people or those who need to work on their Italian for academic or professional reasons and for whom time is of the essence.

• Timetable: 9:00 am – 12:15 pm (alternative timetables may also apply)
• 10 exam prep lessons if 3 to 12 students per week
• 5 exam prep lessons if 2 students per week
• Minimum 2 students required for this programme to run

• DELI (elementary level)
• DILI (intermediate level)
• DILC (intermediate/business level)
• DALI (advanced level)
• DALC (advanced/business level)

Students are welcome to follow a long term Italian language course prior to the four week specific Italian exam preparation course leading to the exams themselves. The final 4 week session consists of the Standard Course plus an additional 10 lessons per week of mock tests, strategy discussion and exam drills.

The Italian language school in Florence offers a great range of cultural programmes that any student (with some prior Italian knowledge) can join, once in Italy. The cookery and wine tasting courses are particularly popular and recommended by past CESA students!

Cultural Programmes: Offered ONLY in addition to the Italian courses

• Italian History of Art Course

An introduction to the most important Italian artistic styles and allow students to view the original works of the artists in situ! Elementary Italian required.

Introduction:
General and historical lists; The Romanesque period.
The XIII century: Architecture – passage of the French Gothic in Italy;
The “Italian” Gothic;The sculpture: from Nicola Pisano to Arnolfo di Cambio.
The architectural and urban transformation between the XIII and the XIV century
Florence and Siena in the XIV century: Cimabue and Duccio; Giotto; Simone Martini and the Lorenzetti brothers;
Florence in the second half of the century; Traces of international Gothic.
Brunelleschi and the revolution of perspective: The three fathers of the Italian Renaissance: Brunelleschi, Donatello, Masaccio
The first Renaissance: Florence in the first half of the XV century
Florence in the second half of the XV century: The cultural environment of Lorenzo il Magnifico and Botticelli
Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Michelangelo.

• Italian Cookery

A great favourite with past CESA students. Prepare and cook a complete menu of typical Italian dishes, finish by eating the food together with the other students! Elementary Italian required.
The course is based one meeting of approx. 3 hours a week and shaped for all potential participants, also for the novice who is interested in learning about cooking. During each lesson the students prepare and cook a different complete menu which consists of typical dishes of Italian cuisine in the tradition of genuine simplicity. At the beginning of each lesson the teacher explains the menu of the day and distributes the work. During the preparation and the cooking of the food, the teacher demonstrates, explains and gives valuable hints and tips. The students prepare the table and dine together. Each student or pair of students presents and serves to the others the dish they have prepared. This course is organized in such a way that the students can experience with their own hands the way of cooking in the Italian style. Participants receive a recipe book including a vocabulary in several languages.

• Italian Wines

An introduction to Italian wines from across a range of regions plus wine tasting sessions and (when possible) a visit to a nearby vineyard. Elementary Italian required.
During the course there will also be the opportunity to visit a renowned wine bar.
For a better understanding, tables, maps and other visual support materials will be used. Topics such as how to match wine and food together, and comparing Italian wines to foreign wines, will be dealt with.

The topics dealt with by the course are:

how to read the label of a bottle of Italian wine
the classification of Italian wines (house wine or origin label, D.O.C and D.O.C.G.)
the traditional techniques of cultivation, fermentation and ageing used in Italy
wine tasting and terminology
wine production in Italy and its consumption
new developments and non traditional wines
Tuscan production, the North-West (Piemonte), the North-East (Friuli, South-Tirol, and other regions, particularly in the centre and in the South)

• Italian Drawing

Based in a Florentine artist’s studio, students study all aspects of drawing (at beginner or advanced level) over the first two weeks, after which the students go out into the Florentine parks to study the representation of nature and landscape.

During the drawing course, students will learn how to use different materials, among the others, charcoal, sanguine (reddish drawing chalk) and pencil. In addition, they will have an introduction to the use of tempera, oil painting and acrylic colours. Using these materials, students will learn to portray still-life paintings and the human body, the latter with real models in person. They will practice copying famous artworks in order to exercising the techniques they learnt and, as a result, they will begin express their ideas and create their own style.

• Italian Painting

For beginners and advanced students who wish to learn water colour techniques. Begin with studies in monochrome, then progress to a palette of warm and cold contrasting colours. In the third and fourth week of a course students move outdoors to learn how to paint nature and the landscape. Advanced students may follow a parallel course based on watercolour and tempera.

Old Painting Techniques
This course will give students the chance to enter the world of painting techniques belonging to the period between 14 th and 16 th century through the analysis of the most important artworks of such a period, from Giotto to Michelangelo. Students will learn the techniques through the study, the analysis and the reproduction of famous paintings with egg tempera, gold leaf and oil colours. The whole paintings’ creation process will be analysed and practised, from the preparation of supports to varnishing.

Contemporary Painting Techniques
The course is conceived in order to teach students facing the new artistic languages, using new support materials (plastic, specific kinds of canvasses, wood and metals) and painting techniques, from traditional colours to the use of mixed techniques, such as colour application with sponge, spatula and roller. The combination of new supports and painting techniques will help students to develop a new language and their personal painting style.

• Sculpture, Frescoes, Mosaics, Restoration and Photography

2 or 4 weeks duration
12 supplementary lessons per fortnight
All levels, beginner to advanced
Sculpture
This course allows students to choose from a wide variety of techniques and materials, including modelling clay, marble sculpture and wood carving. Students may choose to focus on a particular technique or through diverse techniques and materials. There will be an introduction to specific designs used in relation to the various techniques of sculpture at the beginning of the course.

Frescoes
During the course, students will learn to utilize the materials that are fundamental in creating a fresco, using the techniques applied by the masters of both the Medieval and Renaissance time periods. Students will also express their ideas in sketches, using these new techniques. Knowledge gained will be put into practice through the implementation of one or more works.

Mosaics
The basic techniques to create a mosaic from different materials are presented in this course. For those who are beginners, we use ceramic tiles to imitate a selected template. For students who already have knowledge of basic techniques, instead we use glazed marble tiles to create original designs. By learning about the basic techniques of traditional mosaic, at the end of the course the student will be able to create a classic style mosaic on their own.

Restoration
In this course, we firstly present students with the different stages of restoration: analysis of the main causes of the degradation and damage suffered by the work, and the various methodologies to be applied to each piece that needs to be restored. Classes are taught in a laboratory where modern art and antiques are continuously being restored. During the course students will be able to practice with different materials (depending on the pieces that are being restored at that time in the lab): paintings, chalks, stucco, ceramics, terracotta, wax, glass and paper-mache.

Italian & Sculpture

Italian & Historic Painting

• Photography

The purpose of this course is to enable students to achieve technical control of the camera and enter the world of photography in its many forms; from architecture to portraits, from studio photography to photo reportage. The culture of photography, reading visual images and knowledge of some of the best photographers in the world, leads the way to understanding that life has many shades and everything depends on the perspective from which you view the world, because the vision of all that surrounds us can be manipulated in some way by our creativity.

Contact CESA for details of Start Dates and Prices

• Music

Instruments:

Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello, Double bass, Flute, Piccolo, Clarinet, Oboe, Bassoon, Trumpet, Trombone, Saxophone, Horn, Guitar, Drums, Electric guitar, Electric bass. All students have to bring their own instruments with them; only Piano and Drums are available at school.
The Instrument courses consist of 5 lessons of private tuition..
The Instrument courses with coaching consist of 5 lessons of private tuition plus 
2 lessons accompanied on the piano.
Tuition: 3 levels of ability
– Beginner = up to two years study;
– Intermediate = from two to five years study;
– Expert = over five years study.

Singing and Diction for Singers:

The Canto and Diction for Singers course consists of 5 lessons of private tuition in singing.
The Canto and Diction for Singers course with coaching consists of 5 lessons of private tuition in singing plus 2 lessons accompanied on the piano.
The courses also concentrate on improving Italian diction.
Tuition: 3 levels of ability
– Beginner = up to two years study;
– Intermediate = from two to five years study;
– Expert = over five years study.