Scuola Leonardo da Vinci Roma

Esperienza fantastica: Muito bom para intercâmbio.

Esperienza positiva: I completed a 2-week intensive B1 course in Rome. Overall, I did learn a lot, but there were many things they could improve on, or that weren’t geared toward a short-term, older student. - When I arrived early for my first class, I was told that my class time was unexpectedly changed from 12:00-3:15 to 3:30-6:45pm. I was lucky that I could accommodate this last-minute, unannounced change for the entire 2 weeks of my course. - Since the Placement Exam is all online, there is no consideration given as to how well you can understand spoken Italian. I wasn’t informed in advance of where I was placed. - There was no orientation, or introduction to the school given to me when I arrived. Just directions to “go up the stairs and find classroom E”. - I was not told about the extra activities, nor about the WhatsApp group that distributed information on the activities. I learned about those in week 2. That was disappointing. - I didn’t know they had a library that was open to students for studying. - The teacher didn’t introduce herself to me nor introduce any of the other students in class (there were about 14 students in class), as they had clearly been together for weeks/months and I was the only new student. It did not feel welcoming. - In general, it seems that most students are 18-30 yrs old, begin classes with other friends or else have been studying at the school for a long time, so the atmosphere wasn’t set up to welcome a single, older short-term student. - There was a final exam given at the end of the 2 week course, but I have no idea how I performed in relation to expectations. - I had to request a certificate of completion from them weeks later, as once my class ended, there was no contact made with me nor follow-up. In short, they treated a short-term student as simply a transaction — tuition was paid & a seat was made available in a classroom for me.

Esperienza negativa: Esperienza negativa nel contatto telefonico. Il signore che risponde al telefono appare poco disponibile e poco professionale: a ogni richiesta di informazione risponde con “mamma mia” e interrompe la chiamata senza salutare. Un comportamento inadeguato per un’istituzione scolastica.

Esperienza fantastica: I just returned from a week's intensive course in Torino and I now properly understand the true value of full immersion learning. I've been studying Italian now for 10 years, but in reality only the last 2 with proper daily effort. Yet I was still stuck in the intermediate quagmire, with decent B1.2 grammar understanding and pronunciation, but let down totally with my poor listening ability. For that reason, I was very apprehensive about a 100% Italian course, and also learning with young folks as a mature student. My fears were totally unfounded. My teacher Antonietta spoke loudly and clearly at an even pitch, and facilitated the class with logical/sequential explanations on the blackboard for any points of difficulty. We spoke barely 10 words of English all week. Old school style workbook/blackboard teaching, but very effective. It was like a turbocharger on my ear and comprehension. I partook in every extra evening/afternoon activity, which further improved my conversation skills. One evening dinner with other students I was stunned how was keeping up with Andrea's fast speech after 3 days and for the first time I felt confident to speak with Italian in shops and restaurants. Torino is not a full-on international tourist town- wall to wall Italian - but is really nice and easy to get around with lots of history to get involved in. The school is also conveniently centrally located. Stop procrastinating and researching. Just do it. I only wish I had more time for a few more weeks to consolidate everything and I will return for a longer stint if I can manage it.

Esperienza fantastica: Good organization. I recommend this school for learning Italian