Italian lessons

Right we’ve taken the plunge...well sort of, we’re still treading water:lol: 
 
We want to come down for a month to do Italian lessons and we would welcome any recommendations in villages surrounding Pigna i.e. Apricale, Isalabona & Dolceaqua and the town/cities Bordighera, Ventimiglia and San Remo.
 
I found this one on line in San Remo Language school.  Has anyone used them?

I thnk they will probably be your only choice if you want intensive lessons to be honest.

We know a couple of Italian teachers in the area (one in Dolceacqua) but you pay by the hour.

Hi
For anyone living in the Teramo region of Abruzzo
A lovely lady called Carolyn has just moved into the Bisenti area with her husband. When she lived in England she was a teacher of Italian in secondary schools. She taught o-level and a -level. She is now offering Italian lessons to anyone who lives in the area - conversation classes for beginners, intermediate etc. - whatever your level.   Either at your house or hers. Individual or group lessons.   If anyone is interested, please PM me and and I will send you her e-mail address.

thanks

We got as far as visiting them, looking round and taking away a leaflet a few years ago.  Looked OK but never did anything more....

Thanks for your input everyone. We’re still considering the language school in San Remo:) 
 
@Penny – please could you send me a pm with the names & contact details of the teachers in Dolceaqua. We really would prefer someone local.
 

*waving at Cassini*   just back from ‘sunny’ Yorkshire. I was going to email you to meet up for a coffee but we only had 2½ days and a very long ‘to do’ list. Email to follow 

Drove through Saltaire on the 15th and thought of you both. Tried to remember which streets were 'in the family. Ah we missed you again... such a habit. Next time though.

We were there from the 16th  Mary Street

We're still looking     

We plan to be down from the 15th January for at least 3 weeks.

There's meant to be a very good language school in Ventimiglia - I know a few people who have been the majority loved it.  I think it's in the evenings. There's no italian spoken - just english.  I'll see if I can find out anything more for you

La Dolcevita wrote:There's meant to be a very good language school in Ventimiglia - I know a few people who have been the majority loved it.  I think it's in the evenings. There's no Italian spoken - just English.  I'll see if I can find out anything more for you

Great thanks   Mrs Google didn't find any in Ventimiglia though

 
 

This is the school in Ventimiglia but I'm not sure how much use it is as it starts now and runs until June so you would miss the beginning and the end.

Admin wrote:This is the school in Ventimiglia but I'm not sure how much use it is as it starts now and runs until June so you would miss the beginning and the end.

Thanks very much. Will definitely drop them a line 

I received a reply from the language school in Ventimiglia.  

Dear 

We are deeply sorry but our Italian courses have already begun in October and they finish at the beginning of June. Unfortunately we haven’t got any Italian courses for foreigners for only a couple of months.


Hope to have you at our future Italian courses for a longer time,
Kind Regards,
Coordinating teacher,


Tullio Gugole


At least we know where it is now. And no doubt, we will be needing more lessons once we live down there permanently.

Looks like we might be in the same class then - I'm looking to start next Autumn 

La Dolcevita wrote:Looks like we might be in the same class then - I'm looking to start next Autumn 

 Great...hopefully by then I'll be able to 'help' you:D

I need all the "help" I can get - class tomorrow here in the UK - passato prossimo and imperfecto - slightly going in but a long way to go to be able to use it!!

Is it just me or is the Italian language ‘difficult’ and ‘confusing’?  (The correct answer is the latter of course   )
 
We started private lessons in January and we’ve already had 10 hours but we’re still struggling to put a sentence together.  
 

All hints and tips are more than welcome.

Most Comunes here run a subsidised program for teaching Italian to Foreigners, which I myself have attended; but no matter what tuition one gets it is practical usage and practice which will make it all become easier. Thankfully I am married to an Italian so always have ''Backup'' at hand, but it is a lot different from English in both Verb structure and the old Male Female thingy.

I thought you were a natural linguist! 

Casa Monal.............

Good luck.............we have had LOADS of lessons, formal and informal, we have LIVED here for over 5 years and I am still USELESS !! Some points relative to me:


1. I am lazy, and do not want to spend my retirement years in school,
2. I am just no good at languages, even my English is only just about there !
3. We have been 'dragged' into an ex-pat life whereby we usually speak English,
4. Our immediate neighbours all speak 'dialetto'
5. We have not lost out by much, even at doctor and hospital visits because we know just enough (we think !)
6. I think (easy to do) that,....... having enjoyed life here for so long, do I NEED to do anymore ?
7. We have a dozen or two Italian speaking friends who we converse with (sometimes with difficulty), but we survive !
8. Finally............we watch only UK TV having started out with only Italian TV

As I say, good luck !    I know..........I am a bad example !

V

I'm glad you found some lessons. It is practice, practice, practice. Try avoiding UK TV if you want to improve and stick to Italian. It really makes a difference but I must admit it is hard to do.
I think most people learn in plateaus so you will struggle on for a bit thinking you know nothing then suddenly something out of nowhere will click and the fog will clear. Then you'll learn some more and feel useless again and after a while that too will click. It might be weeks, month or years between the clicks but they will come so long as you get practice.

Admin wrote:I'm glad you found some lessons. It is practice, practice, practice. Try avoiding UK TV if you want to improve and stick to Italian. It really makes a difference but I must admit it is hard to do.I think most people learn in plateaus so you will struggle on for a bit thinking you know nothing then suddenly something out of nowhere will click and the fog will clear. Then you'll learn some more and feel useless again and after a while that too will click. It might be weeks, month or years between the clicks but they will come so long as you get practice.

This sums it up for us... Don't think it particularly hard to learn, but a bit more difficult to master   

Cassini wrote:I thought you were a natural linguist! 

Apparently not…  


Buonasera
Come stai?
Bene grazie
e lei?
 
Sei inglese?
No, non sono inglese
Soni di orlandese

Thanks for your words of encouragement everyone    Where there’s a will, there’s a way...
 
We’re taking private lesson here, here as Olanda. Cinzia our teacher is from Rome and she’s great, very patient which helps!
 
We’ll be in Pigna for a week from the 28^th February so it’s going to be a case of practice, practice and more practice 

Eh...eh...eh...
Piano, piano.

Cassini wrote:Eh...eh...eh...Piano, piano.

Come, scusi? Puȯ ripetere, per favoure?   


Painfully slow but there is 'progress'. We’re getting our heads around the verb endings. The good news is that we can recognise so much more now and we can even string a basic sentence together . Such fun being on a course with Al, guess whose homework is neatly typed and whose homework is scribbled on a note pad totally illegible   
 
I can’t wait to practice on the unsuspecting locals…at least we’ll have a good laugh