Italy
Italian Immersion Experience
Umbria & Tuscany
June 13-20, 2020
$5600 per person
$900 for non-participating spouses
$5600 per person
Includes all instruction, lodging and most meals.
$1000 discount for pairs who share a room.
Ten (10) participants per week, maximum.
Private lessons available: 732.807.3646
Click here to reserve your 2020 trip
Trip Details
Join us for a week of experiential learning in Italy. You will stay in an elegant hotel (Hotel Vannucci) with us in a sophisticated yet off-the-beaten-path small Italian city. You will be guided to communicate in Italian with locals.
Immersion will allow you to quickly improve your Italian, we have orchestrated interactive experiences for the entire week with local Italians. You will have local excursions, guided activities in town, and Italian class every day. We dine together, in italiano naturalmente, from 8:00-10:00 on four of the nights.
For Beginners, you will have Italian class every day and you will be encouraged to use some Italian on our excursions. For Intermediate-level participants (defined as the equivalent of at least one year of college Italian), we customize the language levels even more. We will personalize your instruction and work toward your specific goals. Our expert team will make using Italian fun and rewarding. For intermediate-level only, we challenge you to speak only Italian all week.
The teacher-to-student ratio is higher than 1:2, and every week has a maximum of ten students. You will accumulate over fifty hours of high-quality interaction in Italian throughout the week; you will do this across all modalities: speaking, listening, reading, writing.
The accommodations and meals are carefully selected for our clientele. All lodging, instruction, breakfast and lunch are included in the experience, and wine is also included. Un po’ di vino will help enhance your knowledge of Italian culture.
The $900 fee for non-participating spouses includes all lodging and breakfast. It also includes the four group dinners and the three group excursions. Options for private tours are available every day.
Photo Gallery
Testimonials
Based upon your preferences, daily excursions may be:
- Day in Perugia. The petite capital of Umbria, Perugia, is a network of stunning piazzas connected by tiny alleys. After a level-appropriate scavenger hunt, we will visit our local friend, MariaPia, who will take us through a personal production of artisanal chocolates.
- Talk with Italian journalist. Before you leave for Italy, you will be assigned a passage to read from the writer’s work in La Repubblica. Once in Italy, we will dedicate one morning to discussing the article in class. After that class, the journalist comes to our hotel for a private talk about the article’s research, drafting, and reception by Italian readers.
- Talk with Italian singer/songwriter. After studying the musician’s lyrics and songs during the day, we will enjoy a private performance with him/her in our hotel’s study. After the performance, we talk with the artist about the meaning behind the lyrics, the inspiration behind the art, and molto di più.
- Italian cinema. Italian cinema viewings/discussions with a renowned film critic. In the comfort of his home, the film critic will describe and show some scenes from the finest work of Italian cinema. We will discuss your reactions to the clip before moving on the the next classic.
- Food-market shopping and cooking. A day with our personal chef. Our friend, Sabrina, invites us to her family’s country house to prep our lunch together. We will then savor our creations together on her family’s terrazza, overlooking the hills of Umbria and Tuscany.
- Also Available per your interest: Painting lesson in italiano; Visit to local cantina, tour in italiano; Hiking around Tuscan hills, with guide in italiano.
Typical Day
07:00am-9:00am: Breakfast
Breakfast served in hotel; hotel staff instructed to only serve you in Italian. Options for yoga class and walking group available. Our expert Italian teachers are there to chat if you want.
9:30am-11:30 am: Morning lesson/prep for excursion
Every excursion is task-based. Our morning lesson will prepare you for some of the language you may require on your excursion. On days when we do not have an excursion, your (semi) private lesson in the morning will last at least two hours.
11:30 am-3:00pm: Excursion, or lunch in town
All excursions take place in the surrounding Umbrian or Tuscan countryside. On days when we don’t have an excursion, you and your (semi) private teacher decide if you’d like a proper lunch with the group, or a simple panino at a local cafe.
4:00pm-6:00pm: Afternoon lesson
Italian lesson back in our hotel’s private study. Teachers will provide grammar and vocabulary lessons after every student reports his/her reflections from the day. The afternoon lesson also function as a wrap-up for all questions from the day’s excursion and/or activities in town.
6:00pm-8:00pm: Free time
Our expert Italian teachers are available for un gelato or to accompany you to fare shopping if you want to stroll and chat with them.
8:00pm-10:00pm: Dinner
On four of the seven nights, we will have dinner together at a local trattoria. There will be one table that is strictly Italian only, and one table where English is allowed.
Requirements
- 21 years old minimum
- For the Beginners group, we welcome true beginners along with “false” beginners, i.e., those who have studied Italian for one semester or less. We define Intermediate level as the equivalent of one full year of college Italian. Please call to discuss your level; if appropriate, we will have a casual chat in English and then in Italian.
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