Accademia Studioitalia

STUDIOITALIA: award-winning Italian language school teaching la bella lingua to international students in Rome. PRESENTATION OF STUDIOITALIA STUDIOITALIA is an Italian language school for foreigners founded in 1985. For the last 20 years the school has been one of the most important Italian language teaching centers in Rome. Every year we receive a significant number of students (around 400) from all over the world, who need to improve their Italian communication skills, prepare themselves for the international language certification exams and university exams, participate in the wide range of internship programs. The school accepts a maximum of 10 students per class, in order to guarantee the highest quality level of the course and of the relationship between students and teachers. The small classes ensure that every student has an opportunity to practice their language skills and to participate actively in each lesson. Every class is equipped with audiovisual tools, widely used in our Italian language and culture courses for foreigners. Our school is located in the very centre of Rome only 5 minutes from St. Peter's Church and along Via Cola di Rienzo one of the most important commercial streets of the city right behind Piazza del Popolo. The school is surrounded by cinemas, restaurants and every kind of shops. Very close to the school are two metro stops, OTTAVIANO and LEPANTO, and the whole area is very well connected by public transport. SCHOOL ACCREDITATIONS STUDIOITALIA is accredited by the MIUR (Minister of Education and University) and is an authorized centre for the "Certificato di Italiano" (www.certificazionitelc.it) and for the CILS and DITALS (Certificato di Italiano come Lingua Straniera dell'Università per Stranieri di Siena - www.unistrasi.it). STUDIOITALIA is the founder of Italian in Italy, (Associazione Nazionale di Scuole di Lingua e Cultura Italiana in Italia) whose aim is to promote Italian language and culture abroad. (www.italianinitaly.it). STUDIOITALIA is authorized by the MIUR (Minister of Education and University) as centre for Teacher Training (Italian as a second language) and cooperates with the Università per Stranieri di Siena (www.ita-lab.it). TEACHING METHODOLOGY Our method of Italian language teaching focuses on the student's expectations, needs and personal learning style. The teacher is not only someone who delivers information to the students but also someone who helps them to give up affective filters, or certain emotions, such as anxiety, self-doubt, and mere boredom which interfere with the process of acquiring a second language. Therefore, first above all during class the language instructors of Studioitalia work on preventing the coming out of any negative emotion which works as a filter between the speaker and the listener and reduces the amount of language input the listener is able to understand. We work with our students to offer a learning environment which helps them achieve their personal goals while studying Italian. A general communicative approach is combined with all the techniques and teaching strategies of the newest didactic allowing us to customize the learning path and the program for each individual student. All our Italian teachers are able to work with different and any kind of learning subjects and to offer to all students the chance to learn and improve in every lesson, listening to their requests and communicating with them in every phase of the learning process. The development of communicative skills and of the ability to speak in real scenarios such as at work, at school, at a party or in social relationships, in our classes has always been the priority in respect to the study of grammar. This does not mean that during the course grammar and phonetics are not studied, but they are always taught through a very inductive way. Italian courses are very dynamic and require an active participation by the students, respecting their own rhythm of learning and their own expectations, without forcing anybody to speak without spontaneity, and at the same time stimulating a relaxing, productive communication. Apart from normal general Italian language courses our Institute now wants to improve the development of internship programs together with language classes. What we are trying to do is to offer the opportunity to deep into our culture through a period of time during which people can work in a totally Italian environment. This is what should be for us a true learning stay abroad, which is not only going to a school of language four hours a day, but also being in real situations where the students are stimulated to improve their language skills and their communicative efficiency. They have also the opportunity to learn a more specific vocabulary which will be also useful for their professional career. INTERCULTURAL APPROACH The key of our courses is the Intercultural Approach. Our teachers are not only "language trainers", they are also curious people who are thirsty for culture. Every Italian lesson has a big part dedicated to intercultural subjects and every participant is asked to speak about her/his culture, making a comparison with other countries and especially with Italy and the city of Rome. This approach ensures an active participation in class activity and develops interesting opportunities of interaction. Everyone can express their personal opinion, and the teacher is there just to moderate debates and discussions in a democratic and open context. OUTCOMES Our work produces different outcomes, but at the end we are always really satisfied with them. Students with a beginner level are able to communicate in an effective way, which allow them to live and interact with Italian people here in Rome in a relaxed and easy way, after a month spent in our institution. Those ones who possess already a good knowledge of Italian can highly improve their communicative skills and often decide to take the CILS exam directly inside our institution. Very often they also decide to follow their studies in an university here in Rome. The ones who instead do an internship program are able to develop through our school the right motivation to face the challenges of a work experience in a true Italian context. TEACHER EDUCATION All our teachers have a degree in the Humanities and an academic certification for teaching Italian as a second language (DITALS, University for foreigners of Siena). Some of them own a post-graduate degree, as Ph.D. or master. Despite this common profile, every one of them comes from a different field, like the university, the theatre, the world of business and publishing, and this enriches our school with language instructors with different skills and abilities. Each of them have traveled a lot or lived in different countries so they share a strong interest in other cultures. COURSE IMPORTANT INFORMATION The courses start every Monday all year round except national holidays: 1st January, 6th January, 9th April, 25th April, 1st May, 2nd June, 29th June, 15th August, 1st November, 8th December, 25 and 26 December. Regarding the time of the lessons we are open from 9.00 until 20.30 from Monday to Friday and Saturday from 9.00 to 13.00. STUDIOITALIA Italian Language and Culture Alessandro Mariotti: Director Via Tibullo, 16 00193 Roma (RM), Italy Telephone: +39 06 97270665 Fax: +39 06 6869758 E-mail: a.mariotti@accademiastudioitalia.com Web-site: www.accademiastudioitalia.com