Arca was one of the first schools of Italian as a foreign language in Bologna. Set up in 1998 with the aim of encouraging the meeting of different cultures and to spread the knowledge of Italian language and culture, it entered into a partnership with the language school Modern English Study Centre, already recognized by the Italian Ministry of Public Education since 1985.

Arca is the only Italian language school in Bologna to belong to AISLi, the Association of quality Language Schools in Italy that protects students and teachers and guarantees a constantly professional service. Since 2000, Arca has joined forces with another Italian language school, Koinè in Florence, with whom it shares the communicative teaching methodology.

Classes consist of a maximum of ten students, which allows for an optimum amount of conversational exchanges among classmates, as well as with the teachers. Consequently, people quickly feel at home and tend to improve their communication skills naturally as a result. It also enables teachers to get to know each student properly and attend closely to his or her individual requirements, thus doing their best to satisfy everybody's needs as well as establishing a friendly relationship with everyone.

We know that an important part of your stay is a comfortable and friendly accommodation. We want you to be happy where you are living, so that you can study well and enjoy your stay. This the reason why, on request ARCA offers a free of charge accommodation booking service for the duration of the language course.

When you book your course, please choose the type of accommodation you desire and we will be glad to arrange whatever sort of accommodation you wish: host family (with/without meals, with the use of the kitchen facilities), shared apartment, independent apartment, B&B, hotel...

Being fully aware of the importance of a comfortable and nice stay, our accommodation officers do their best by well selecting and monitoring the accommodation in order to better meet your requests and expectations. Accommodation is at students' disposal from the Sunday before beginning of course until the Saturday morning following end of the course.

In the case you choose the home-stay (with families or single persons or shared apartment), we will be pleased to confirm your booking asap and then send the accommodation details at least 7 days before the course starting date. We highly recommend this type of arrangement, as it provides further opportunities for practising the language outside the school and an unique insight into the Italian way of life.

To learn a language well, it is important to know the culture it springs from. The musical quality of Italian reflects the beauty and charm of our country. Arca always lays emphasis on developing students' linguistic and communicative skills through activities introducing them to Italian cultural and social life. In fact, the language courses have two scheduled weekly activities and guided tours around towns of historical or artistic interest.