The classrooms in Centro Italiano are located in a historic building in the nineteenth-century tree- lined Piazza D’Azeglio. Just a couple of minutes’ walk away is the S. Ambrogio district with its antique food stalls and flea market. It’s an area which has maintained its identity with mainly Florentine residents, off the track of mass tourism.

Little shops, artisan’s workshops, coffee shops, restaurants and theatres make this part of Florence particularly pleasant and lively. Not far away are Piazza Santa Croce, the Duomo, the University and some of the most important museums in the city.

The area is on most bus routes making it easy to reach other parts of the city quickly and easily. The school premises include spacious airy, classrooms, an internet point, a free Internet connection and a peaceful garden.

Management and teaching staff
The school is run by Anja Schultz and Andrea Moradei, who having gained almost 30 years’ experience in the field, they have decided to create this new center, with the aim of offering a variety of programs better suited to the demands and interests of language learners from abroad. Note in particular the customized Italian language programs directly linked to students’ reasons for learning Italian. Special attention is now devoted to the afternoon individual and group programs providing background information to History of art, the Arts, photography, modern architecture and design, political and social analysis, Tuscan cuisine, food and wine.

This new approach naturally led us to consider sharing experiences with the Centro Italiano in Naples, as their centre have been operating along these lines for many years, with excellent results. We should therefore like to offer our students the results of both experiences. Departments Our Center offers three departments: Italian language, Photography and Art.

The Italian language department offers Italian language lessons (group, one-to-one, tutor and residential) and cultural seminars (Art in the Renaissance, Painting and Drawing in an artist studio, Cookery with an Italian mamma, Guided wine tasting). The Photography department offer a professional academic course from November till June, composed by monthly formats, also individually frequented.

The Art department offers practice laboratories in drawing, painting, sculpture and restore. Teaching methods The teaching methodology adopted by our Italian language school favours an integrated approach based on the direct method, with only Italian being spoken during lessons.

Students are stimulated to use the language immediately, gradually working towards an understanding of the basic structures and grammar of Italian. This enables you to apply language patterns learnt, independently, in many different situations. During the language lessons, attention is focussed on students' individual needs and their different learning-styles. For this reason, there is a wide range of didactic activity used in class, e.g. individual -, pair- and group-work as well as diverse channels of communication. Accommodation The Centro Italiano offers various accommodation options in Florence.

The duration of the stay is calculated from the arrival day Sunday to the departure day Saturday. Accommodation details for private rooms will be forwarded at least 7 days prior to the course starting date. Rooms in private houses Single and double rooms with use of bathroom with Florentine families, single households or Italian students, kitchen facilities, breakfast or half-board available 2 star Hotels: situated in the centre of town not far from school, rooms with television and fridge. 3 star Hotels: comfortable and centrally located hotel, rooms with TV, fridge and air conditioning. Independent apartment in the ancient town centre.