Italian Language School in Florence, Italy

Scuola Leonardo Da Vinci Florence:
Founded in 1977, Scuola Leonardo da Vinci is located in the historical centers of Florence, Rome, Milan and Siena. It ranks among the best known language institutes in Italy and can offer you 30 years experience in teaching Italian in Italy. Scuola Leonardo da Vinci Italian language school in Florence offers high quality Italian language courses for all levels. Our school is situated in a beautiful historical palazzo with a magnificent view of the Cathedral. Located in the centre of downtown Florence, Tuscany, you may reach the most famous sights in a few minutes' walk.

Italian Language & Italian Arts Courses:

Standard Italian Language Course:
The Standard Course is held throughout the year on 6 (monthly) levels of ability. Duration: min. 2 weeks. The 4 lessons are held daily from Monday to Friday, usually beginning at 9am. If there are many participants the Standard Course may also be held in the afternoon at 2pm. There is a maximum of 12 students in each class.

There are special price discounts for long term stays:

- Middle Length Standard Course:  Minimum 6 weeks;
- Long Term Standard course:  Minimum 12 weeks;
- Long Term Semester Course:  Minimum 24 weeks.

Intensive Italian Language Course:
The Intensive Course consists of 4 lessons Standard Course per day in the morning and 2 extra lessons of group language course in the afternoon. In the afternoon session students have the opportunity to increase their knowledge with practice in speaking and conversing. This course is held only in Florence, Rome and Milan.

Intensive Italian Language Course "Plus" 5 & 10:
The Intensive Plus Course consists of the Standard Course Plus additional private lessons (one-to-one). The individual lessons are specifically designed for your specific needs. We offer two kinds of Intensive Plus Courses:

- Intensive Plus-5 Course:  20 lessons of Standard Course and additional 5 private lessons per week;
- Intensive Plus-10 Course:  20 lessons of Standard Course and additional 10 private lessons per week.

Small Group Intensive Italian Language Course:
For students who want to learn quickly and intensively in a small group, or wish to increase their knowledge, the Small Group Intensive Course is tailor-made for their needs. Together with no more than 5 participants they will have 6 hours of daily intensive language course. The Small Group Intensive Course is held only in Florence and Rome.

Middle Length Standard Italian Language Course:
This is our new Standard Course with a 6-week minimum duration to deepen students basic knowledge of the Italian language... at a very special price!

Long Term Italian Language Standard Course:
Students wishing to study Italian for longer periods are especially welcome at our schools and receive special care and attention from our staff, as well as benefiting from our long-term discounted prices.

The Long Term Standard course has a duration of minimum of 12 weeks. With this course, students profit from all the advantages of learning a language in the country where it is spoken. Through our experience in teaching the Italian language, we know that the ideal minimum stay for a course is 12 weeks. Not only you will have more confidence in your language skills, but instead of feeling like you are on holiday, you will be completely immersed in the Italian culture and way of life. Many of our long-term students are preparing to enter university or rounding off their Italian Long-Term Standard Course with the recognised AIL "Firenze" examination.

Long Term Semester Italian Language Course:
The Long-Term Semester Course (minimum 24 weeks) is an extended version of the Long-Term Standard Course. The general structure is similar, but the objectives are targeted on a long-term basis. If you would like to live in Italy for several months, the Leonardo da Vinci schools offer you the possibility of an attractive package. You may start learning Italian in Florence, and after a few months you can move to Rome, Siena or Milan. The curricula in the semester course are the same; thus you can change the course location any time you want and you will make the most of your stay in Italy.

An excellent opportunity to attain a more in-depth and continuous study of the Italian language. You can combine learning the language and enjoying your free time. This course is also an excellent preparation for Master Courses in Art, Italian Design, Italian Fashion or Restoration.

Last, but not least, the Long-Term Semester Course has a particularly attractive price.

Academic School Year / "GAP Year":
The “academic year” is a 32 week language and culture course for students who wish to experience living and studying in Italy.

The course combines not only language courses with Italian culture classes at the Scuola Leonardo da Vinci but the syllabus also incorporates the fundamental elements of level C2 of the European Language Portfolio. All in all, the course offers students the opportunity to see at first hand the various aspects of Italy’s rich history and culture. The course is composed of a linguistic element and an academic element.

Sabbatical Year:
This program has a length of 48 weeks, especially appropriate for students who want to spend a very long period in Italy and take a break from their everyday life. During these 48 weeks your students have the possibility to learn the Italian language from the basis to the high proficient level. They can also combine the language course with cultural courses offered by the school as well with guided visits and sports activities.

Since programs are the same in each Leonardo da Vinci branch, students have the possibility to live in different cities during their stay and so to enter in the Italian culture and way of living. For example: 12 weeks in Florence visiting the Uffizi and the amazing museums of the city, 12 weeks in Milan breathing the fashion and design atmosphere as well as making shopping in the most known boutiques, 12 weeks in Rome, the Eternal city full of ancient buildings from the Roman Empire and 12 weeks in Siena relaxing in the Tuscan countryside enjoying the Chianti wine.

Professional Italian Language Courses:
The professional courses consist of four lessons in a Standard Language Course plus two private tutorials daily that focus on terminology from the selected professional field. An intermediate knowledge of Italian is suggested for those attending the professional courses.

The student can choose among the following subjects like Business Correspondence, Business Italian, the Language of Architecture, Italian for Law, Italian Literature, the Language of Tourism, Italian for Flight attendants, etc.

Italian Language & Culture Course "Italy Today":
For students who want to learn Italian and at the same time become acquainted with the culture and history and the current social and political situation of their host country, we suggest to choose the "Italy Today" Course.

In addition to the 4 lessons Standard Course, you will be introduced to art and culture, history and folklore, press and films as well as the current political and economical situation of Italy. The cultural part of this course consists in 10 supplementary lessons in two weeks.

"La Dolce Vita" Italian Language Course for Mature Students (Of any age):
This course is specifically designed for mature students of any age. Students will learn Italian in a pleasant and relaxing environment, accompanied by a wide variety of cultural activities.

Morning Program:
The morning course of Standard Italian Language is designed to improve language and conversational skills, and heighten the awareness and appreciation of the Italian culture.

Afternoon Program:
Orientation tour of the city; Guided tour of ‘Museo del Duomo’ and the “Santa Maria Novella” Church; Traditional Italian dinner in a typical ‘Trattoria’; Tour of Artisan Workshops (Ceramics, Etching, Florentine paper, Shoemaker, etc.); Half-day excursion to the vineyards of the "Chianti" area, visit to a winery including ‘merenda’ (typical Tuscan afternoon snack).

Examination Courses for the Italian Language Diplomas "Firenze" AIL:
Our schools are recognized examination centers of the Accademia Italiana di Lingua (AIL), and we organize preparatory courses for the different Italian examinations «Firenze» of the AIL.

We organize different course cycles (standard course combined with specific preparatory courses) for beginners and advanced students. The duration of the courses can be from 4 to 48 weeks, depending on the knowledge of the Italian language.

Courses for Italian Language Teachers:
The main purpose of this course is to support Italian-language teachers by bringing their theoretical knowledge and teaching methods up to date. The emphasis is placed on revitalizing linguistic and didactic abilities and refreshing the teacher’s socio-economic and political-cultural knowledge of Italy.

This group course for teachers in Italian is held six times a year with the following program: The pedagogy of Italian as a foreign language: theoretical and practical use, techniques, teaching material / DITALS exam for Italian teachers preparation / Phonetics / Body language Workshop / Exercises / Lessons of observation and practice in Italian language classes.

“DITALS EXAM FOR ITALIAN TEACHERS PREPARATION COURSE”:  This preparation Course is part of the Training Course mentioned above. It takes place during the first week of the course and contains the following subjects: The pedagogy of Italian as a foreign language; theoretical and practical use, tecniques, teaching material / DITALS exam for Italian teachers preparation. Participants who are only interested in the first part of the course, can choose to do it, but the DITALS preparation course will not be recognized by the «Socrates / Comenius / Grundtvig III» program.

Preparatory Courses for University Studies in Italy:
The Scuola Leonardo Da Vinci preparatory courses for University studies in Italy are intended for students who wish to attend Italian Universities. To be admitted to an
Italian University, students must pass an entrance exam.

Since 1977, Scuola Leonardo Da Vinci has offered preparatory courses for University studies, preparing several hundred students to successfully pass the entrance exams for Italian Universities.

Italian Internship / Work Experience Programs:
Scuola Leonardo Da Vinci offers you the unique experience of living and working in Italy. The Work Experience & Internship program consists of three stages:

ITALIAN LANGUAGE PREPARATION:  The first part consists of an Italian language preparation course with a minimum duration of 4 weeks. However, to attend the Internship program, a very good knowledge of Italian is required (proficiency level - C1).

PROFESSIONAL ORIENTATION:  To widen the professional knowledge and to acquire sufficient skills to start a period of Internship placement, participants get 20 lessons of professional orientation course.
The orientation course is normally organized in accordance with the last two weeks of their
language course.

INTERNSHIP PROGRAM:  The third stage consists of an unpaid internship in a carefully selected Italian company for two to four months:

The minimum duration is 8 weeks that can be extended up to 16 weeks (or as long as the visa of the participant is valid). Students may choose from several fields listed under unpaid experience. The position offered is influenced by the applicant’s previous work experience, education and level of Italian. Most of the employ locations are in Florence, Rome, Siena or Milan. Fields of intership: Tourism / Restaurants / Hotel management / Travel Agency / Web design / Web marketing / Design / Architecture; many other fields on request.

Private Italian Language Tuition / One-To-One Tutorials:
Many years of experience in giving private tuition, a flexible choice of courses and teachers experienced in individual teaching programs allow us to offer tailor-made private tuition courses.

Thanks to our proven individual system “LinguaKIT” ©, we are able to suit the private tuition program to your needs with regards to dates and specific areas of interest. Lessons can be freely scheduled as long as length and intensity, from daily 3 to 8 lessons.

On request, the private tuition can also be organized to include lunch with the teacher, to continue practising the new language during the lunch-break.

Should there be already sufficient knowledge of Italian, the participant can also learn vocabulary orientated to certain professions, such as general business Italian, banking, trading import/export, law, insurance, marketing, Hotel management, tourism, medicine and so on.

On request, we offer also “TWO-TO-ONE-COURSE” and “THREE-TO-ONE-COURSE”. In this case, the same knowledge of the Italian language of the participants is requested.

History of Italian Art:
Are you fascinated by the beauty of Italian cultural monuments? Our History of Italian Art course will enable you to understand the History of Italian art and its social background. This course offers an introduction to the most important artistic styles (Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque) and enables the student to become acquainted with the most important art works of artists such as Botticelli, Leonardo, Raphael and Michelangelo.

Courses for Music Specialization (Florence, Milan, Rome):
The Leonardo da Vinci schools in Florence, Milan and Rome offer, in collaboration with important italian music schools, Italian Language Courses plus Music Courses in Italy.

Cooking Courses for Amateurs & Professionals:
Would you like to be able to cook Italian food at home? Our cooking course will enable you to prepare typical Italian meals and to learn recipes from the various regions of Italy. The course is based one meeting of approx. 3 hours a week and shaped for all potential participants, also for the novice who is interested in learning about cooking.

In addition to our Culinary Arts for Amateurs, our schools offer special cooking courses for professionals. We offer 3 level courses and the possibility to take Professional level I to Professional level III.

Courses in Jewellery:
At our school center in Florence we offer Courses in Jewellery, Stone Setting, Chasing and Gemology combined with our language courses, lasting 3 months to one year.

Italian Design Course:
The course “History of Italian design from its origins to the present” has the following program:

* The first decades of the 20th century:  How and why the design had its beginnings in Italy; Furniture between handicrafts and industry; Futurism as freedom of expression.

* The 30s and the 40s:  Between rationalism and autonomy - from Terragni to Ferragamo; The changes in styles of a nation living under a fascist regime.

* The 50s:  Italian design is born - awards and acknowledgements.

* The 60s:  Plastic - the exuberance of forms and colours.

* The 70s:  The big acknowledgement between aesthetics and technology. 

* The 80s:  Post-modern - contemporary classical style;
Abstraction and new colourings.

* The 90s:  Influence and interference of Italian design in daily life.

Italian Fashion Course:
Armani, Ferré, Ferragamo, Versace and many more famous Italian fashion designers are waiting to be discovered in our Italian Fashion course.

The program of the course “The History of Italian Fashion” is as follows:

Palazzo Pitti and the birth of Italian fashion:  Why the Italian fashion was born in Florence; The “Sala Bianca” - the first Italian fashion show; Acknowledgement and success of “made in Italy”.

Graphic fashion and publicity: The influence of art on fashion; How publicity enters the world of fashion.

Italian fashion and the cinema:  From the sandals of Salvatore Ferragamo for Marylin Monroe to the dresses of Giorgio Armani for the new American stars; Fashion in theatres and the cinema.

History of Italian style:  The great masters of “made in Italy”; The new masters of “made in Italy”.

The masterminds of fashion:  From Roberto Capucci to Gianfranco Ferré.

Fashion for youngsters:  From Fiorucci to Benetton.

Drawing Courses:
This course, available to beginners and advanced students, has a duration of 2 or 4 weeks (prolongable) and is usually organized in the following way: Realistic representation of still life, importance of lines in an object’s character, discovery of chiaroscuro and perspective.

The course will be held in two afternoon lessons of about 3 hours each per week. Lesson can be held in Italian, English and French.

Painting Courses
The course is outlined for those students that have already a good drawing ability and would like to learn watercolour techniques.

The initial lessons include the basic techniques of painting and watercolour; students will work in monochrome and progress to working with a palette of warm and cold contrasting colours. Advanced students with a good knowledge of the techniques will be supervised by the teacher with whom students can discuss their work. The course will be held in two afternoon lessons of about 3 hours each per week. Lesson can be held in Italian, English and French.