Answers
Jan 12, 2015 - 11:26 PM
Francene - I would recommend the Il Sasso Italian language school in Montepulciano. I studied there for 6 weeks back in November of 2012 and I am not exaggerating when I say it was the best time of my life. Montepulciano is a small hill town and the school is located right in the historic center. You can choose to stay in an apartment or do a homestay. I chose the apartment option, but looking back I kind of wish I had gone the host family route for more practice. The best thing is that the restaurants and businesses in the town are very familiar with the school and its students and they will be patient with you while you practice your Italian. Also, it's important to note that the program is a full immersion program so very little English is spoken in class. Let me know if I can provide any other details.
Jan 13, 2015 - 12:27 PM
Thank you, I will look it up. Your comments were really helpful. Francene
Jan 13, 2015 - 04:29 PM
kjh5475 - I've looked up the school website and it does look really good. It is not on the direct train line so was it easy to come and go to other towns? It is nice to know that the people in town are patient and encouraging so many times that is not the case. I am thinking of going for 3-4 weeks end of March which will take in the Easter holiday. And, we visited Montepulciano a couple of years ago but this time I am going by myself. Any other information about getting around or the classes would be appreciated. Did you do any of the other activities? I am working on Level 5 how about you? Francene
Jan 14, 2015 - 08:14 AM
You are correct that it isn't on the main train line and that was the one thing I didn't like about the attending the school. It was partially my fault for being lazy because there are buses that will take you to the surrounding towns (Siena being the most popular) but since I was there is November-December, it was really cold so I didn't much feel like exploring :-) That being said, I would definitely recommend going during the spring or fall both for weather reasons and because when I was there in December a lot of the activities were canceled simply because there weren't enough students attending the school. Please feel free to email me at KimberlyJH at gmail dot com if you have any other specific questions. I am not currently taking Italian with Fluenz, but I'm on Level 1 in German. - Kimberly
May 30, 2015 - 11:03 AM
We're going to Door to Italy in October in Genoa. We'll let you know when we get back.
Jun 04, 2015 - 02:08 PM
Torre di Babele in Rome was good. I would/could not recommend Leonardo Da Vinci in Milan, terrible.
Jul 27, 2016 - 07:22 AM
Il Sasso in Montepulciano. I spent a week there in 2012, very good language school.
Mar 19, 2018 - 07:39 PM
does il sasso us a traditional grammar approach? I find the conversational approach to be more conducive to learning.