Babilonia in Taormina Come and study with us in Taormina, learn Italian under the sun of Sicily and get to know the Italian culture and lifestyle! You can find our Italian language center just beside the famous ancient Greek theater. There are many course types to choose from and our cultural activities will make your language vacation unforgettable. Italian, that’s not just a language, it’s a culture, traditions and a wonderful territory!
The Institute
Our language school was founded at the beginning of the 1990s in the seaside town of Taormina and is the oldest Italian center in the south of Italy. Just a few steps away from the famous Greek Theater our courses take place in a historical villa, the ancient “Casa Silva” with its beautiful garden.
In the garden, which is part of an archeological site, you can enjoy cultural events, giving you the possibility to get to know the local community as well. Enjoy book presentations, concerts or exhibitions! And in the breaks or after school you can sit down for a chat with friends, taking a coffee or snack from our cafeteria and restaurant.
We offer a wide variety of courses: in groups or individual, intensive or just a few lessons per week. Students who want more than “just” an Italian course can opt for our “Italian plus” programs, combining the study of the language with topics such as cooking, food & wine, ceramic decoration, diving, hiking, golf as well as culture courses as literature, art history, cinema and history.
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Programmes
The range of Italian language opportunities provided by the center is wide – there are academic options, such as study abroad programs and academic college credits, as well as general language courses or courses “Italian plus”:
• Italian group courses;
• Italian private courses;
• Study abroad programs;
• Italian plus cooking;
• Italian plus pottery;
• Italian plus diving;
• Italian plus hiking;
• Italian plus biking;
• Italian plus golf;
• Italian course 50+;
• Italian literature;
• Art history courses;
• Italian history courses;
• CELI preparation courses;
• Executive courses;
• Commercial writing.
Certificates and Diplomas
Language certificates are definitely helpful for study and work. Our center offers preparation courses for the internationally recognized CELI Exam and is also an authorized exam center, offering exams dates every few months.
Are you a university student and looking for a possibility to take some courses with academic credits in Sicily? Well, Babilonia offers programs especially for US-American students!
Furthermore German students have the possibility to attend courses that are recognized as Bildungsurlaub in many German regions.
Teaching Materials
We use authentic teaching material in the classroom that is selected from every day life, such as newspapers, magazines, books, radio, TV, or internet sources. It happens quite often, that the communicative tasks do not only take place in the classroom but that the language students also practice them during their free time.
To ensure the best learning results our teachers meet weekly and discuss if students are placed in the class that’s best for them. To keep the groups dynamic and ensure some variety our teachers rotate weekly.
Methodology
The teaching method of Babilonia is focusing on the four language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. If you want to study a language, active oral and written communication is absolutely important and our key priority, still there are also quite some communicative tasks including reading and listening comprehension.
Our method focuses on the individual student, he/she is always the “primadonna” in class. The teacher tries to understand the participants needs and adapt his teaching in a way that the student can maximize his learning progress.
Social and Cultural Activities
Your language holiday includes much more than “just” lessons in the classroom. Feel free to attend our free social and cultural program that is included in the price! Choose from activities such as lectures, sightseeing tours, films and seminars.
In our lovely garden you can also get to know the local community during various cultural events such as book presentations, exhibitions or concerts.
Accommodation
Our Italian language school offers different types of accommodation to students:
- shared student apartments
- home-stay (breakfast, half board, full board)
- independent apartment
- guest houses
- hotels (2-5 star)
Excursions and Visits
Apart from the free social activities, that are included in the course price, Babilonia organizes also various paid excursions, tours and trips to get to know Sicily. During these activities that are usually held in the afternoons and on the weekends, you will get to know really special places, hidden treasures off the beaten track that make Sicily so unique.