Istituto Galilei in Florence Institute Galilei – the School for Italian language and culture courses.
Among the schools for Italian language and culture in Italy, the Galilei Institute is unique in its exclusive specializing in One-to-One, personalized and Small group (max 4 people) full immersion courses specifically designed for professionals, students and everybody who has little time to study but wishes to acquire significant results in a short period of time.
Established in 1985 in the centre of Florence.
Highlights
The Italian one-to-one and small group courses (max. 4 students) enable the students to put the learned grammar structures directly into practice as they assure a high degree of active participation at the lesson.
In fact, the experience showed us that the key factors for quick and in-depth results are a rigorous attention of the teacher to each student, a studying program tailored to the individual linguistic needs as well as a continuous practice of the learned structures under the guidance of an experienced teacher.
Particular aspects of language can be explored or emphasized according to the student’s wishes and needs. The One-to-one courses grant full flexibility in terms of schedule and program.
One week of our One-to-One courses corresponds to approximately one month in a class with other students.
With 3-4 students per class, our Small Group courses are a good alternative to One-to-One course for those who prefer to be part of a group class but still wish to work on an almost individual level.
The One-to-One courses can be started and finished any day requested. The small group courses start every other Monday. Learn more..
Programmes
ONE-TO-ONE ITALIAN COURSES
We offer a wide range of programs from 4 to 8 hours of lesson per day with the option of having included lunch at the restaurant with the teacher, which gives further opportunity to consolidate the practical use of the language by emphasizing on conversation
www.galilei.it/italian-language-courses/one-to-one-courses.html
SMALL GROUP ITALIAN COURSES
Our courses for small groups have a maximum of 4 participants. The lessons begin on fixed dates and last from two weeks on. They are structured in three levels in order to provide a solid base to beginners and train for a fluent use of the language at the upper levels.
The details of our three small group programs are listed on Internet at the following address: www.galilei.it/italian-language-courses/small-group-courses.html
CULTURE, ART AND COOKING COURSES
The courses of Italian cooking, art and culture have a practical teaching approach, which allows the students to learn and experience some of the most famous aspects of Italian culture first-hand.
The courses of Italian cooking, art and culture are offered as one-to-one and small group courses with 3-4 participants per class. All programs are personalized and give good results also in only a few days of lessons.
All these courses can be joined by anyone. No particular requirements nor enrolment in our Italian courses are requested to participate in any of them.
Please see the details here
http://www.galilei.it/italian-culture-courses.html
Certificates and Diplomas
At the end of each course, the Galilei Institutes gives, upon request of the student, the tapes of the recorded lessons and a certificate of completion or a report on her/his progress with recommendations for follow-up. In order to receive the "Diploma Finale" an exam on the whole program must be passed.
Teaching Materials
Our approach to teaching Italian is direct. From the first day of class, Italian becomes the language between the teacher and the students and among the students. The communication in Italian is pervasive and therefore students automatically develop their ability to understand and speak. The small number of students in class helps to highly improve the performance of each participant.
Methodology
The teaching method of the individual courses at Institute Galilei gives fast and efficient results in only a few days of lessons, and has been elaborated and refined during the last 20 years of specializing in one-to-one teaching.
We use a flexible and personalized teaching approach, taking into consideration that mother-tongue, age, interests, study habits and motivation make a difference from person to person in terms of time and ways of learning.
PHASES OF THE LEARNING PROCESS
Evaluation of the student’s linguistic needs and characteristics. According to the student’s profile decision on whether to favour a more conversational or technical-syntactical approach of teaching;
Individualization of the student’s personal interests in order to assure that the course contents (subjects of conversations, readings, writings, etc.) are of his/her interest, which helps to facilitate the process of learning;
Selection of the most appropriate instruments and their way of utilisation, such as conversational activities, audio-visual material, articles from newspapers or reviews, etc.;
Controlling of the process of learning: small tests, guided conversations, graduated exercises in order to verify the results of the various stages of learning, and to decide on the exact ongoing of the studying program;
Interpretation of the achieved results so that the student is aware on what he/she has learnt.
Social and Cultural Activities
Students Activities
Free weekly tours with a professor of art history to the museums and churches of Florence are organized for the students, as well as excursions to other Italian towns and the seaside during the weekend, dinners with other foreigner students in Florence, one-day cooking courses, wine tasting with visit to the farms.
Accommodation
The secretary's office can take care of finding the right accommodation between very selected hotels, rooms, apartments and families.
Excursions and Visits
Usually our courses take place in the morning. During the afternoon, on request we organize many different activities such as:
-a cooking course of 3 hours with following dinner;
-a visit to the Uffizi. The guide will be an art history teacher;
-a visit to Pisa or Lucca (two art cities of Tuscany);
-a visits to Rome, Venice, Cinque terre;
-wine tasting in Chianti – a DOC wine production area, with visit to the winery