Italia 500 Italian Centre for Language & Cultural Studies

Fantastic experience: I thoroughly enjoyed the four week “Italian for Travellers” class. The classes were tailored to what the participants wanted to learn, with lots of repetition to help you remember phrases. The classes were fun & we even enjoyed some food & drink along the way. I would thoroughly recommend Italia 500 & would definitely do another course with them.

Fantastic experience: I’ve just wrapped up Beginner 1 at Italia 500 and I could not recommend it more highly to anyone wanting to learn Italian! Giacomo is an excellent teacher. His ability to create such a warm, supportive, and fun environment in his classes has been incredibly conducive to my learning. Any timidity I had going in about speaking Italian in front of others melted away by the end of the first lesson, and Giacomo’s energy and encouragement to make mistakes has meant that I’ve walked away from these first 8 weeks with the ability to confidently translate in real time. The Beginner 1 course is practical and conversational from the get-go and as such makes it a great course if you’re brushing up on the language before travelling or aiming to build fluency long term (like me!). In addition to the language skills, I’ve also walked away with a deeper knowledge and appreciation of Italian culture and history, thanks to Giacomo’s ability to seamlessly integrate culture into each lesson. The real highlight however has been getting to know my fellow classmates and learning alongside them! I found our class to be a wonderful mix of people from different backgrounds and life stages, and all with our owns reasons for learning Italian. Everyone was so lovely and eager to learn, which meant that we got so much out of our lessons by practicing together; much more than if we were to be learning online or off a textbook. Additionally, the course is great value for money, especially when you take into consideration the audio files that Giacomo has lovingly put together. Being able to practice at home in between lessons really enabled me to embed what we were learning week to week. TL;DR Italia 500 is fantastic and will give you a really well-rounded and practical handle on the language and you should definitely enrol if you’re thinking about picking up Italian! Grazie mille Giacomo, can’t wait to start Beginner 2!!

Fantastic experience: After just completing beginner italian 1 and 2 I highly recommend italia 500 to anyone eager to start learning italian. The classes are one of the highlights of my week, they are well structured and engaging, creating a rewarding yet fun learning environment. You learn how to speak Italian from the first day and the grammar is taught in the most understandable way. Learning with others in the class allows you to to build on your conversational skills together without fear of messing up as everyone is so kind and supportive and aiming for the same goal. If your lucky enough to get Giacomo as a teacher he is one of the BEST! He not only is the funniest person but is the most spirited and passionate teacher who you can tell loves what he does. Not only does he teach the language but also the culture of Italy through stories, gestures, and daily life. The classes are small which allows the teacher to target everyone’s specific needs, when you or the class is stuck Giacomo is the most patient and supportive teacher ensuring that everyone is on the same page and he makes some of the most difficult grammar concepts seem easy. From knowing hardly anything at the start he’s really helped me gain confidence in speaking Italian and I’ve learned so much in such a short amount of time. I cannot wait to continue learning with Italia 500 and highly recommend it to anyone looking for an effective, enjoyable way to learn Italian that truly sticks. Grazie mille

Fantastic experience: I honestly loved my time at this Italian school. From day one, it felt really welcoming and relaxed, but still super focused on helping everyone actually learn Italian. Giacomo was patient, encouraging, and really good at explaining things in a way that makes sense. I learned so much while I was there, and i'm still using what I learned in my conversations today. It gave me such a solid foundation and i'm so grateful for everything I took away from these lessons! Highly recommend for anyone wanting to learn Italian!!

Fantastic experience: Giacomo was hands down the best language language teacher I’ve had. He makes Italian classes genuinely fun, engaging, and most importantly, very effective for adults. His teaching style is very practical, so you start picking up and using the language quickly rather than just memorising rules. He took the time to clarify each student’s doubts and makes sure everyone is following along. I lived in Italy and picked up quite a few Italian words and phrases, and I had also tried learning through Duolingo, but it never fully made sense to me until I started this course. He explains things in a way that finally connects the dots and makes the language feel usable. In our last class, he put English sentences on the board and asked us to translate them into Italian, and every one was able to construct complete, correct sentences. That moment was validating as it showed how much progress we’ve made. Also a great place to meet like minded people and make friends. Highly recommend italia500 to anyone who wants to actually learn and use Italian with confidence.