Does anyone have experience with a language school that offers lessons for both adults and children? I've done a search of this forum and the Italian Language Talk forum, as well as a Google search, but there is limited information on this.
Someone mentioned a link to a school in Apulia, Porta d'Oriente which sounds great, but it would be nice to have some other options...as well as a report from anyone who has studied there.
We are looking for a school that would meet the needs of our whole family...2 adults in their 50s and three daughters ages 30, 20 and 12 (quite an age span, I know, I know). We are all currently being tutored in Italian but would like to continue our studies in Italy in 2008 perhaps spending a couple of weeks at a school.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kim,
Any of the schools you go to will not be a problem for the 30 and 20 year olds. However, as far as the 12 year old is concerned, I am not familiar with any of the private language schools teaching children. Usually the minimum age is 16 with parent's permission, but that rule is for kids traveling alone. Since you will be with her, you may want write to various schools and inquire about this.
Would you consider taking private lessons, i.e., in a closed group situation as a family?
I was looking for classes for my kids last summer and after extensive searching, also only came up with Porta d'Oriente. So that may be the only option. Please let us know if you find anything else; I may use it for next year.
Thanks for the responses. We are having a good time with the private tutoring here in the US but I don't think we want to do it that way in Italy as a family. We want the experience of mixing with others and the dynamics of a class.
We may just sign up for Porta d'Oriente and I'll report on our experience (which won't be until 2008!). Seems to me that this may be a niche for some language schools to find, offering some classes tailored to families with children.
They don't have specific kids' classes that I know of, but they were very nice about tailoring private lessons to exactly what we wanted, and they were very responsive in e-mail. Anyway, I think it would be worth contacting them to ask.
Does the Porta D'Oriente have separate classes for different age ranges? They do say 5 to 15, but the pictures look like it's geared to young kids.
We are waiting for the 330 day window to start to try to get frequent flyer tickets. For June that means calling in July. So we'll see what we can come up with. I think June is our preference.
I will make some further enquiries about these various schools. The school in Apulia does say 5-15 and I guess it depends on who signs up whether you get kids who mesh with your own...but I think they say that they get the kids together with local kids kind of in a camp-like setting at least for part of the class. That sounds really great and maybe they would work it out to get the right ages. I'll be e-mailing them.
Anyway, I'll be doing a lot more research. Just thought that maybe someone who frequents this board would have some extra information.
Here is a link with details about courses I had heard about in Friuli - a completely different area and maybe not where you wanted to be, but if you're interested:
Hi----I took my (then) 8 yr old niece to Porta D'Oriente last July for one week. We were sort of last minute, but I took her there because it was the only place I could find a class for children. (5 kids altogether--8 and younger) We loved it there, had a wonderful time and went on to travel to the "toe" area afterwards. I do not know if they had classes for the 12 yr old level---ask Barbara--she will tell you. They may put your 12 yr old with adults the same level. MY class age range was about 15-65! (2nd level, I think) My advice--GO THERE! But, I have never been disappointed with an unusal place that I have chosen to visit in Italy. I did love Puglia, and I am still thinking of returning there this year--again, last minute! paige
Thank you so much, Paige. This is exactly the kind of feedback I hoped to get. I have done as you suggested and sent an e-mail to Porta d'Oriente asking about specifics regarding our youngest daughter and how they would accommodate her.
If you do go again this year, please write a report about the experience. In fact, if you are so inclined maybe you could write one about your trip last year. It would be very helpful to many people who want to travel in that area and I'd love more details about the language school from someone who has been there.
Yes, great input, esp as I'm hoping to take 6 and 9 year olds. I too would love some details about your travel after the class, as we'll have at least a week to fill. Have you posted a trip report? Was it horribly hot down there in July? Nicole
sorry for the late reply---summer just is getting in the way! We are now looking at a language school in Cefalu--Sicily. They also take children. I would like to visit our (far removed) family there. To answer some questions--no, I did not do a trip report and probably never will. Yes, it was miserably hot in July, but we are in Fla and used to it--sort of. (I knew it was bad when my neice said---Do we have to take the bus with all the smelly hot people? Can't we take the taxi?" We did take the bus--maybe just to make a point to her!) Summer is our only vacation time--so we go where we can. After that, we went to a tiny town--Zambrone--(via Rome) and stayed a water park resort. don't let resort fool you--it was not posh! But it was fun! We went to Tropea for a day--and that was very pretty too. Funny--I have not taken my neice to a waterpark in Fla--the king of parks--but we stayed at one in Italy! After that, we went to Sorrento--stayed at the Minerva (a splurge-my husband had joined us by then and he loves it there) for a few days, and to ROme and home again. Again--my reccomendation is do a little research, then book it and go! I would love to go back to Porta D'Oriente, but I still want to see other things--and meet my relatives. any questions--let me know! or I can email you directly if you like. paige
I just heard back from Pasolini in Castiglioncello, and they are very willing to put together a private class for kids, but it doesn't sound like there would be any other kids in the class as they don't offer a course specifically for children.
If your goal is to have your child/children interact with other kids, you might try asking whether the people at Pasolini have any suggestions for this opportunity outside of class. Castiglioncello is a beach town, so maybe there are kid-oriented activities there in summer that would be open to visitors. I got the idea though that most of the tourists there are either Italian or German, so I wouldn't expect there to be many English-speaking families. (Not sure whether that is something you would be looking for.)
Originally posted by paigeb: Hi----I took my (then) 8 yr old niece to Porta D'Oriente last July for one week. We were sort of last minute, but I took her there because it was the only place I could find a class for children. (5 kids altogether--8 and younger) We loved it there, had a wonderful time and went on to travel to the "toe" area afterwards.
Hi Paige,
I was so happy to see your post! It has been hard to find information about this school, and it seems to be only one of two schools that offers children's lessons in Italian. We are moving to Rome for a year and were thinking of taking our 6 and a half year old there for two weeks this July for a family immersion. I emailed them a few days ago and have yet to hear back. Can I ask, where did you live while you were there? Any other recommendations regarding the program there and accomodations? Thanks so much in advance. My email is kadams@luc.edu, if you want to reply directly to me.
Best,
Kathleen
Posts: 9 | Location: Evanston (until July 08), Rome (from August on) | Registered: 05 May 2008
Originally posted by LynK: The school in Apulia does say 5-15 and I guess it depends on who signs up whether you get kids who mesh with your own...but I think they say that they get the kids together with local kids kind of in a camp-like setting at least for part of the class. That sounds really great and maybe they would work it out to get the right ages. I'll be e-mailing them.
Anyway, I'll be doing a lot more research. Just thought that maybe someone who frequents this board would have some extra information.
Hi,
I was happy to see your post, as we are looking for something similar. I am wondering which school you ended up opting for? We are a family of three, with a six and a half year old daughter and are moving to Italy for a year. We want to start out our time there by taking a 2 week intensive Italian class. I've only been able to find out about 2 places that offer classes for children--the one in Grado and the Porta d'Oriente one. (I did not know about the Apulia school). Any insights or recommendations you have have would be much appreciated. My email is kadams@luc.edu
Thanks in advance,
Kathleen
Posts: 9 | Location: Evanston (until July 08), Rome (from August on) | Registered: 05 May 2008
We are going to the school in Ascoli Piceno. Our daughter (age 12) has decided she doesn't want to do it, so will be hanging out with her older sister while we study. I wish she wanted to take the class but I don't want to force her...maybe next time we go she'll be motivated.
I never found another school for kids in my research....but the one in Apulia really looked nice to me and I think the next time we go to Italy I will try to go there. I'm curious about that part of Italy. I hope anyone who goes there will post a report on the school.
Thanks for the update! The one in Apulia looks great to us, as well. But I emailed them about four days ago and have yet to hear back. In the meantime I emailed the one in Cefalu (Sicily) and heard back from them immediately. Although they offer classes for children, they said it was likely that our daughter would be the only child. They offered us group rates for 2 daily individual class hours and then proposed sending her to a local school to play with local kids there for the remaining three hours daily that we are in our classes. We don't know anything about the local school (how she will get there each day while we are in classes, if it will cost more for the three hours daily there etc). I'm hoping someone who has been to one of these schools will post something about their experience.
Whatever we decide to do, I will post a write-up here later.
Posts: 9 | Location: Evanston (until July 08), Rome (from August on) | Registered: 05 May 2008
La Piazza di Carolina - http://www.lapiazzadicarolina.com/ - has summer language programs in Italy for children; not sure if they involve adults as well.
Thanks for posting this. Unfortunately, their summer classes for children look like they are all in New york (save for organzied touristic trips to Italy which look to be for adults). In them eantime, I am exploring programs which offer children's lessons in Sicily, and in Grado. In both cases, despite their web page advertised childrens classes, they do not expect to have more than one student and are proposing individual classes for my 6 year old daughter. Prado is considerably more expensive than the classes in Sicily, but the climate might be easier to handle there in July!
Posts: 9 | Location: Evanston (until July 08), Rome (from August on) | Registered: 05 May 2008
I was so happy to see your post! It has been hard to find information about this school, and it seems to be only one of two schools that offers children's lessons in Italian. We are moving to Rome for a year and were thinking of taking our 6 and a half year old there for two weeks this July for a family immersion. I emailed them a few days ago and have yet to hear back. Can I ask, where did you live while you were there? Any other recommendations regarding the program there and accomodations? Thanks so much in advance. My email is kadams@luc.edu, if you want to reply directly to me.
Best,
Kathleen[/QUOTE]
Hi Kathleen, I am just getting the bug to go back to Italy, and just saw your post! Porta D'oriente was a very good school, for me and my niece. She had such a great time with th class----while in the classroom, and when they went out to the beach and had gelato and melone. I loved Otranto----it is such a great small town to stay in before you get to the hustle and bustle of Rome. (wow! what a great opportunity!) We rented an apt thru the school, that we shared with a German girl and a French man. It was just fine---although I had to shush my niece a few times! I would ask the school about a private apt. We met many people who had them---and worked out well for families. We had a great time--met friends thru the school and rented bicycles and cycled thru vineyards and beaches...went to the nightly carnival on the beach.....met them for gelato daily!...etc... My niece and I both took lessons in the morning, then headed for the beach and swimming in the afternoon. One day we took the cooking class offered. It all really worked out well. I would have no hesitation reccommending Porta D'oriente to anyone,--with kids or not. Let me know if I can help you further---- Paige
