Hi,

My husband, 6 and a half year old daughter, and I will be moving to Rome for a year. Before starting our new jobs, we wanted to start off our time there with a 2 week language immersion course. We are looking for a program that also offers children's language classes, as our daughter will start public Italian school in the fall. Does anyone have any recommendations?

Ideally, we like to steer clear of big touristy cities and find a place that is more manageable, where we will have daily opportunities to practice our Italian. And given the dollar's plunge, affordability is a factor...

Thanks so much in advance!

-Kathleen

P.S. I spotted two places on the net that advertise children's classes, but could not find any reviews of them (Porta d'Oriente and Scuola Insieme). If anyone has had experience with these schools, I'd be grateful to hear more!

I was looking for a similar course for my children a couple of years ago and also had a hard time finding much. The best I could come up with was also Porta d'Oriente. At least the comments on their own site were good.
Koine in Lucca can do private lessons for children, so you may want to look at that. www.koinecenter.com

May I ask, so enviously, what you all will be doing for a year in Rome?

Well I don't know if it's quite what you are looking for, but Rosetta Stone's Learn Italian package did wonders for my vocab.

Hi Nicole,

Thanks for your reply and suggestions! The Porta d'Oriente program does look good based on their descriptions. I hope someone who has actually done their program will surface. Did you ever get down there? Or did you end up at the Koine program with your children? I will also look into that program...

Re your question about the year in Italy, my husband and I are both professors and our university (based in Chicago) also has a Rome campus. We've wanted to teach there for ages, but have never been able to until now. I normally do research in Indonesia and my husband does research in Latin America, so we've always been heading to very different parts of the world. We are excited.

Thanks again,
-Kathleen

Kathleen, if you find a place for your daughter that will be good, but if you don't, don't worry. We went to Italy for a year and put our son in public school (3rd grade) and he did just fine. The first couple months were difficult but soon he was fluent enough to do well and by the end of the year the teachers said he was doing his grammar better than his classmates. Now Italians are surprised that Italian is not his nother tongue. With your daughter even younger than he was, she will acclimate very quickly and soon be your interpreter.

BTW, you might look at Expats in Italy. There are many knowledgeable people there who have gone before you.

Kathleen, here's a post from someone who went with her niece to Porta d'Oriente a couple of years ago. Not much info there, but it's a start!

Otranto is a lovely town, and the Salento peninsular is well worth exploring. Not much English spoken there, so you should get plenty of practice opportunities...

Jonathan

Hi Jonathan,

Thanks for the link. I had somehow missed it in my search. It helps to know that someone had a good experience there. And through that link I found out about two more possible schools that take children, one in Apula and one in Cefalu..though so far no comments have been posted about how they are as schools.

Appreciatively, Kathleen

quote:

you might look at Expats in Italy. There are many knowledgeable people there who have gone before you.

Hi Jane--Thanks for pointing out this site to me: it looks perfect like it will be very helpful. I also appreciate your encouraging words re our daughter's adjustment to a Roman public school. While my husband and I have lived in Indonesia, Panama and France, all that was before we had a child. I am extra aware of the fact that the year in Italy is our choice and not hers and want to do all I can to ensure that she enjoys her time there. She is excited, but also worried that she will not be able to talk with the kids in her class, so I will let her know that your son had a good experience. Thanks! -Kathleen

Kathleen, although your daughter is younger, she might enjoy Casey's blog (he really is our grandson but we are raising him). He started it while we were living in Italy and so if you go back to the beginning of it, your daughter can see how happy he was and what some of his experiences were. If he were given his choice, we would be liv KZ in Toscana ing there permanently.

Thanks, Jane. I'll definitely show her the blog first thing tomorrow AM. I'm off to look at it now! Best, Kathleen