Lifelong learning: what it means and why it is important

Have you finished high school and want to take a break before enrolling in university or looking for a job?

Are you a teacher and want to dedicate a period of time to your personal growth?

Are you a worker or a freelance and do you feel the need to deepen your personal interests or acquire new skills?

Are you tired of always doing the same things and are you looking for new perspectives?

With the ABC school you will be able to compete with a new experience in a new and stimulating environment, meet new people and learn or improve your knowledge of the Italian language and culture.

The sabbatical year, in fact, is not only about studying books but above all it is a complete immersion in a completely new cultural and social environment, a different daily rhythm, small new challenges that will allow you to return home and to be a step ahead.

The benefits of the gap year are many and varied:

- You will be able to free your mind from stress: at the ABC school you will study in a familiar environment; The teachers at the ABC school are attentive and professional and encourage students to express themselves based on their knowledge

- You will be able to expand your comfort zone: at the end of the course you will be at ease speaking with Italians in every situation.

- You will be able to dedicate time to your passions: if you like studying foreign languages, if you love Italian cuisine, art, music, history, literature... if you like coming on holiday to Italy, with us you will really be able to broaden your horizons.

Language study stay: how long?

You decide the time to dedicate to your language study stay.

If you are starting from scratch, we recommend a minimum period of 3 months so that you can become self-sufficient with the Italian language: you will be able to travel in Italy and communicate with Italians without problems.

If, however, you think that the Italian language could be useful for your career, then you can choose to take a longer course, up to a year, in order to reach a high level that can be used in the professional field.

The ABC school is also an exam center for the University for Foreigners of Siena (CILS diploma): finalizing the language course towards an official certification of knowledge of the Italian language could be a good idea for your future work.

Which Italian courses can I take?

Our Italian language Standard course has an intensive program (lessons take place every day, Monday to Friday, in the morning from 9:00 to 12:30) but will also leave you space to walk around the city and take some time for yourself.

If you feel the need, there is however the possibility of combining the group lessons in the morning with other group lessons (Intensive Course) or individual lessons in the afternoon (Plus Courses).

When can I start the Italian course?

For beginners we have specific dates but if you are not a beginner you can start any Monday of the year.

If you decide to finalize your study of Italian towards obtaining a diploma, we recommend you to write us in order to organize the time well based on the exam dates (usually in the months of June and December)

Didactic method of teaching the Italian language

Our classes are made up of a maximum of 10 students of different backgrounds and ages: the direct teaching method requires the teachers to always speak in Italian. Students are involved and invited to participate in the lesson according to their skills. Yes, already on the first day of school we begin to make simple sentences in Italian to become, over time, completely self-sufficient in the Italian language. Yours will be a journey into Italian culture through the language of which you will learn the sound, meaning and rules.

After classes: afternoon activity program

The program of extra-curricular activities in the afternoon will allow you

- to get to know international students in other classes

- to continue to speak Italian even after the end of the lessons

- to visit the monuments and museums of Florence with a teacher who is also a qualified tour guide

- to walk through the streets of other cities in Tuscany (Siena, Pisa, Lucca, Arezzo, Fiesole...)

All activities are guided or accompanied by our teachers and there may also be evenings together in a pizzeria, cooking courses, wine and typical products tastings, painting lessons and many other activities that will stimulate you to speak Italian in different contexts and with different people.

Two Italian schools in Italy

The ABC school of Italian language and culture was born in Florence in 1982 and for 10 years now we have also had a school in Liguria, in the Baia del Silenzio in Sestri Levante, one of the most evocative beaches in Italy.

You can choose to combine the course in the two schools and complete your experience in Florence (city of art par excellence, where the Italian language was born) with the sea and colors of Liguria. The teaching method and the books we use are the same. You can write to either school to organize your Italian language course in Italy.

Where will I live when I come to Italy to study Italian?

If you need, ABC school can find accommodation for you.

It is possible to choose an independent apartment, a room with use of the kitchen or half board in an apartment where an Italian family lives or even a room in a hotel.

All accommodation is located in the historic center or in residential areas very close to the centre, so that the school is easily accessible.

If you need further information to organize your sabbatical year in Italy, you can write to us and we will answer all your requests immediately.