Intensive Art History Course (one-to-one Art History lessons)

I had been studying Italian for 8 months on my own and took a class from the College of the Desert in Italian. I thought I was doing well but had difficulty understanding the spoken Italian in my classes. The instructors were great but I was glad that my friend Elaine who had been around spoken Italian as a child was in the class with me. I could ask her if I interpreted what the instructor said correctly.

I did take the placement test that the school sent out but I think I could have been in a lower class than the one I was in. I took this class to stretch my brain and I certainly did that! I am glad that I took the class but I may have bitten off a little more than I could chew, so to speak.

I especially enjoyed taking a cooking class with a local woman during the class --it was wonderful! Also, we had some field trips around Florence and one to Lucca that were very good.

I really enjoyed the opportunity to improve my Italian language skills, which were pretty basic to start with. I thought the work was challenging, but very helpful the teachers for grammar as well as conversation were excellent. They were professional, friendly , helpful and patient. I greatly enjoyed the other students in the class who were from other countries. The extracurricular activities were a lot of fun. Additionally, the various tours to local and remote sites were conducted in an excellent manner. They were informative, as well as lots of fun. We had the opportunity to participate in a cooking class with a local citizen, which was a lot of fun, informative and delicious. Every single person associated with ABC was helpful, friendly, and professional.

I was sort of surprised at how crowded Florence was at this time of the year and if I go back, which I hope to do, I will go to different time of the year when it’s not so crowded with so many tourists.
We received our accommodations through outside Airbnb and the person who was our hostess was excellent. She was very helpful very friendly gave us lots of good suggestions. Our quarters were clean, very comfortable and walking distance to the school.
This was a very positive experience for me and I’m so glad I had the opportunity to do it.

I have a friend who is very interested in pursuing her Italian skills and I am going to recommend recommend ABC to her . She previous experience in school in Rome and she was not happy. I think she would really like ABC Florence.
Thank you

It was nice to be part of a group of only ten persons and being in and about the same age.
It was appreciated to have grammar first and then speaking after the break.
A special thanks to Giulia B. for her very playfull performance and for me, easy way to explain grammar.
Should i have the possibility to study Italien again I will happily take a longer period at one of ABC schools.
Unfortunately it was a cooled April so I was cold most of the time at my house stay, school and other places around in Florenz.

I liked it all!!!!! Amazing, I don't know what I liked more the housing (amazing landlord Muaruska Brezzi) or the teachers or the location or the afternoon activities It was so well organized, pleasant and helpful.

I was pleased to find out what I needed to learn for the future. Of the 3 teachers I had 2 were very very good. The other forgive me but she was not prepared for the class!. lost a lot of time zeroxing. Location was great!. Facilities were good. Activities I did not attend as the only one that was free was a walk to sites in Florence which I was already doing!. The housing was beyond my expectation!. Staying with Anna was the very best of my experience. She is such an incredible hostess. The food was outstanding. My room was more that adequate!. I loved my housing facilities and would rate her beyond excellent. I was disappointed at the end of my week at the school that there was no one coming to say good-bye..a certificate...I had to find I believe it was Davide) to thank him for his teaching skills, and his lovely manner in the classroom. He was my first teacher!. I have been to school in Poppi and we celebrated with a school picture and a little talk and a certificate!. I was also told that another school had water and some treats when you arrived at the class.....this may be difficult for you as it may be too many students. My friend I met at the school spent 1 day there and said that the beginners class was so disappointing that she never went back!. This is sad for me!. Overall I am glad for experience but I do feel that it should be spelled out what is expected for the student regarding visiting the Uffize, Accademy, cooking a dinner. none of this was on the agenda. except the I believe the cooking and then you had to pay for it!. Such a different experience from Poppi!. All was included!.

Loved my teacher Silvia. She was really great and made everything enjoyable. I would definitely recommend the school and especially her.

We were really satisfied, my husband and I, we took the Italian course for beginners (50+). The teacher Silvia B. was excellent, group of students at the same language level, location of the school was great, just a few steps from the historical center. Afternoon activities were also great and especially our teacher Silvia B., put a big efford to show us a large piece of the historical wealth of Florence.

It was nice that the number of students were so high that they could form 9 different levels. Beautifull old buildings - with very bad acustics. Teachers in the upper end. Conversation class with to little conversation and non-interesting subject - there is so many things to talk about and discuss, Both actual things and also about thsi fantastic city - but none of that was the subject of the conversation - instead was distributed photo copies from a book with artifical subjects. This could be improved due to my opinion.

I was very happy with all that, accommodation I had through booking.com

I wanted to have an intensive class with or without other students. I was willing to pay for this.
I wanted to start with conversational Italian so that I could begin using it immediately. Instead I had 4 hours of grammar per day with no conversational training. When I start a new language I want conversational first and grammar following.

The teacher and support staff were excellent; the students were educated and motivated.
It just was not what I wanted.

I traveled on day trips outside of Flornece and visited all the museums instead.

Patricia L McGuire

The school, coexistence, location and facilities are great, with the exception of some rooms in the building going up like a maze (but not a problem)
Everyone at the secretariat is very attentive and careful, the teachers too, didactic material, etc., everything is nice...
In the next opportunity I will prefer intensive conversation, I think it is more important than grammar (Italian grammar is very confusing and only in practice)
Regarding housing, I found it far from the center/school, the heating was not enough and I could not wash clothes because of the heating, I only used the machine once and it took 3 days to dry (humidity, cold and always raining)
But overall, I really liked it. I will repeat the dose.

I liked very much the classes, the teachers and the secretaries.
The location is very good.

What I didn't like :
The school itself is a bit tiny (only one toilet), with some classes in a different location.

Two classrooms are too much near from the street and are noisy.

There are less activities organized compared to my experience in 2019 and especially I had no activity in the evening during the month I stayed.

(+) school is very good located, professional teachers, "daily business" is well organized, class sizes not more than 10 students, age range between 20 and 65+, interesting teaching topics with focus to daily life situations, exceptional, very good guidance to the various touristic attractions in Firenze and the Tuscan region, an overall "positive mood".
(-) school infrastructure (i.e. furnishings, locker rooms) is poor, students meeting room is unfortunately not available.
For me it was a very good, interesting and instructive time at ABC School - I learnt a lot and can recommend it without hesitation!

I liked the school and the total experience. The teachers were fun and professional. The course work was helpful and challenging in learning, but not excessive where it interfered with the enjoyment of the Florence. The home I stayed at was walking distance to the school and many of the museums in Florence. The family I stayed with were welcoming and warm. I especially liked the 50+ activities with our guide Sylvia.

I spent two weeks in the B1.2-B2.1 classes. The teachers were fantastic. The first 1.5 hours was spent learning grammar , and the second 1.5 hours was in a conversation lesson with mixed levels of student knowledge of Italian. I am a mature adult who was travelling alone and was interested in interactions outside of class. I was a bit disappointed in that the school activities were not as numerous as described on the website, and that there was not a way to interact with students who were not in my group but might have been interested in socializing outside of class.

I had booked a 50+ course and due to the results of my online placement test a couple of weeks prior to the start of my course I had been placed in a level B course which was perfect for me, challenging but appropriate.

The location of the school is good. There was a 90 minutes lesson of grammar, a 15 minutes break and a 90 minutes lesson of conversation. The teachers (Vincenza and Silvia A. for grammar, Cristiano and Michele for conversation) had been excellent. Very capable, friendly, humorous, and especially Michele had a very creative way to design the lessons.

The 50+ program also included a 90 minutes walk after lunch break on three afternoons per week. This was accompanied by another teacher with a tour guide license (Silvia B.), she was extremely nice and had a wonderful way of explaining history, culture and art and telling exciting stories. As I usually was the only "50+" joining this walk, this had been a very much appreciated extra lesson of conversation for me.

There have been other activities offered (from excursions, cinema to yoga). I was very lucky with my study group, an international mix (Austria, England, France, Poland, Russia, Japan, Guatemala and Chile) of wonderful people from 23 to 62 years, which rounded off the overall experience.

I am overall satisfied with the school. The location is perfect, and the staff and teachers are clever, competent and helpful. Personally I needed more conversation at my beginner level - so I need to go back! Regarding activities we had the most brilliant guide at our side.

As a senior Australian and only having the English language I found it very difficult as the other beginners spoke either Spanish, German, Swiss/French as well as English. Therefore there were no other students at a raw level of learning. Having said that the teaching staff were excellent and very patient. In hindsight I should have done some form of course before I left Australia but felt at the time it may contaminate my learning in Italy.

The facilities and location were excellent. The activities for the seniors were excellent, I couldn't have asked for better. Silvia was an exceptional guide well as an excellent and patient teacher. Linda was my conversation teacher and also very patient.

I had different teachers for the first week but they changed as obviously I was a challenge.

I was a little disappointed with the accommodation as I thought I was staying with a host but instead was sharing with another student, hence, no opportunity to practice speaking. Also the apartment had a few issues and really needed a general maintenance overview. The area the apartment was in was a perfect distance from the school and in a quieter and less expensive area of Florence.

Excellent school, structured program and fantastic teachers!

I liked my experience. The school is really ready to receive everybody, and they have good material, teachers and didatic to teach Italian. The city is pretty, and they have a lot of activities to do after school. My host family it was good, they were kind and good people.

I just don’t liked it that I couldn’t use the kitchen because I chose to have breakfast. Nobody said me that before I close my course and I didn’t know about it. For me it doesn’t make sense because the breakfast wasn’t that good and it coasted a lot for what I received. It’s bad because it was expansive to eat outside everyday... and it wouldn't coast that much for the family to let me use the kitchen.

But anyways it was a good experience! I appreciated a lot

My experience exceeded my expectations in all of the above with understandable restrictions regarding facilities and activities.
I think that more facilities, although desirable, would incur a price increase in the cost of the language course. Equally, it would be nice to have exciting options for activities in the afternoons but I doubt if students would be able to afford guided tours.Being realistic, personally, I value the restriction of class size to a maximum of 6 students over extra-curricular activities.

The small class size allows the teachers to attend to all students' needs.

ABC school stuff, teachers are kind and try to help at everything. the teachers are wonderful and deliver the information in a very easy way to understand and learn faster.

Florence is a historical city and you can enjoy it to learn more about Italy, arts and the arts schools between 12 - 18 centuries.
the school location is in the heart of the city.

I choose the ABC School because it facilitated my requirement for an elevator but I was very satisfied with the academic outcome. The administrative staff were very helpful. I had two classes: grammar and conversation. The grammar class was somewhat repetition of what I’ve learned in Denmark but the teaching was different. I understood many of the problems better, so repetition was great. My teacher’s Italian was hard to understand the first week but my comprehension improved. The conversation class was challenging. We were various nationalities with very different accents, so to work in pairs were a challenge. The teacher was competent but the level too high. I shifted to a lower level in week two. The new teacher was excellent and I learned a great deal although my ability to speak Italian still needs to improve. I wish I’ve had time for two more weeks.

The location of the school was good and the classrooms in the old building were alright although very different from what I’m used to. Two bathrooms for all the students were too little but we queued!

The location of the school in the centre of Firenze is great. I liked also friendly atmosphere and the way of teaching. The school offers interesting afternoon and evening programs. I really enjoyed the visits of museum with Elise (one of the trachers being a professional guide as well). I appreciated the acomodation in a family fakt just 20 minutes to go.

The school ABC is in an old palazzo and from one classroom you can even see a part of Palazzo Vecchio and hear the bells at twelve o'clock! It was my first time in a language school. My groups were really small, not more than 8 students. In my second week we were only six people in conversatione. That was great and you could learn a lot. The staff was always friendly and helpful. My teachers were really good and did their very best. I enjoyed my time at ABC School. I will come back, maybe to Sestri Levante. I was in Florence in May and it was not so warm this year but nevertheless the classrooms were often quite warm and when you opened the windows it was sometimes a little bit loud. The afternoon activities with Viviana were very interesting and informative. Thanks to the school for two wonderful weeks.

Hi, The school was very nice, the location was the best and staff of the school was also so nice. Just I have something what was not best for me. The teacher in the classroom grammar does not speak anything English so for beginner students was not best choice .So sometimes I do not understand what she explains on the lesson and also her fast system but fortunately I had individual lesson with very nice teacher so she explain me again in better way more for understanding.Teachers for conversation was great funny and so kind. Last week before my leave I changed class room and there were one teacher for grammar and she was much more better like first one so was pity I did not change before.One thing what was shocked for me was average age in the classroom . My schoolmates was 50 plus but average age was more than 60 so I was lit bit disappointed because I do not think I will have class room with pensioners people. I do not understand how can be mix young people with pensioners people because I think so they should have special program school. About program school , they have every day some activities but I participated just for 2 activities.

First, my flight from Montreal to Paris was on time. But I have to wait 10 hours at the airport Charles de Gaulle to arrive to Firenze during the evening.
I was very tired to arrive with a taxi at the location with 40 steps. At home, The women was very nice with me and the appartment was very clean. My room was nice but I cannot see the sky behind the window (I didn't like to see another wall of on other house).
I was happy to be located at 10 minutes from the school and to walk in this nice city. I arrived at the school on time even if I was tired from my trip. All the persons at the reception speak Italian with me and I have to wait. Finally they found a group for me for the grammary ( it was too difficult) and for the conversation.
The second day, I had a new group for the grammary and I stayed in the same group for the conversation.
They offer me 2 private lessons that I appreciate a lot.

The lessons were very interesting and the teachers were very competents. I liked to participate to the differents activities organised by the school with differents teachers.

I had a lovely week in Florence. The classes were challenging, but the teachers and staff were extremely helpful and friendly. My accommodation in Guendolina’s apartment could hardly have been better, it was clean and comfortable and in a quiet but central part of the city,. The location of the school was also good, in a grand old house near the centre of the city.
Things I especially liked:
The conversation classes, Silvia made these classes lively and fun as well as instructive. The afternoon guided tours with Viviana which I enjoyed very much. However the most enjoyable activity was the evening of cooking and eating at Monica’s house. She has since emailed me the recipes so I can try them at home.
Things that were not quite so good:
The school could have done with another toilet, always long queues in the breaks.
My main disappointment was that I had booked an over 50’s group so that I would not be in a class full of young people who would necessarily be much quicker thinking than myself, but unfortunately that is exactly what happened. Also I had hoped to find some other oldies to maybe have dinner with in the evening or do some sightseeing. I had not realised that of course we would be put into different classes according to our level of Italian. This may sound obvious in retrospect but I had not appreciated this when I booked. The other slightly unfortunate aspect was that although several activities were with the over 50’s group, they were all German or Swiss, so communication was not straightforward. I appreciate that this sort of thing is beyond your control, but maybe something for you to consider in the future.
Overall I enjoyed my experience very much and I was pleased that I did it, however I would recommend more than one week, it was not really enough time. I would definitely book for at least two weeks another time.

Die Lehrerinnen waren sehr nett, engagiert und motiviert. Sie hatten Interesse daran, dass die Schüler verstehen, auch wenn sie konsequent nur italienisch gesprochen haben. Der Grammatikunterricht (Silvia) war methodisch gut aufgebaut, das hauseigene Lehrmaterial gut geeignet, um die an der Tafel entwickelte und gemeisam besprochene Grammatik zu üben, aber auch, um einen kurzen Überblick der Grammatik dort zu finden. Die Konversationsstunden (Irene) waren an den Schülern orientiert vom Vokabular her und die Lehrerin hat es in jeder Stunde geschafft uns zu zweit oder in der großen Gruppe ins Gespräch zu bringen! Man wurde immer freundlich ermutigt, aber auch verbessert.
Die Schule ist ein großes, sehr schönes, altes Haus, zentral gelegen. Im Sekretariat wurden wir freundlich beraten.
Die Lerngruppen sind klein, in der zweiten Woche waren wir nur zu viert, was garantiert , dass jeder wirklich dran kommt zum Üben.
Die Nachmittags- und Samstags-Aktivitäten, die angeboten wurden, haben mir sehr gefallen.
Ich hatte ein wunderbares Zimmer bei einem sehr netten Wohnungsinhaber, ein großen und vor allem ruhigen Zimmer mit eigenem Bad und WC, das direkt um die Ecke bei der Schule lag.
Es blieb auch genügend Zeit zum Leernen und Üben und für eigene Unternehmungen/Besichtigungen.
Florenz ist eine tolle Stadt für einen solchen Sprachaufenthalt!
Es gibt rein gar nichts, das mir nicht gefallen hätte - o.k.: der Regen, aber dafür kann keiner etwas!

The classes were excellent. Totally in Italian which is the only way to teach a language. All of the teachers were excellent. All young women and charming.The facilities were fine-you don’t need more than a classroom and whiteboard. The classes were small as promised which was great. The location was fine-a short distance from the downtown core. I particularly liked the tours of Florence-just two students and a teacher. Very good way of teaching Italian in a historic setting. My accommodation was a small apartment about 15 min from the school. Situated near restaurants and grocery stores it was perfect. Who else could say they slept under a painted ceiling in Italy!,
I can’t think of anything negative. They could have a better coffee machine-but that’s trivial.

Most teachers are women, but said this, they do a wonderful job! They are used to teaching foreigners as they do articulate loudly and clearly. The grammar teaching was sufficient and for me a good repetition, but the conversation hours could be a little more lively, of course it depends a lot on the group composition. I am not sure whether I could learn more if I would have been in a higher grade. For sure a two weeks stay would be more efficient.

Our class at least was spacious but the school facilities might be better. However the housing and sleeping facilities were OK and I had a nice host with which I had some nice discussions, partially in English, partially in Italian.

Last but not least we visited a few museums, some piazzas and the small streets in the ancient city. We learned some Italian cooking at one of the teacher's home. This was all very cosy and nice.

I took a one week Italian beginners class and loved the experience. Both my teachers (grammar and conversation) were very skilled and made learning fun.
I only wish I could stay longer.
Highly recommended!

I liked a great deal, all that you mentioned.

The number of students in a class were eight, maximum. All my fellow students had about the same knowledge level of the Italian language as me. The location is grand. In the middle of Firenze, near the Ponte Vecchio and Palazzo Vecchio. Everything is within walking distance. Teachers and staff were great, knowledgeable, bi/multi lingual and some of them are licensed Firenze guides. Everyone at ABC wants the students to have a good time & experience. They also ask the students whether the housing arrangements are OK, and if not, what can ABC do to make it better.
Study materials are fine, standard material and the extras.
Almost every day, including weekends, they organize activities, some for free (lectures about Firenze, walking tours through Firenze) and some for a fee (entrance fee for a museum or transport fees). Great were the tours where a staff member or teacher guides you through Firenze and tells you the history and/or legends. Especially the legends that were so interesting.
They even arranged a special tour to a Stone workshop for my group because we liked it so much in Palazzo Vecchio.
My apartment was great! Opposite the school, with air conditioning, WiFi and near restaurants/bars.
Maybe the WiFi at the school could be a bit better. But, hey, that's only one thing.

My experience with the school was unique and unforgettable. At the beginning they welcomed me ( secretary and teachers ) with much warmth. I felt very comfortable; the teaching method exceeded all my expectations.
The accommodation was first rate, the hostess, Anna was a very, very affectionate, made things especial and provide excellent food. A woman who keeps practicing the language permanently in desktops, with comfortable, neat, spacious home .

I really liked staying in Florence and experiencing the Italian culture. My last day was spent at the beach compared to the city which was very different but I was impressed on how much I enjoyed it! The teachers are very kind and trying to take care of every student individually. Of course that's not always possible and personally I got bored sometimes because I already know a lot but that was okay. Overall, the intensive course perfect! I learned so much and even though it was tough it helped me improve with my Italian!