Scuola Leonardo da Vinci® in Italy was founded in Florence in 1977 as an Institute of Italian Language and Culture. Since its beginning, combining language with culture was the school’s central concept and trademark. For this, teaching the Italian language at Scuola Leonardo da Vinci is heavily supported by cultural aspects including: courses (art history, Italian food, Italian cinema) and crafts (weaving, pottery, leather work, jewelry).
Scuola Leonardo da Vinci, in 1984, also contributed to the founding of the Accademia Italiana di Lingua (AIL), the professional association of schools, institutions and experts in the field of teaching Italian as a foreign language. The AIL created the first diploma of modern Italian which effectively tests the language abilities of the candidates; according to the guidelines of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). Over 14,000 candidates from Italian offices and those abroad have participated in the AIL exams.
Today Scuola Leonardo da Vinci looks toward the future and specializes in offering courses specifically designed to target age, profession and availability. At the same time the school still brings forward its initial idea that there is no language without culture and by that it has reinforced its research of new methodologies for training teachers of second and foreign language.
Why choose Leonardo da Vinci schools
- Founded in 1977, we have years of experience and specialise in teaching Italian in Italy
- All the Scuola Leonardo da Vinci schools are located in the city center
- Professional and young teachers all of whom have studied at the University level and who have been specially trained in teaching Italian to foreigners
- Our Italian Schools in Florence, Rome, Siena and Milan have obtained the International quality assurance Certificate ISO 9001:2008, as a quality school of Italian language for foreigners, and have regular inspections to ensure that high standards are maintained.
- Members of ASILS (Associaton of language schools of Italian as a second foreign language)
- Italian at every level, all year round
- Small study groups
- Courses start every week for non beginners, see Italian language courses starting dates
- After 1, 3, 4or 6 months the AIL-exam “Firenze” (Accademia Italiana di Lingua) DELI A2 / DILI B1 / DILC B1 / DILI B2 / DALI C1 / DALC C1 / DALI C2 can be taken
- A whole range of activities offered for students to gain insight into the Italian culture
- Variety of students from over 50 countries study at the Scuola Leonardo da Vinci schools
- Friendly and helpful staff that give personal attention to each student
- Equipped for handicapped students.
- Read the opinions of students who have studied in our schools. If you are an absolute beginner, read our suggestions in the section: Italian language for beginners!
Learn Italian in Milan
Milan is the city where the Italian lifestyle meets the modernity and the efficiency of services. Milan is the international capital of fashion and design and hosts one of the most lively cultural scenes in Europe thanks to its numerous museums, theaters and art galleries. It is the city of events, every night there is something to do or to attend and moving around is easy thanks to an efficient network of public transportation, car sharing and bike sharing.
Milan also has a long and glorious history, traceable in its renowned monuments: the famous Cathedral, the Teatro della Scala (the fabulous “Temple of Opera”), the elegant Santa Maria delle Grazie (UNESCO heritage) that hosts The Last Supper by “our” Leonardo da Vinci.
But most importantly Milan is a young city! Thanks to its prestigious universities and academies, Milan is the elected place of education for hundreds of thousands of students from all over the world.
Exciting, dynamic and always keeping up with the times, Milan is the ideal place where to live an unforgettable and unique experience.
The intensive Italian language course is our standard course, and consists of 4 Italian lessons a day, totaling 20 lessons a week.
The lessons are held from Monday to Friday in groups of no more than 14 students, led by qualified teachers, who are passionate about their work.
The lessons begin every Monday for students that already have some knowledge of the Italian language, and every two weeks for absolute beginners.
Our lessons are principally based on spoken communication, but also deal with the more formal aspects of the language (lexis/vocabulary and grammar). Lots of time is dedicated to activities that encourage dialogue and discussion about various topics, from art and literature, to modern city culture.
Textbooks are provided by the school and are included in the price of the course. The teachers use not only these textbooks, but also other support materials (newspaper articles, songs, films and other authentic material from everyday life) to give students the opportunity to engage with different forms of contemporary communication and to improve their communication abilities.
You can attend a course, even for only one week, in all of the Leonardo da Vinci school locations. You can choose between the following options:
- 1 week intensive course: 4 lessons a day, 20 per week.
- 1 week extra intensive course:: 6 lessons a day, 30 per week.
- 1 week extra intensive course, plus 5 or 10 extra lessons:4 group lessons a day, plus 1 or 2 individual lessons a day, 25 or 30 per week.
Our expertise and fantastic quality of teaching, all in the space of one week.
Recommended for those students who do not have a lot of time available, who want to refresh their knowledge of Italian or, lay foundations for learning the language in the future.
The one week courses are organized in the same way as our medium and long-length courses, with lessons that start every Monday for students that already have some knowledge of the Italian language, and every two weeks for those that are absolute beginners.
Classes with a maximum number of 14 students allow you to fully take advantage of your stay in Italy and your free time, thanks to all of the activities organized by the Leonardo da Vinci staff, which range from guided visits, to evenings spent together, enjoying life and each other's company.
The Leonardo da Vinci school offers Italian courses split into 6 ability levels, from beginner (A1) to advanced (C2), according to an assessment system validated by the European Council. Communication is our method of teaching - from the first day you speak Italian!
The super-intensive Italian course is our intensive course of 4 Italian lessons a day, together with 2 extra group lessons a day, giving a total of 30 Italian lessons a week.
The lessons are held Monday to Friday in groups made up of no more than 14 students. The lessons are led by different teachers, who deal with both the formal and more communicative aspects of the language.
The lessons start each Monday for students that already have some knowledge of the Italian language and each two weeks for students that are absolute beginners.
The super-intensive Italian course, due to its 2 extra hours of lessons, helps to quickly develop the practical, communication abilities of the students, dedicating special attention to the communicative aspects of the language.
If your aim is:
to speak in a more fluent and precise way, to widen your vocabulary, to feel more confident in your communication with others and to improve your understanding skills, and to achieve all of this in a short time, this is the ideal course for you.
Classes are composed of people from all over the world and from different age groups ().
Our courses are designed to respond more to general needs and problems, than to specific issues and have diverse learning objectives.The courses are subdivided into 6 ability levels, from beginner (A1) to advanced (C2), according to an assessment system validated by the European Council.
The plus 5 or plus 10 courses allow the student to learn in two different ways: on one hand there's studying in group, where you can benefit from the communicative dynamics, and learning together with others, in a group of a maximum of 14 students. On the other hand, you can also follow a personalized and intensive study program taking advantage of the expertise and attention offered by a private lesson.
For those who have a high level of knowledge of the Italian language, private lessons are ideal to learn in depth about the culture of Italy, its history and the lifestyles of the Italian people.
If, on the other hand, you are preparing to do an Italian language certificate exam, a university test, or an important work interview; with the reinforcement and in-depth learning offered by private lessons, you will certainly succeed and reach your goals.
Our staff are always available to help to organize extracurricular activities during your stay: guided museum visits, monument and church visits, tastings, lessons on various Italian topics (e.g. cinema, literature, opera, or food) and visits around the city.
The Leonardo da Vinci school has locations in 4 marvelous cities - Milan, Rome, Florence and Siena. Each location offers Italian language courses with the same dates, the same prices and which follow similar programs. So, why not take advantage of this extraordinary opportunity?
The 'Tour of Italy' course is a study programme that can be done in 2, 3 or 4 weeks. You learn the Italian language and fully experience Italian culture, staying in all or some of the 4 available cities, as chosen by the student.
The Italian language course is our Intensive course and consists of 4 Italian lessons a day, with a total of 20 lessons a week. Find out more about the details of our intensive Italian course, the location of the course is chosen by the student.
The minimum stay in each city is one week.
The part-time Italian course consists of two weekly sessions of one and a half hours and is directed both towards students that want to study Italian for the first time and those that want to improve their knowledge of the language.
The course is available in 3 different levels; beginner, intermediate, and advanced and lasts a minimum of 8 weeks, which can be extended.
Lessons are held on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 18.30 to 20.00 in our school in Milan and from 18:00 to 19:30 in our schools in Florence and Rome, in classes of no more than 14 students. The course must be attended by a minimum of 4 students.
Would you like to study Italian with us from the comfort of your own home, spend time in a good company and live an unique italian cultural experience?
Our Italian online courses are designed to adapt to your needs. Have your Italian experience delivered at your own home .
The Leonardo da Vinci School offers online Italian courses meeting all your needs and providing maximum time flexibility. Lessons are held in different bands, both in the morning and in the afternoon (GMT + 2).
The lessons are taught on a professional and free platform.
The lessons are in Italian right from the start: our teaching focuses on communication, allowing you to learn Italian in a natural way, through a study programme that combines development of communication skills with in-depth study of the morphosynthatic structures of the language.
At the end of the course, each student will be required to complete a final thesis, on a topic linked to Italian culture (art, history, Italian business.)
Gap Year: detailed programme
1- Linguistic component
480 lessons of the intensive Italian language course (4 lessons a day, 20 a week, from Monday to Friday), 80 lessons to prepare the AIL diploma.
2- Culture component
- History of Art (24 lessons)
- Business Italian (12 lessons)
- Italian Fashion (12 lessons)
- History and Civilisation (32 lessons)
The programme begins with 240 lessons of the intensive Italian language course. In this part, your personal Italian skills will evolve and improve, from beginner and/or basic level, to achieving an intermediate level.
In addition to the Intensive course lessons, a month before the date of the DILI-AIl certificate exam, 40 extra lessons dedicated to exam preparation will be organized.
In the second part of the 'Gap Year' programme, with the students having already achieved a good level of language ability, linguistic horizons will be broadened.
Now, the intensive language course will put more emphasis on written language, communication skills will be perfected and grammatical skills will be consolidated (the programme will be carried out in 240 lessons including 4 weeks of preparation for the advanced DALI-AIL exam.)
Professional courses deal with extensive and well-structured subjects that cannot be covered within the space of a few lessons.
When a student needs to deal with specific topics linked to their profession, we recommend informing the school before arrival, so that the course programme can be better prepared.
These courses consist of a programme with a minimum duration of 2 weeks, which consists of 4 lessons of the intensive Italian language course plus 2 private lessons during which you deal with specific topics of the chosen professional course.
The text books and materials used in the professional courses are provided by the school and are included in the price of the course.
The teachers are experts in the language of the chosen sector and use a vast range of support materials (e.g. articles from economic newspapers, examples of commercial letters and other authentic material from different professional areas) that allow the student to engage with real texts with real practical use.
To participate in these courses, it is advised that you have an intermediate level of knowledge of Italian.
Our professional courses :
- Business Italian professional course
- Italian for banking business
- Italian language for law
- Italian for Healthcare
- Italian for Hotel Industry
- Italian for Flight Attendants
- The Language of Tourism
- The Language of Fashion
- The Language of Architecture
- Italian Literature
- Italian Cinema
- The Language of the Opera
- The History and Language of Theatre
- Tableside Italian & Wine
The intensive Italian language evening course consists of 2 Italian lessons a day (a total of 10 lessons per week) that take place in the evenings.
The lessons are held from Monday to Friday from 18.30 to 20.00, in classes of no more than 14 students.
The course must be attended by a minimum of 4 people. For the start dates of the course, contact the school.
Our Italian language Evening course offers the same quality and guarantees the same high standards, as courses that take place during the day, dealing with the formal aspects of the language, whilst also focusing on the communicative aspects.
Our teachers are specialized in teaching Italian as a foreign language and throughout the course, with the use of text books and other available educational materials, there are many opportunities to use the language and to become confident about its structures.
In addition, our evening course offers our students the possibility to participate in the many educative and recreational activities offered by the school, for example visits, weekend excursions and before and after dinner drinks, so that you always feel part of the big Leonardo da Vinci school community, in Milan.
Modern families consider a new language acquisition as an important value in the education of their children.
Some parents decide to enrol their children in a study holiday abroad; others would like to share this moment, especially if the choice is due to a transfer of the whole family abroad for business reasons.
The Italian Language Course for Families has been designed with this specific objective: to give all members of the family the opportunity to understand and / or speak the Italian language through an intensive group course that mainly focuses on communication skills.
The course is aimed at whole families, with one or more children, provided they are over 12 years old.
Every single family member will be placed in the most suitable class based on the initial level of knowledge of the language. We will pay particular attention to the inclusion of younger students within the classes, so that they can get the most out of this experience.
Italian history books are often full of images of entire families, mass- moving from our country to the foreign ones, hoping to find a well-coming city where to work and raise their children.
We all remember the great migrations to North America (United States and Canada), South America (Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela) and the faraway Australia.
Many families also moved to Europe, to neighbouring Switzerland or Germany and the United Kingdom.
To still “feel at home", Italian emigrants went on talking to their children and descendants in their mother tongue - from the dialect to the modern language - telling them stories and traditions about their place of origin.
The course “discover your origins" aims at offering the opportunity to the descendants of Italian emigrants abroad to deepen the Italian language and culture - the same their parents, grandparents, uncles have already passed them down - as well as the possibility to visit the places of origin of their ancestors.
The course includes:
4 daily Italian language group lessons with students of different nationalities
6 weekly lessons (Monday-Wednesday-Friday) with the following program:
- history of the Italian emigration
- analysis of the region and the place where the student's ancestors started their journey
- study of the dialect spoken in the region of origin
- research on the origins of the student’s surname with the help of the teacher
- planning the visit to the place of origin of the student’s family
The Scuola Leonardo da Vinci offers its enrolled students a free search and booking accommodation service.
You can choose one of the following accommodation options, according to your needs and preferences:
shared apartment
family;
private apartment;
room in a hotel or a residence, of the standard that you would like;
In apartments and with families, you can choose to stay in a single room, or to share a room with another student from the school.
Each lodging is regularly checked by the staff of our school.
All accommodation is situated in residential areas of Milan and can be reached in a maximum of 30 minutes.
SHARED APARTMENTS
Shared apartments can be of different types and the accommodation can be shared with other foreign, or Italian, students, or with the owner of the house. Apartments are completely furnished and kitchens are fully equipped. Therefore, you can cook.
ACCOMMODATION WITH A FAMILY
Families are carefully selected by staff and have worked with our school for a long time, to offer a comfortable stay and an all-Italian experience to our students. As with accommodation in shared apartments, students can choose to have a shared or a double room. Breakfast is always included and you can also book half-board (Italian-style breakfast and dinner). With this accommodation option, personal use of the kitchen is not permitted.
PRIVATE APARTMENT
these are apartments of various different types and in different areas of the city, for those who want to live by themselves or with others, but without having to share common spaces/rooms. The staff of the school provides a service that searches for the best private apartment option, according to the needs and budget of the student.
HOTEL OR RESIDENCE
The Scuola Leonardo da Vinci has agreements with several residences and 3 and 4 star hotels, located either near to the school or in the centre of Milan. A hotel is an excellent solution for those that want very comfortable accommodation.
The secretary is always at your service to help in the searching or booking of this accommodation option.