ITALIAN COURSES
Four formats. Six levels.
We deliberately offer four course formats — not seven, not twenty. Each one is built for a specific kind of student. Choose by intent (study visa? working full-time? bringing a faculty cohort? already living in Milan?), not by the number of hours stacked into a brochure.
All four formats run on the same academic framework: six CEFR levels (A1 → C2.2), small groups (min 4, max 12), native-speaker teachers with university qualifications and Italian-L2 specialization, communicative method, and continuous level testing every four weeks. Standard, Light and Long-term are available in all four cities. Part-time runs only in Milan.
Choose your format
Standard
20 in-class lessons per week. The most direct format: a consistent full-time classroom rhythm. Six levels, weekly start dates for most levels, small groups. Study-visa eligible.
Light
10 in-class lessons per week plus 10 hours/week of structured guided self-study. Same documented weekly commitment as Standard, lighter daily timetable, more accessible price. Study-visa eligible.
Long-term (visa eligible)
3-month, 6-month, 9-month, and 12-month programs designed around the study-visa process. Consulate-grade documentation, residence permit support, attendance reporting where required.
Part-time (Milan only)
For people already living in Milan who can't be in class every day — working professionals, university students, parents. Roughly 15–30% of Milan enrolments are on this format. NOT study-visa eligible; it exists for residents.
Standard vs Light — which one?
Standard if you want the simplest visa narrative, you have no work commitments during the day, and a full-time classroom rhythm suits you. Light if you have a job, a family, or you want a lighter daily load at a more accessible price — but you still need a fully documented weekly commitment (e.g. for a study visa or for a residence permit renewal). Both lead to the same exam-ready level if you put in the work.
How a typical week works
The teaching mechanics are identical across all four formats; what changes is how many of these blocks you do per week and where the rest of your time goes.
Class size: 4–12
Minimum 4 students, maximum 12, all at the same CEFR sub-level. Below 4 we either combine cohorts or offer one-to-one. Above 12 we open a parallel group.
Lesson structure: 45 + 45
Each lesson is two academic units of 45 minutes back-to-back — 90 minutes total — with a 15-minute break in the middle. Two lessons per session = a half-day.
Schedule: morning or afternoon
Morning: 10:00–11:30 + 11:45–13:15. Afternoon: 14:00–15:30 + 15:45–17:15. Monday to Friday. Schedule is assigned at enrolment based on level group and capacity.
Level test every 4 weeks
Continuous progression assessment. You move up when you are documented as ready — not when the calendar says so. This is the academic backbone of every format.
Beginner course start dates 2026
Absolute beginners (A1.1) enrol on fixed cohort dates so that a complete A1 group starts together every four weeks. Levels A2 through C2: continuous Monday enrolment — placement test, then you join the right level group the same week.
Q1 2026
Monday 5 January
Monday 2 February
Monday 2 March
Monday 30 March
Q2 2026
Monday 27 April
Monday 25 May
Monday 22 June
Q3 2026
Monday 20 July
Monday 31 August
Monday 28 September
Q4 2026
Monday 26 October
Monday 23 November
What's NOT in our catalogue (and why)
We do not run weekend mini-courses for tourists or "drop-in" classes. Those formats produce flat outcomes for serious students and crowd the schedule of staff who should be teaching long-form programs. If that's what you need, several excellent schools in Italian city centres do it well — we are not one of them.
Where you can take these formats
Milan
City-centre Academy, weekday schedules built for working adults and visa students.
Florence
17th-century Padri Scolopi campus on Via Bolognese, language lab, on-campus residence.
Mantua
Former Archbishop's Seminary in the centre of a UNESCO Renaissance city.
Turin
Modern three-storey campus near Parco del Valentino, 10 classrooms, library, Aula Magna.
Not sure yet? Tell us where you are now
Give us your starting level (or "none"), your target dates, and what you are trying to achieve — a CILS exam, a visa renewal, a semester abroad, a job in Italy. We respond with a concrete plan that says which format and which city fit, and what your week will actually look like.
TO US