Posted by Scuola Appia Vecchia, homestay Italian language school in Velletri (Rome).
Web site: www.scuolaappiavecchia.com

Family Homestay School Appia Vecchia, Velletri - Rome

The Homestay School Appia Vecchia, isn’t a school in the true sense of the word but a small and unique family-school where you will be welcomed by just one teacher and her family. The teaching of the Italian language to foreigners through a ‘total immersion’ in family life distinguishes us from all other schools. Our home-stay formula is the only one of its type. Accommodation, meals, and language lessons take place in the same villa/school at Velletri, near Rome, in the renowned countryside of the Castelli Romani (only 25 miles from the historic centre of Rome), a region famous from antiquity both for its climate and as a summer retreat of the ancient Romans.
As soon as you arrive you will feel that you are a member of our family. You can relax in our sub-tropical garden, which is one and a quarter acres in size, and sample the fresh products: olive oil, organically produced wine, fruit and vegetables, expertly prepared and served as part of home-cooked meals.

We accept bookings for 5, 7, 10, 12 or 14 days and we offer courses in the Italian language at six different levels. Accommodation on a full-board basis is at the home of your highly qualified teacher (c.v. available on the website) who possesses a Master’s degree in Italian teaching and in the promotion of Italian language and culture to foreigners.
With the ‘Home-stay Formula’ everything is included: the price also includes airport transfers, lessons in Italian cookery, four hours of Italian language lessons a day in small groups (one to four students maximum) who will be at the same level as you. We also have courses available in cinema, literature, and Italian culture.

Use of the Italian language from morning until evening will be encouraged, except on courses for beginners. Various guided visits to Rome and neighbouring areas are included in the cost of the course; such as Frascati, famous for its excellent wine; Velletri, birth-place of the Emperor Augustus (previously known as Octavian); Lake Nemi, site of the banqueting ships of Caligula; the Pope’s summer residence at Castelgandolfo; and the seaside resort of Anzio, the site of the Allied landings in 1944 and the summer residence of the Emperor Nero.

You will get to know Rome through the expert knowledge and enthusiasm of a native speaker who will guide your footsteps not only through already well-known places like the Coliseum, but also in the most loved cobbled quarters of the City, where the smell of pizza and gnocchi creates the setting for a magical encounter with the statute of Pasquino (hence the English word ‘pasquinade’) or with the ‘City of Water‘. For indeed, The Eternal City is also a City of Water, and we shall discover this by visiting the Trevi Fountain. Throw in your coin and a few steps away, in the setting of the Aqueduct of the Maiden, there will appear as if by magic a subterranean Rome, a complex of buildings of the Imperial Age; yes, in short, Roman apartments with lots of running water! In June, in the nearby Genzano di Roma ( 3 miles from the School), together we shall visit the beautiful and ancient Festival of Flowers, a celebration originating in 1778. It consists of a carpet of flowers which covers a hillside road, and in particular the 13 scenes created in chalk on the theme of the Body of the Lord.

If you are still in the mood to rediscover ancient tradition, when you are at Velletri you will be in the right place: the procession of the Madonna in May, and the Festival of Grapes in October, will carry you back in time. With us, at Scuola Appia Vecchia, you will have not only afternoons in the garden - and time to relax, to enjoy a game of bowls or cards - but also guided tours to discover forgotten places and traditions.
You will enjoy a total immersion in the past as well as in present day Italy; experience its language, culture, and the style of life of our splendid region, Lazio, and our beloved native city of Rome!

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 15th, 2008 at 3:03 pm and is filed under italian language. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.