If you consider this to be a good idea, think that summer is the best period of the year to enjoy a holiday in Italy. In June and July especially, you will find beautiful sunny weather, with bright days lasting until 9/10 p.m., and at the same time, temperatures never are too hot for visiting, walking and travelling.

In order to encourage foreign students to join and appreciate the “Bel Paese” (’Beautiful Country’, as Italy is used to be named abroad), for third consecutive year and following the success of the previous Special Offers in 2006 and 2007, Scuola Leonardo da Vinci - one of the most important Italy’s providers of in-country Italian language schools in Italy - is featuring again, last minute language travel packages in all its Italian language school centers, located in some of the most beautiful and attractive Italian cities, such as Florence, Milan, Rome and Siena.

The “last minute offer to study abroad in Italy” is a package that includes a 2 week language and culture course and accomodation in shared apartment or hosting family, for students who wish to enjoy Italian culture by living and stuying in Italy.

Italian language and culture courses offered by Scuola Leonardo da Vinci have been conceived to help foreign students in a fast development of their Italian language skills and their knowledge of Italian current culture.

In addition, after their lessons in class, they will have the possibility to attend cultural and leisure activities, enjoy their free time by visiting the city and its surroundings, or have fun during the night with their new school mates in the numerous nightclubs (bars, pubs, discos) of the city. Activities, excursions and nights out are usually organized with the school staff.

If you feel tempted by the idea of having a different, interesting holiday this year, here you will find some last minute offers to come to Italy, to study Italian language in one of the Leonardo da Vinci school centers in Florence, Milan, Rome or Siena. We promise you will have a very good time in our Leonardo da Vinci schools!

Discover our special price for a special offer so, what are you waiting for? Enroll now!
Carpe diem! Cogli l’attimo!
We are waiting for you!

Immagine a lovely place, 10 minutes away from the Colosseum, in the very heart of Rome, but surprisingly very quiet - far from the crazy traffic! Each summer at Villa Celimontanta, an enchanted park situated on top of the Celio hill, takes place the “Villa Celimontana jazz festival”. American, French, and of course Italian jazz-players meet together at moonlight between old pines. For approccimately two months, from 15th June until 15th August every night, celebrating the “hotests” nights in Rome.

The place is absolutely magical, and the music is great. The atmosphere is very relaxed - as in all respected jazz clubs, you can drink beer or taste fine local wines and not to forget to mention that the food served at the restaurant is undoubtly one the best in town.

Do not miss this opportunity, come and visit Rome this summer!

For more information on this years’ program see: www.villacelimontanajazz.com

During Easter time in our Italian classrooms students discover the Italian Easter traditions such as: recipes for the Easter Sunday, traditional cerimonies and events.

In Florence they will know everything about the famous “Scoppio del carro“, (The burst of the Cart), celebrated on Easter Sunday morning.

In Rome, Easter is a big event: thousands of pilgrims go there to hear the Pope’s message from Saint Peter’s Square.

In Milan, after the huge lunch on Sunday, people use to enjoy the Easter Monday by spending it in the big and beautiful parks within the city.

While in Siena Easter is the right time to enjoy the wonderful or to go to some villages near Siena, where people celebrates this festivity with religious costumed processions, as in Chianciano Terme or in Cetona.

In Italy there’s an expression frequently heard:
“Natale con i tuoi, Pasqua con chi vuoi” (”Christmas with your family, Easter with who you prefer”).
Maybe one time you will decide to spend Easter time with Leonardo da Vinci schools!

Buona Pasqua to everybody!

From a survey made by the free press “Studenti Magazine” and the association “Erasmus Student network Italia”, came out that the Erasmus students in Italy generally have problems in finding an accomodation (apartments are always too much expensive), in moving into the University bureaucratic bother and even in communicating with Italians in the first period of time, because a lot of people can’t speak English (and they need at least 1 month to learn Italian).

Thanks to our experience with international students, we are perfectly aware of the problems they find when they come to study in Italy, that’s why we use all our energies to solve these problems.
We want that our students “feel like Italians” and live their experience in the best way.

Our staff, that is able to speak a fluent and perfect English, is always available to students and ready to help them if they have some problems, if they need suggestions about where to find cheap shops and markets, or how to look for a convenient accomodation (we offer free services in finding accomodation to our students too, as apartments or hosting families carefully selected by our staff).

For this purpose we chose to collaborate with some online non commercial tourist guides that can help our students to discover Italy and the cities where Scuola Leonardo da Vinci is located: about Florence, about Milan, about Roma and about Siena.

Our schools are equipped with all the facilities, such as bar/cafeteria, library or internet point with free internet access (this was another problem underlined by the survey).

Last but not least, our teaching staff consists of young teams of experienced language teachers, who have studied at University and have been specially trained in teaching Italian to foreigners (read about our teaching method), since another trouble for Erasmus students was the lack of professionalism by teachers.

We hope to offer another example for our students, on how could it be beautiful and exciting to spend a language holiday in Italy.

Written by Danilo, teacher of a level 3 class 

Behind the school, in Campo de Fiori, there is a market where I love going for shopping. Also the 14th , before my lesson began, I went there to buy something for the dinner… I bought flowers, of course. And choccolates, a lot of choccolates! Then I spent the evening at a candlelight restaurant where I gave the flowers and the chocolates to the students who came with me: we enjoyed very much this Italian St Valentine!

What you can feel studying in Rome

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Here we would like to introduce the Rome’s masterclasses for musicians and Opera Singers.
At the gorgeous Oratorio del Gonfalone, the so-called Sistine chapel of Mannerism located in Central Rome, the Italian language school in Rome Leonardo da Vinci offers the music masterclasses, special events that combine love for music, for italian, for beauty.

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Yesterday, after the lesson, I went to eat an ice cream near San Pietro. The sky was wonderful: it was already 17,30 but there was still enough light despite there was no longer the sun. The colors of the sky painted the Tiber and birds rested on the river.
I did no longer buy the ice cream and I stayed on the bridge to see the panorama until the end of the sunset.
Then I come back home and prepared the lesson for the day after. The theme of the lesson was: “The colors of the sunset”.

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Interviewed about their activities, the Scuola Leonardo da Vinci Director Pier Alberto Merli said that the idea of Gustolab has been settled up “to inform and educate our students to the quality of good Italian food and its ingredients; to communicate knowledge as well as passion towards Italian food; to facilitate students’ recognition and understanding of the true traditions of Italian wine and cooking; and to help them to appreciate, enjoy and discover the culture of food that has made Italy famous throughout the world”.

Gustolab organizes, also:
- lectures and seminars on the Mediterranean diet;
- cooking and wine courses;
- field trips combining visits to artistic treasures, with educational gastronomic visits to local producers of fine foods.

In addition Gustolab offers wine and gastronomic consulting, catering, regional Italian food and wine, products available for purchase.

At Gustolab you will find pleasure, healthy lifestyle and cultural understanding, through the art of Italian Cuisine.

Gustolab cafeteria and lounge is open every day from 08.30 am to late evening.

In Italy, Christmas goes for three weeks and it is the biggest feast in the country. Our schools in Milan and Rome offer a course which lasts one week in the month of December, from the 17th to the 21st, and thanks to which you will have the opportunuty to know lot of curiosities about the Italian Christmas habits.

So, for example, you can learn “How to design your house for Christmas lunch“, or “How to prepare a perfect Christmas menu“, in addition you will discover the important “Tradition in italian houses during Christmas time of Presepe Napoletano’s“.

Moreover, the course includes a lot of interesting activities that allow you to take part to this feast by living it in the Italian way. In fact, gastronomic laboratories will be organised with a “Focus on the typical Christmas cakes”, “Guided visits whit the presence of a professional chef” who will explain you how to prepare a delicious Christmas menu, and a “Practical lesson about floral decoration with an evocation of remote atmospheres through a contemporary point of view”.

This course is not addressed only to students enrolled to our school, but to all the people who are currently in Italy and desire to keep a piece of Italian Christmas, other than learning to speak a fluent Italian.

Therefore, the Leonardo da Vinci School waits for your participation to “Typical Italian dinner in restaurant“, and finally, we will celebrate the Christmas time with a “Final party: tasting of all course prepared in a friendly Christmas atmosphere“.

The course will take place from 17th to 21st of December 2007 …. If you need for further information on this course please visit our website by clicking-on “Christmas Course Milan” or “Christmas Course Rome“.