Dear Juggler, If you are going to Siena, a really beautiful romantic
town, it may also tickle your fancy to spend some time in Florence,
which is just a bus trip away: maybe two hours, maybe one (and that
depends on which bus you get, the diretto, the rapido or the expresso
(or espresso) -- I was never able to figure out which one was the
fastest!).
It may also be of interest to anyone reading this post who's
interested in Italy to know of the possibilities of learning about the
language and culture "on location".
Many years ago, I spent a month learning Italian at the Koine Center
(www.koinecenter.com) in the center of Florence. The center had been
set up by teachers and was pretty young and enthusiastic at the time;
they combined language teaching with cultural and political
information; we interviewed a local politician as part of the course
(all this may have changed); I had done a Linguaphone Italian course
before going in order to start in a class above Beginners.
Here's how they describe the teaching: "The classes concentrate on the
spoken language that you will encounter in daily life in Italy. The
Koinč method involves active participation in conversations,
dialogues, games, and class readings."
In Florence, there are courses starting every two weeks, and you do
twenty hours a week (or more, if you want) for two weeks up to five
months (or a week; it's more flexible than it might look like on the
site). They also have courses in:
------ Cortona: "During the summer, Cortona hosts numerous activities
including film festivals, art and antique exhibitions, and a number of
gastronomical fairs. The surrounding countryside offers stunning views
and walks, hiking, and swimming at Lago Trasimeno."
------ Lucca: "... one of the few Tuscan towns to retain its original
urban structure .... Roman walls .... play an important part in town
life, shielding the streets of the center from traffic and creating a
ring of green around them.... a modern city ... retaining the
characteristics of a little country town where ancient and modern
coexist. ... only 30 minutes from Pisa and the Mediterranean and 1
hour from Florence."
------ Bologna: [not described, but accommodation prices, very cheap,
given]
------ "Orbetello lies in the Maremma, one of the wildest and most
beautiful regions of Tuscany. It's a region of valleys covered with
olive and Mediterranean maquis (evergreens), where horses and wild
boar roam. On the hill summits, tiny villages bear witness to the
legacy of ancient Etruscan centers. The most striking feature of the
region is the sea--particularly Costa d'Argento--50 kilometers of
coast between Talamone and Capalbio, bordered by Monti dell'Uccellina
in the north and by Lago di Burano in the south. An island-like
promontory called l'Argentario is linked to the mainland by two strips
of sand tomboli. Inside the triangle is a lagoon, and in the center of
the lake is Orbetello. Orbetello is a departure point for all
excursions to the inland parks and beaches, offering all the amenities
of a popular tourist destination. The city walls even include portions
of the original Etruscan wall."
The center arranged accomodation for me with a family in the centre of
Florence, a room with a balcony in an apartment on Borgo san Frediano;
there is also the option of more expensive rooms in hotels and
pensions.
It was a real experience of living in Italy with an Italian family and
"going to work" every morning with real Italians, on the buses and in
the streets. It was May and for two days in the month, it rained all
day.
*** I mention all this here in such detail because ... the only reason
I ever did this, is because a friend of mine had done it, and she gave
me the idea. Her course may have been at the Istituto di Lingua e
Cultura Italiana Michelangelo, or at the Scuola Leonardo da Vinci
which has a branch in Siena, and luckily a website at
www.scuolaleonardo.com. |
