Combined Course: Intensive Standard Italian + History of Art

Everything was really good. My test and placing in level was correct. Skilled teaching. Very good activities after school. Everyone extremely nice and helpful.

The school was well organised and easily put me in a group at just the right level. The group of 5 was the perfect size. Our teacher was very enthusiastic and was very adept at explaining things using only Italian. During the week I was there I think we had a bit too much grammar. To encourage us to talk more it would have been nice to get people to talk more about themselves.

I was in A1. My teacher, Ida was excellent! She guided us through the lessons with expertise. She was clear, paying careful attention to our needs, and made sure she didn't move on until we all understood. She was responsive and had endless patience. The classes were well paced, I was never bored nor overwhelmed. The materials and other resources available were well designed and very helpful. The class activities were fun, and there was always something interesting and new to learn. The location was perfect. It was central and there were many places nearby to eat, shop and explore. The afternoon activities were such a nice surprise. Laura was the perfect guide and I discovered so much about Torino that I never would have if I hadn't gone. It was a great way to spend time with other classes too and meet new people. All the staff were helpful and friendly. I absolutely loved my stay in Torino. I would definitely recommend it to others and I hope to return for more lessons next year.

The location of the school is fantastic right in the centre of Turin. It’s a friendly place with excellent teachers and structured learning materials. Would recommend the combined course (class in the morning and a private lesson in the afternoon!) to make the most of the experience

my housing owner and teache of my lessen was very kind to me. I learned lots of things of Torino.

I did a 3 week course consisting of class in the morning followed by a one-hour individual session. This was quite intense but so rewarding from many aspects: (1) the course book/coursework went at a fast but manageable pace and was extremely well laid out, combining reading, grammar, exercises and discussions revolving around specific themes dealing with various aspects of Italian and especially Piemonte culture and history. (2) I had two instructors who were clearly very experienced, energetic and surely worked incredibly hard for us; I think one of the key features of L'Italiano Porticando is the high quality of their teachers. (3) The location in the heart of Torino is unbeatable, the school itself has all the facilities and rooms to make it comfortable and useful. (4). The student composition was remarkably diverse in ages, nationalities and personalities which certainly enhanced the experience for me - the class is small (6 seemed to be maximum) and at least in my 3 weeks each student [some were taking months-long course, some just one week] was so interesting and fun to be around, something I had not really expected. (5) There was a surfeit of afternoon and/or evening activities - cooking class, restaurant-hopping and other dining experiences, art and architecture. I organized my own accommodation so do not know how the school organizes housing.

I would recommend, If possible, attending the 4-week session with 3 weeks worth of the extra individual lessons to get maximum benefit. I hope to return next year to do just this in Torino which has to be the best way to learn Italian and experience the Italian culture and (obviously) food because it has everything (other than a grand duomo) that Italy is famous for but without the overload of tourists, so you really are immersing yourself in the language and its people.

This course for 50+ is particularly designed to get students to speak the language, which is exactly what I needed; and also to learn about Italian culture and specifically about beautiful Torino which were extra special bonuses.

The school was amazingly flexible and divided the group into the appropriate levels allowing everyone to benefit and preventing the feelings of either being left out or slowed down.

Paola, my teacher, was a lot of fun; and, she was extremely helpful in answering my questions and keeping us talking. She made the class pleasant yet she made sure we got what we came there to do -- practice and learn Italian!

To my surprise I thoroughly enjoyed the activities, which I didn't know if I would. Laura led these activities and she is extremely knowledgeable about the history and architecture of Torino. I learned a lot about this beautiful city and Laura's passion made me fall in love with this city, its history and its people,

I needed a break after a very tough year and I could not have chosen a better school or city.

As I mentioned, the teacher was good, dedicated all14 days. We have funny and lot of useful lessons where I learned a lot

I was a little disappointed in the experience. We were a group of 4 who joined 3 people who had been working with each other for a number of weeks. On the first day I felt as if I were an intruder on the class. The teacher was very pleasant but I felt that there was not enough conversation in Italian. I also felt that there was a pettiness about paying for croissants which annoyed me. We really e joyed our trip to Turin but will not be returning to this language school

My partner and I studied Italian in Turin for 5 weeks. We decided to do the intensive study with a private lesson. This meant we were studying for about 5 hours a day not including homework. The classes are also completely in Italian. This was difficult but in my opinion the best way to do it. The teachers were incredibly supportive and wanted to see you succeed.

The pace of the study is fast and if you aren't actively practising your Italian outside of class or completing your homework you might struggle to keep up especially when you transition between the levels.

We wish we could have stayed for longer.

I thought it was a very interesting experience, the school was in a great neighborhood, I received a very nice welcome, the teachers were great, the lessons were excellent. The only problem for me was that I needed more time to process all the new information, which was difficult since I was only there for two weeks.

L'Italiano Porticando was a very welcoming and hands on learning environment. The teachers cared very much about my personal wellbeing and language learning. I was able to learn Italian basics and important conversational skills. They offer a variety of after school activities, that help you learn more about Turin. Faculty will push you to go on optional activities, which is good for less independent students. Thank you for the experience:))

All the mentioned points were satisfactory. Specially, the housing was perfect. The family I stayed with told me a lot about Turin. They were very kind and friendly.

I haven’t had a lot of Italian in an educational setting, but I used Duolingo and Rocket Italian for three months prior. I also have basic Spanish skills. After taking the pretest, I was put in an Intermediate class. It was challenging, but the teacher Monica was fantastic. The school is total immersion, so when you aren’t sure what a word means, they work to make it meaningful in Italian. I found it very successful. The school itself is great, perfect location in central Torino. They give you a 25 minute break halfway through the 3 hour session, and then a five minute break before the 4th hour. They of course have great café available for 50 cents during the 25 minute break. The afternoon cultural sessions were really nice. Lara, the teacher responsible for these, speaks nice and slowly so you can really understand what she is saying. There wasn’t really anything I didn’t like about the program.

My teacher was excellent, very humorous, varied the instruction to include games and team exercises. The management made sure everyone felt welcome and provided incredibly interesting afternoon excursions. I got more out of the experience than I ever expected. I would highly recommend this school to anyone looking to study Italian. Also, the city had a lot to offer in the way of museums, restaurants, etc.

I liked everything around the lessons. Think, this is my first experience about the meeting so familiar people, who their job, not annoying them. I'm really appreciated how they were patient and so opened for any questions. Thank you! I'll only recommended and in the future, if i'm gonna have a plans to find course for Italian language, im sure will be same choice. :)

The location is great, the facilities OK.
The teacher was very helpful and his classes very interesting. He challenged the students every day...

We have cultural activities every Thursday, when we made walks with a lady who explained to us the places we were visiting.

I would like to have updates with additional activities that the Institute have, also to get to know previous and current students.

The teacher was very nice and not intimidating at all. She produced high quality classes with a range of grammar and non grammar activities.
The location was very central and easy to get to.
The break that they had in the middle of the lessons was very nice as they provided coffees and biscuits. However because the break lasted half an hour and with an additional break of 15 minutes later, the course did not total up for 20 hours but more like 15 or 16 hours which was a bit deceiving.
The home stay was in a beautiful house but the host was a bit overbearing (just simple things like telling me off for using the wrong tea towel to dry the plates, telling me off for not shutting the bathroom door when leaving) but was still friendly.

What made me pick this school over the rest in Turin was their promptness and responsiveness during our communications. I would email them requesting information and they would answer me quickly and thoroughly. They were reliable and effective.

I attended classes at L'Italiano Porticando for 3 months. I had excellent instructors and learned a lot - it surpassed my expectations.

The course itself was very well structured, but most of all it was the quality of the instructors that really made a difference. [ A special thank you to Walter - bravissimo!]

If you are thinking of studying Italian in Italy, I would encourage you to come to Turin - it is not as touristy as other better-known destinations, but it has a lot of character, a lot to offer in terms of art, history, culture, beautiful buildings and churches, and excellent food.

Thank you all at L'Italiano Porticando, and keep up the good work!

I really enjoyed my experience. Paola was a great teacher and really adapted her style of teaching to suit my individual needs.

The location of the school was great!

In the spring I attended the course Skypando. The theme was just to talk. The theme was decided ​​by me. The lesson was on time and the teacher was professional and also patient. Now after the course I think it would be useful to also pick grammar. Unfortunately, I did not ask if I made ​​progress. But ultimately, the course was good.

There is a single word that aptly describes for me and my husband our stay in Turin and at L' italiano Porticando in May 2014: fantastico!
The city is extremely interesting and without the qualified guides that we enjoyed, thanks to L' Italiano Porticando, we would not have found so many things!
We looked forward to class every morning. The teachers are simply - fantastico! Patient, funny, knowledgeable, friendly - we learned a lot. We can only recommend staying in Turin and in this magical school to anyone. And if time allows, we would love to come back again!
Michael and Beate

I enjoyed my time at L'Italiano Porticando very much as I felt that it was a well-rounded insight into the true Italy. The class sizes were very small as opposed to other schools in which I have studied, meaning that the lessons are more personal and are tailored to your specific needs. The members of staff seemed to be interested in you as a student and your needs in the language, which I appreciated a lot. They often made specific references to my position as a degree student of Italian (i.e my desire to achieve a more formal italian) during classes, or points of note to those only studying Italian as a hobby. This resulted in a highly personalised experience within the classes, which I find very rare in language schools. The teachers were all very friendly, were able to explain all simply and made me feel very comfortable at the school. I particularly enjoyed the afternoon cultural trips around the city and the weekend day-trips to nearby towns. These helped me gain a wonderful insight into the history of Turin, experience true Italian culture and a great opportunity for language practise. The fact that these afternoon trips were free was such an advantage as I felt you received so much for the money paid to the school, with a mixture of culture, history, architecture and language. All the staff were genuinely interested to show us the beautiful city of Turin and engage in our learning of Italian culture. I loved my experience there very much and would love to return there in the future!

If I were to choose an aspect that I was not as happy with, it would be the housing that I was given. I had booked a home-stay during my course when I was told by a friend that it was in a dangerous area of Turin that was known for housing drug-dealers and prostitutes, and that a murder had taken place there the previous week. As I was able to stay with another family in the city, I decided to cancel this apartment. I would have liked to have received an apartment in a safe area of the city.

Very intense experience but done in great humour and in a very supportive environment. My only regret is that I did not take the course years ago!

One note though: this has been a very hot and humid summer and when there was construction work we had to close the windows - maybe buy a few fans?