Siena Magnifica - Bildungsurlaub

What I liked:
I was put in a class with only one other student which I wasn't expecting but meant quality teaching with shorter teaching hours.
The teacher was quite delightful. The language teaching mainly followed the text book and sometimes used other materials.
My confidence in my spoken language skills improved which was my aim in attending this course.
Siena is an interesting town to explore.
My housing was within walking distance in the walled town. My accommodation was with another lady of my own age.

What I did not like:
It was a very hot time of year. The school does not have air-conditioning but used pedestal fans with the windows open.
Unfortunately I didn't enrol in any culture or cooking classes, so did not meet any other students from other classes.
An opportunity to meet other students would have been appreciated.
My accommodation didn't have air-conditioning or fans, which meant leaving the windows open at night. There was quite a lot of
traffic and people noise in the roads on either side of the apartment at night, the noise echoing off the walls.
I have good earplugs.

Dante Alighieri Siena provides the better of the two Italian study programs I've experienced.

The teachers were always prepared, changed their lesson plans to fit the needs of the students and were kind and responsive to questions and problems of students.

Once I landed in the class that was the appropriate level for me I began to gain a greater understanding of Italian grammar, thus slightly boosting my confidence. Classes were well run and teachers were really helpful & approachable. The school is easy to find and is an easy walk from Il Campo - and anywhere else in Siena for that matter! After hours activities are abundant and interesting. Can't comment on housing as I chose my own accomodation. Cooking classes were fun and engaging and a great way to meet folk from other class levels and also a myriad of countries. Hopefully I will return and further my linguistic skills.

1. Classes and teacher. I loved working with Andrea. I was very familiar with his teaching system as my Italian teaches uses similar, so it was easy for me to fall into the course quickly catch up with everybody. I know other teachers use games, songs etc. but I really wanted to repeat what I have already learned but what have not just quite taken seed into my brain (congiuntivo, condizionale, corcondanza dei tempi etc.). I enjoyed everything in classes. I did not mind the heat, but the seats are horible - when it is 35 degrees outside and 32 degrees inside, I think, it would be better to chenge wooden chairs into somethig where skin could breeth - I was afraid that I would look like I peed myself - the sweat form legs and butt have nowhere to evaporate and I was brewing in my own sweat on the chair. Ask any girl there. Chairs must be changed to padded or at least perforatet during summer.

Also, one fan in a classroom? It is 32 degrees inside. At least put two in different corners so all students AND a teache gets to enjoy so warm wind. I understand that it is not possible to put AC in there, but now there are small ones, where you do not need to destroy the building to install. Just an idea.

2. Location and facilities. Location is vonderful - everything you need is reachable by foot. I enjoyed it very much. As the school is in old building there are some cons. to it, but I did not mind any at all.

3. Activities. It was fun to be involved with not just other students, but teachers as well. O would have liked more history lesosns about all the contradas, the lotery and the race.

4. Housing. Housing was just OK for 2 weeks. I understand that it depends on other inmates, but we had some lazy girls in our flat - unclean dishes, forgotten laundry.... Also, there would be a party every night somewhere outside. It is hard enough to try and sleep in that heat, I do not want to hear people cooking and watching TV at 2 in the moring. Maybe, a little bit further but better conditions for sleep? This should be asked if a student prefers walking more but sleeping more, or doesn't mind the noise in the night.

I personally really enjoyed the expierence. It wasnt my first time in this university but i still learnt so much.

I was in Daniela class and she is amazing teacher with a great personality. It must be really hard to teach different level skills (some of us were better in talking than others). But i really enjoyed the discussions in class and expierence Daniela shared with us. I learnt a lot. The only down would be no AC in classes as it was just boiling hot.
The accomodation however was not great and i would not go back - very noisy, one of the girls smokes in the kitchen and as our room was next door all smoke came to us.. and we had ants in the kitchen. But the host seem very nice!

I also enjoyed after class activities with Francesco and cooking classes!

Great lessons, excellent teacher, good facilities. Ambience was also good.

C’est simple :
–pour quelqu’un qui habite le sud-est de la France aller à sienne cinq heures de route c’est facile.
–Pour un retraité d’aller à l’école c’est un bon retour mais effectivement le séjour à l’école D’ante c’est vraiment très intéressant j’ai trouvé à sienne des cours qui correspondait parfaitement à mon niveau des professeurs attentionné avec un sens pédagogique extrêmement élevé la seule chose que je n’ai pas aimé c’est l’utilisation du téléphone pour faire les exercices ça va si le téléphone fonctionne bien mais à part cette petite boutade tout était parfait à tel point que je vais y retourner à la fin de l’année.
–J’habitais chez l’habitant, C’est une expérience intéressante car la ville est petite et on peut tout faire à pied.

Après cette semaine en Italie qui était pour moi un test je sais ce que je dois travailler la grammaire et les verbes la concordance des temps je m’y attache et j’espère pouvoir profiter encore plus pleinement au mois de novembre ou octobre.
En espérant avoir répondu à vos questions bien cordialement Monsieur Roux

The classes were enjoyable and engaging because the teacher (Laura) put lots of effort in which was really appreciated. The location was great. I don't have much to comment on re the facilities - the feeling was more or less as expected the building seemed like a regular primary/secondary school in the middle of Siena and we weren't provided with anything except for text books, pretty much as expected. I didn't partake in any extra-curricular activities. The housing provided (I had the option of accomodation) was excellent - I stayed with Rosa who was incredibly hospitable and who also helped me to advance my Italian by speaking to me, helping me understand anything that I didn't already understand, so on so forth - very kind.

The class size (only two people) was both excellent and at times a minor setback. My classmate had done 8 weeks of the course before I arrived, and though I have only a B1 (B2 post my time in Siena I think/hopefully (!) ) level of Italian I felt a tad held back by the classmate and think I would have been slightly better allocated to a higher class. The main reason for this is that the classmate did not have a good level of spoken Italian and a considerable amount of the classes were eaten up whilst she tried to form sentences. That is a positive in the sense that she has the opportunity to do so, however I found this a tad frustrating on my side because I believe it put a limit on what we could cover in the class. I think this could be solved by a slightly more rigorous/more extensive pre-course testing process; I only filled completed a test of c.30 a/b/c/d selection questions, and spoke to Laura for about 2 minutes, and I think more testing would help allocate better. Only a minor comment, overall my experience was excellent!

The school is centrally located and well equipped. Claudio was wonderful- as a teacher, with stories about Siena and as a genuinely lovely person. Andrea and Francesco showed us the amazing city of Siena which has enchanted me. Great school with warm and generous people.

I was very glad that I took the combined course classes. I had a beginner course with Andrea Latte and Marta Brogi for individual lessons. I originally took 4 weeks of classes, but i enjoyed them so much and was progressing very quickly, so I signed up for an extra week. It was nice to be at Dante Alighieri during this time of year, as there were very few people and I was able to get more one on one teaching with Andrea in my beginner class. The activities I attended were one night of cooking class and I joined some of the evening cultural lessons to learn more about Siena. Overall I would highly recommend Dante Alighieri and I truly look forward to my return. Which I will definitely take the combined course again.

Thank you for all your help.

Regards, Dia

The teachers at Dante Alighieri in Siena are amazing. I was a beginner, and they helped us get up to speed and get to know everything about the Italian language. The classes are fun and interesting, and the location is great.

The orientation was very nice as well, and it was so much fun to get to know my classmates. The activities were nice. You could choose if you wanted to attend something and there was enough to choose from.

Housing was fine, I was happy with the guest family that I had, but it was sometimes hard because we couldn't really talk. She only spoke Italian and my Italian was not good enough. But that was also an interesting challenge and I think it's better to learn Italian this way.

I enjoyed all of these aspects. It was all great and well organised. As for activities, the only one below standard was the wine tasting, which was €20 for 3 sips of wine, with rushed explanations of each one.

The staff at Dante Alighieri Siena were so welcoming, informative and overall fantastic. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience at the school and learnt about the culture and history of Siena as well as improving my language skills. I will definitely be returning again in the future!

Caterina and Andrea were great…professional, fun and friendly.

Fantastic teacher and beautiful city. Siena is perfect for a short / medium trip to immerse oneself in Italian language and culture. I improved so much over one week and can't wait to go back! The cooking classes as well were so much fun and I felt truly welcomed by everyone at the school

DA Siena was a wonderful place to go to for learning various parts of Italian culture. I signed up for the language and cooking class for 1 week with housing. I had researched many different options for classes across Italy and found that DA Siena was the most convenient with its different course options. The language class was perfectly structured and loved my teacher Laura who had plenty of patience for a class full of total beginners. The cooking classes were also nice with great teachers and menus but we had too many people on one of the days which meant we did not really get to participate in making the meals with so many people watching the instructors. The housing was in an apartment with university students and I appreciated this venue of immersion as well. For everything that is included, I think it was a great experience and great value and I came away with a lot of knowledge I did not have before.

The teachers were excellent and full of heart and passion
the school was in a good location

The school also the classes are old but Siena is an old town so.. :)

My teacher was very kind, smart and great teacher.

Location of the school I liked very much (10 min from my hotel).

Overall i enjoyd my stay very much. The teachers were welcoming, put a bit pressure on us in regards to speaking. Could be more of that, but being a beginner its hard anyway. I was a bit concerned being placed in a class with teenagers. But was offered to change due to this. I declined and it worked out fine anyway since we were all in the same "Place".
I really enjoyed the enthusiasm of the teachers and i believe i had the best homestay.

We were 4 students in the class. The lessons were interesting. The teacher was very good. The school is located in the city of Siena near by the dome. The class room was small and simple. The activities like cooking, bibliothek, degustations, museum-tours, e.t.c were super.

Because it is already the second time I went to Siena, the situation was almost the same as four years ago.
The teachers are good, the classes are small (positive), and the activities were interesting.

I liked Siene teachers coocking lesson and housing

My language skills improved a lot! Especially the teacher were so good, I'll come back one day.
They have big professional kitchen for the cooking class in the building, that's why I decided to attend this school.
The host family were also great, so I really enjoyed Italian life there.

My stay in Siena was so good!
The lessons were well organized and Ilene, our teacher, was helpful and motivating. The other teachers we met were kind too. Together with other students, especially seminarians, we had a good atmosphere. A point that was not perfect was the location of the school, but this disadvantage is not so bad. The school building was good and since there is air conditioning that’s a great advantage! My friend and I have done some activities in school that we liked a lot. The choices and the different activities were impressive.
We also booked a course in which we went to historic sites with Andrea who was passionate about it.
The accommodation of Mrs. Adriana Chiantini was so good, we had a room together which was quite large. Dinner, that there was always three courses (first course - main course - garden fresh fruits), was typical Italian food every night and it was excellent. Together with two other students of the Danti Alighieri School and Adriana grandmother, we always had a good time. The ultimate detriment of this accommodation was the distance of the historic center of Siena and the buses were very confusing.

Here in Vienna, it has many advantages to the Italian lessons, especially when we talk, because by stay in Siena I can speak more fluently. I noticed that I can also write better and I have more vocabulary.
I cannot wait to go back to Siena! :)
Greetings to all (sopratutti to Ilene, Adriana and Andrea),
Matthias Guschelbauer

The cooking classes took place in a wonderful spacious kitchen with work stations for all the students. The location was extremely convenient and walking distance to anywhere in Siena. Both instructors made sure everyone was involved and took time to let us practice the techniques for each meal. Since I took a number of classes, the school made sure they were not repeating any menu items and I always had a fresh recipe to undertake. There was a translator available for every session and she was a highlight of the experience. This was a great experience, very reasonable price for all that was delivered. It was worth a month in Siena to be able to take all the classes I had.

I had a great time in Siena and learned both much about Tuscany and about the language. It was an advantage to be in a small class and to have the possibility to speak as much as possible in Italian. Thank you very much for a great experience! Next year, my wife will visit the course...
Your,
David

My class was small and diverse, yet wonderfully congenial. We spanned ages 16-60: an Australian high school student, a German-speaking Swiss retired nurse, a college-aged Japanese man, and me - a pianist from New York. At the beginning of each session, we were tentative; by the end of each class we were doing plays, charades, games and feeling fluent in Italian. The atmosphere was supportive and fun, because our teacher, Andrea, was patient, engaging, encouraging and kept the classes moving with a range of lessons and activities. At the beginning of my course I felt a little lost. Half-way through I felt confident. By the end of my week there, I wanted to stay longer - such a great time, and I learned so much.
I had never been to Siena before and found it to be a perfect little city - a jewel in Tuscany.
My only regret is that I only studied for one week! I think two weeks would have been perfect.

Although my daughter and I very much enjoyed Siena, Dante Alighieri was nothing like we were led to believe. First, we followed up with all the prerequisite questionnaires and testing, and the information were apparently not all received. As a consequence, we were both placed in classes that were much below our level. My daughter has been in an Italian immersion school since she was 2.5 years old and I have been traveling back and forth to my family in Rome since I was born. We each had our goals: she, to improve her vocabulary and fluency and I to perfect my grammar. When I realized our being placed in low level Italian courses upon arriving, I spoke with the school director who appeared upset about having to move my daughter into another class (I am a mother, so of course I focused on my daughter first). Although she eventually complied, she only moved her up one level instead of the 2 she required. I was quite taken back by this and didn't want to approach her regarding my needs or further addressing my daughter's. When I spoke to my teacher and she said that it would work out and that the class would still be helpful to me. This did not turn out to be the case but as I was going to be there only a week, it rapidly became too late to pursue it. I tried to grin and bear it and just enjoy whatever I could. However, I was not able to bear it any longer when upon leaving I was told that I would not be getting my complete book deposit; although they said it was their rule, I was never told. I was annoyed not at the money but just again being misled, and stated my annoyance. Then the director, being told of my displeasure, confronted me as I was coming out of the ladies room and made insulting comments regarding my being American and having poor manners towards her staff regarding the book. Of course, this upset me greatly, especially since I have dual nationality and my family lives in Rome! In addition, I felt it was a very unwise statement since her school seems to cater to many American clients! I admit, then losing my temper and, in fluent Italian (which she admitted was very good) told her of my disappointment and how they failed in directing me and my daughter. She had little response but did say she could have offered private lessons but they were expensive, implying that I couldn't afford it? This was a strange statement after my daughter and I had flown to Italy, paid 2 tuition fees, and rented an apartment in Siena for a week only to get little out of it. This confrontation of course left both me and my daughter feeling awful and ruined our whole trip. I would never recommend this program to anyone and am, in fact, preparing to make sure no other students from my daughter's school ever chose to go there.

It was a challenge at the beginning, but with really good teachers and a good support network it became a very good experience.

The classes were lots of fun. The teacher very lively, entertaining, got us all to speak. The location is very convenient. Although the internet never worked while I was there--a bit of a problem. The classrooms were very cold in April. I did not enjoy the housing provided. The living quarters plus bathroom were fine, but food hygiene and quality were a problem.

The course in your school was a very good experience for me (55 years old). I learnt Italian language as a hobby at the night school in Germany. After my work in a hospital. A few members of our Italian course wanted to enrich our skills and visit your course in Siena. Why Siena? A friend of mine had already visited a course at your school before and recommended your school. I had never been to Siena before that time. So we decided to enroll in your course and we were not disappointed. You have highly motivated teachers. Very professional, helpful and polite. I liked the lecture about Palio and the final visit to a bar together. Thank you, that my husband (who did not visit the course, but accompanied me to Siena) could come with me to the Markt (Mercato with Enzo) and to the bar and to the lectures. The location of the school is very good, situated in the old town.

We found the place for our stay (Porta Piscini Residence) and that was also very good. After visiting the course we went to Isola d`Elba for a week. I love Italy! Maybe we will visit you course on Dante Alligheri in some other place in Italy. My language skills have certainly improved, but one cannot expect very much in only one week. Anyway I think I can speak a little better.

Cari saluti di Germania!
Yours Mariola

I am a fan of the home tuition program. After having done it at Siena, I did the program also at Viterbo and in Ischia. The combination of professional lessons with a full integration into a family is, for me the best way to learn the Italian language. But it is much more than just improving language skills. The main motivational driver is to feel and fall in love with the Italian way of life. Also for that my stay at Siena was really perfect. When living together with the family of Sonia, Rebecca and Pino, I learned so much about Italian life, culture, history, politics and cooking. And a nice outcome of our interesting discussions was that my Italian improved a lot.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the Dante Alighieri School in Siena. The teachers were very welcoming, qualified and knew so much about teaching Italian to a wide range of students. I stayed with a host family and that was a very good but challenging experience. I felt very lost and in over my head (because my language skills was not that good) but it felt like I improved a lot. I did not like having to take public transportation at night, however, since I was by myself and would have appreciated a way to be closer to the school in order to feel safer as a young single female at night.

I found the school to be accommodating with regards to my needs and very good at enforcing the only speaking Italian with the employees. Sometimes it was difficult with the number of American students who did not really want to speak Italian all the time, though.

Cristina and Claudio were my teachers and they both helped me a lot. Claudio's one-on-one tutoring made me so much more confident in my speaking skills and really encouraged me to work hard and challenge myself. Thank you, Claudio!

I left comments already at the end of the course. You might be able to find them again.

I was in Enzo's class and enjoyed it a lot. My Italian got better and better and I did an exam at the end, which I passed easily. We had lots of fun in class although there were not a lot of students that time since it was winter. The only thing I didn't like was the coldness in the classrooms, but I've lived around Siena for a year so I know it's not easy with the heating. All in all it was great, thank you!

I cannot think of one simple thing that I did not like. The teachers were very, very nice. The activities are very instructive. The school's location is ideal. I have learned a lot. After four weeks, I was very sad to leave the school.

I recommend Dante Alighieri: Siena to anyone, young and old.

I spent one month studying at the Dante Alighieri. The front desk staff is extremely helpful and go above and beyond in every way. They helped me with finding a fantastic apartment to rent, helped coordinate transportation over the weekends if I was leaving the city.

The school offers a large variety of social events to choose from and creates an inclusive environment where you can instantly feel like a friend.

I have group classes every morning and private classes every afternoon. In the afternoon I was able to choose if I wanted a 1 on 1 classroom environment or if I wanted to do different things around the city with my tutor.

It was a truly immersive experience and I impressed myself by how good my Italian was by the time I left. I wish I didn't have to leave at all! I'm already looking forward to going back for more!

My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed this chance to learn a bit more of the language and experience "country living" in a truly remarkable setting. Our hosts were extremely helpful and superbly gracious. The meals were delicious and varied and cooked superbly. Our teacher was encouraging and exuberant. We thoroughly enjoyed her excellent and expertly informed "private " museum tours. Our hosts transported us into Siena and surrounding points of interest.
Although the location was totally wonderful, I suspect that lodging in the town itself would have been more helpful in upgrading our Italian fluency.

I always wanted to go to Europe and study as a real student would. Unfortunately, I could only stay two weeks and wish I had the chance to stay longer. My teachers were very friendly and encouraging but also made sure to continually educate me and the other students in my class. The teachers also were kind enough to include my husband in any activities even though he was not attending the school. One of the highlights of the trip was when the school took us to the Palio events along with a dinner in one of the contradas.

For the housing, we stayed in an apartment in historic Siena which was beautiful and convenient going to school. We found the apartment ourselves and did not go through the school to organize our living arrangements for those two weeks. The only complaint I have is that it seemed that Siena has a big problem with bed bugs. I wish someone had mentioned that to us in advance, I would have taken precautions as it took me and my husband two weeks to figure it out and many other students had the same complaint.

The school, the host, the language courses, the cooking classes - everything was very rewarding and conducted at the highest professional level. I am very happy about the experience of learning the language and enjoying beautiful Tuscan countryside and the fabulous city of Siena. Would recommend it to anyone!
Leonid Remenson,
Florida,
USA

I liked the location and facilities, including housing. I also liked the teacher, Enzo, very much. He was always clear and helpful. I was placed in level B1, which was a bit too advance and it was a bit difficult for me to follow other students.

My teachers were wonderful. I was in a group class with another person, a woman from Japan who was a wonderful person. The only problem was that our backgrounds and levels were totally different, so I wasn't able to learn very much during the class. My 1:1 class every afternoon was obviously much more useful.
My experience with my host family (with Silvana Baroni) was wonderful. I learned a lot of vocabulary from her, and she was a wonderful hostess.
I would come back again.
Best-
David

In general, I was very happy with the experience at Dante Alighieri. I received a solid foundation from the universally excellent teachers, both for my morning classes and for my private tutoring in the afternoon. The teachers were truly outstanding: skilled, knowledgeable, and experienced instructors. The staff were always helpful and responsive to any needs.

A modest complaint would be that I seemed to fall between available levels of the group classes most of my time in Siena. I began in a group with well-aligned skills and experience, but quickly moved past them, as a result of my afternoon tutoring sessions and hard work in the evenings. However, there were no intermediate classes available between where I was and a much advanced level. Consequently, my morning experiences in the second and third weeks were somewhat unproductive. However, I was able to move up to a more advanced level on my final week, which suited me well. I wish there had been some better system in place to respond to the more quickly advancing students who wind up with no suitable morning classes as a result of their faster pace.

I expected a class at my level but many levels were together in the same class. I expected an intensive course for one whole week, but I just got a week of a regular class.
The teacher was good. My accommodation was very disappointing because my hostess cannot speak Italian and I could not understand her dialect. The lady's son in law reproved his daughters for speaking their dialect in my presence. I think the daughter wrote her mother's details and messaged them a bit. The lady said her hobby was reading but there were no books or papers in the house. (Could she have meant "watching television" by "reading"?)
I enjoyed staying in her house, which was very old, and seeing how people lived in those beautiful old streets. It was much further to walk than what was stated in the information that was given.
I have severe visual problems which had just gotten worse and so I had difficulty reading the map, and that may explain it partly, and also explain why I had difficulty with some of the classes. My vision had deteriorated unexpectedly the week before I went to Siena.
The teaching staff were very nice.

The school was fantastic. The teachers and the staff were all amazing, helpful, kind and always willing to add something to the experience in a positive way. The housing they found for me was amazing. The school's location was perfect!

It has been a very pleasant, albeit much too short stay.

The organisation was excellent as was our teacher, Cristina, whom we miss. Her teaching was very professional and full of experience and you did not feel learning Italian was difficult. She made it all so easy and flowing and full of humor and little anecdotes and information just about everything. It was all very good!

The location was spotless clean and had and old-world charm about it.

Our class was perfect with an interesting and good mix of students.

The city of Siena proved to be the perfect location for our undertaking. The people are friendly and the city has a lot to offer. The off-season was just perfect.

I took an intermediate level course with a focus on understanding and speaking. I liked the system of the course, i.e. the book, the listening and the way the speaking/the discussions developed. Our teacher did an excellent job (thank you Claudio!) and deserves the top rating. I would happily take another course with him any time.

I also took a cooking course one evening, which was fun, too. Apart from that, I did not notice any social activities.

The school building and facilities could do with some renovation, but maybe that is part of the local flair - it is Italy, after all. Also, the value for money relationship is excellent.

All the people working in the school were very friendly and helpful.

I am very glad I booked the course and I would do it again.

No social activities offered or taken. Commuted each day to my house in Umbria.

It seemed that most of the students were at my level, and as a result the class size of 12 was too large. The school should reconsider this maximum. The class below and above had 3-4. But we were all jammed together. And two or three students monopolized and dominated the class. The teacher did not control this. The class changed every monday, so students that were already there formed groups that were impenetrable. It was awkward. On the other hand, the teachers worked very hard. They spoke constantly, and it had to be draining. The school administration was fabulous, and the front desk staff was the best. The location was perfect, and I personally loved the facility. One of my classmates said he didn't want to be politically incorrect, but he thought the building should be razed. I was surprised. I thought it wonderful. My housing was adequate. The location was perfect. The people renting it were very kind and helpful. I and some of the other older students were disappointed with the outside activities. We thought there could have been more for us to do after class without it being so expensive. The cooking class was about $80 US. Kind of expensive for one night, although it was fun. And the wine tour was about $60 US. We did these activities because we had nothing else to do. Otherwise we were on our own.