Visit our sister school in Rome

Learn to speak Italian like a native ..........!!

The city of Lecce and its region, the Salento, have a heritage of historical, geographical, artistic and natural treasures of Mediterranean Italy that offer the careful visitor a relaxing and ideal atmosphere through light and colors, the seaside and the new and cheerful countryside, the people - hospitable yet discrete, the cuisine - light and varied, natural products.

The Institute
The APULIA Centre for Italian Language and Culture, opened in 1994, specializes in teaching Italian as a foreign language. The school is recognized by the Italian Ministry of Public Education, by the University of Cambridge as an exam centre, by AICA for the ECDL exams (European Certificate for Computer Skills), and is in the process of receiving ISO 9001 qualification. The school is located in the historic centre of Lecce, in a free standing 3-storey building of about 2000m², with a surrounding garden and a large entrance. There are 12 classrooms, a Language Laboratory for 16 students, a multimedia laboratory with 10 computers connected internally via LAN and connected to the Internet via ADSL phone lines, a conference room with TV and video, and a gym, all available to our students free of charge.

Methodology
The teaching method is based on communication and interaction with some grammar work. The teaching units are based on linguistic skills taken in the following order: reading-listening, comprehension, speaking and writing. Vocabulary is a part of the reading-listening and comprehension module, while grammatical analysis is when students examine the syntactical structure of the language. To help our students learn quickly and enrich their knowledge of Italy, Domus Aurea helps them develop their language by combining language with general culture. Our students come from all over the world. For best results, communication in the classroom takes place mainly in Italian.

Teachers
Expert language teachers carefully plan the teaching units using modern methods of direct teaching to use the language as a means of communication. The small number of students in each class (maximum 8) allows the teachers to dedicate time to each student individually, meeting their language needs. Highly active and motivated, our teachers also act as “interaction leaders” and are there for the students even during social gatherings.

Teaching Materials
We use the following:
1) Teaching materials: used by the teachers in structured teaching units together with other publications and authentic materials such as newspapers, photographs and advertisements etc.
2) Multimedia support material: basic use of teaching materials like TV, video and computer for multimedia programmes, contribute to maintaining the students’ interest and motivation.
3) Work outside the class: watching films and reading in Italian guarantees the continuity needed for good results.

The Programmes
Before starting a class students take both a written and an oral test to determine their level of Italian. At the end of the course a brief final test completes the evaluation process. There are five language levels: Beginners, Elementary, Intermediate, Advanced and Proficiency. Each level is completed in 80 hours of class time. The teachers employ progressive vocabulary to help beginners express themselves correctly from the very first lesson.

Certificates and Diplomas
A Certificate of attendence recognized by the Italian Ministry of Public Instruction will be given to each student. On request, the school is able to provide certificates in support of Visa and Resident Permit applications.

Accommodation
The school has 20 rooms, single and double, available to the students while they attend their courses. The rooms are located in apartments equipped with kitchen, bath and a garden, within the school complex, just a short walk from the classrooms where the lessons are held. Each apartment, one on every floor of spacious and bright villas with front and back gardens, has three rooms, a kitchen, two toilets one with shower; there are also rooms with private bath.

Social and Cultural Activities
The special feature of Apulia is that we know how to best balance language, art, culture with your holiday, and, after 8 years, we know this is a winning formula. The complete integration of the student into the region is helped by the numerous activities included with the courses: The welcome party, based on local gastronomic specialties and Karaoke contests, the guided tour of Lecce, the visits to country fairs, sagre, and especially the warm afternoons at the beach, and finally the farewell party based on foreign recipes and dishes.