Just a note to tell you about the 1 week course at the L’ Accademia Language School, Cagliari, Sardinia in March that I recently attended with a friend. I really had a great week learning italian with the L’Accademia school and for me it was an unforgettable and enjoyable experience. The weather in March was by local standards quiet cold for the time of year with strong sunshine, showers and a strong wind during the day and the temperature dropped considerably during the evening. I recommend interested students of italian to check the forecast before travelling and include a warm jacket or coat in your suitcase.
On our first day we were warmly received by both the Director Maura Mattana and one of her teaching staff Floriana. Both Maura and Floriana conducted the conversation in italian ( Floriana also spoke english). I immediately felt at ease and eager to start lessons.
I was nervous of the written language test I had to take to establish our level of italian. I found the test was very do-able and thorough in judging what we knew and did not know. The subsequent lessons were tailored to take account of the test results. After the test we were introduced to Stefania our teacher for the week’s course.
Stefania took us under her wing. She proved to be a very good teacher, warm, friendly, always smiling and very patient (my spoken italian is not so fluent or good). No question was too small for Stefania to answer and this made us relax quickly and encouraged us to learn.
I was delighted that the course was not entirely classroom bound and every day we continued our study in an italian cafe over a cappuccino /latte.
The school also arranged for a guide Vanessa to bring us on a tour of part of the City of Cagliari. Under Vanessa’s guidance we had a very enjoyable tour. I found it very interesting and very much worth the time.
During our week in Cagliari we did a cooking course for 3 evenings with Marina in her own home. We received fantastic hospitality from Marina and her husband Roberto. Under her guidance we made 3 different dishes every night for example: fresh pasta ravioli with spinach and ricotta and fresh herbs (the herbs – all sourced from her garden); ravioli, artichoke and spring onions and ravioli and potato, pancetta and mint. Another night it was roasted artichokes and lasagne al forno; risotto milanese; carbonara and Gattau (a almond and honey Sardo dessert), served with sardinian flat bread (with olive oil and salt) and black olive tapenade (made from black olives from Marina/Roberto’s olive trees).
We also had the good fortune to eat all this delicious food, washed down with a sardo red wine ( from sardinian Cannanau grapes). We communicated through Italian at all times. We were sorry to say goodbye to Marina and Roberto at the end of the lessons.
We booked our own accommodation apart from that listed in the Italstudio brochure. We stayed at Luce Nove appartments in Via Macomer, Cagliari and we found these rooms excellent. Not too far from the school, very clean and tastefully decorated.
Cagliari is a city for exploring on foot and I recommend that students leave the high heels at home and bring flat shoes with non-slip soles ( those march showers can make the ground slippery).
Without hesitation I recommend to any student – Learn italian with L’ACCADEMIA Italian language School, Visit the City of Cagliari – a mediterranean dream and do cooking lessons with the fantastic Marina. I regret I could not stay longer.
