Centro Linguistico Italiano Dante Alighieri

Expert teachers, good social events, very varied international group of students

The classes are great, the whole Cli Dante team'is committed to your success, progress and will follow up on any request or difficulty you might meet, both concerning the classes or outside curriculum.

I have had 5 teachers (different level classes, diction, history of art, one to one, italian opera/libretto, singing), all of them are excellent and committed to your progress.

The location was ideal to me, just at a very convenient metro station.

The school organised the housing at last minute notice with smile and flexibility.

There was a very good ambiance from the get go, the team is welcoming, sympathetic, and lots of activities are organised to mingle and explore the city, it is very active.

I liked how the classes were structured- it was really helpful to get ahead before the start of school this upcoming semester. I also really appreciated how flexible the teachers were- if you miss a class, they were willing to assist you in catching up. The field trips were fun and helped me learn the area better. I liked the location of the school-it was easy to locate and near many student friendly restaurants/cafes.

CLIDA is easy to get to with the metro, and the interior is nice. All the teachers and staff were sweet and helpful! Elena taught my class, and she was patient and lively. I'd definitely say that if you want to get a good grasp on italian you should do two months of class, and if you're looking to make friends this a great setting. I took the G8 class (lasts until 12:15) and it was the perfect amount of time for me. Would recommend this class to anyone looking to begin learning Italian!

We loved the location, out of the central tourist district but close to the Metro and also close to the Sapienza university (so lots of students around). We arranged an Air BnB nearby at fairly reasonable cost. Local restaurants and cafes were great, generally not at all touristy. My teacher was good -- knowledgeable and responsive to questions. My own preference is for more pattern drill, but I learned a lot and would rate the experience highly. We participated in a few of the activities, which we enjoyed, but for the most part we explored Rome on our own.

Wouldn’t recommend this school. I was told to arrive half an hour before my class starts on the first day to register and take a test. I arrived at 8.30 as it started at 9. When I knocked on the door the director opened it and bluntly said ‘school doesn’t open until 8.45. When I tried to tell him that I’d been asked to come 30 minutes early he rudely interrupted and again said ‘school doesn’t open until 8.45 and shut the door in my face. Then when I came back at 9 we just went straight into class. I had asked to be in a class that runs until 12, however this class ran until 1. Because they hadn’t explained anything I just stayed thinking this must be it. On the third day I was handed a note telling me I had to leave at 12.15. I was a bit confused by this since the class ran until 1. When I inquired about this I was basically yelled at. I Couldn’t believe how rude they were and that they didn’t explain things from the beginning. Considering the class costs a fortune you’d think you’d be greeted with a smile. I don’t recommended this place unless you want to be treated poorly. I would much rather have spent my money somewhere else with friendly staff. It’s a shame though because my teacher was lovely but the people that run the school made it a bad experience.

I liked the school's location; it was very comfortable. Everything in the school was organized perfectly. My group was lucky and we had a wonderful teacher - Stefania. Thanks to her, now I can say that I speak in Italian. I just want to thank you all so much! I hope I will return.

I moved to Rome not knowing any Italian and started as a complete beginner at Club Italiano Dante Alighieri. I was unable to attend the first week of class due to a previous commitment but I meet with Fabrizio before and worked out all the details including what I would be missing and what to look at in the book so that I wasn't too far behind. As a first impression, their flexibility really won me over. This has continued throughout my studies. No matter which teacher I've had the pleasure of learning from, I have always found that they do what's best for each and every student. I work, travel and have 2 small children which means my schedule can be unpredictable so I have taken both group classes and private lessons. Although learning a new language, especially with all of my other commitments, is a slow and uphill battle, they have really supported me in my goal of becoming fluent.

Even though I live close by and walk to school, their location right next to the metro is great not only for students traveling from farther away but the teachers are able to easily organize events for the students to practice outside of the classroom. I have attended art exhibits, happy hours and visits to many parks all throughout Rome.

I still have a way to go to reach my goal but I know that everyone at Club Italiano Dante Alighieri will be there to help me.

Great school! They are extremely student focused, with excellent teachers. They also make an effort to organize extra-curricular activities like tours and aperativo. I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a language school in Rome.

As for my experience in CLIDA, it can be said without exaggeration that the experience was excellent. It was great because I was able to take a course that was interesting to me, and my professors were both charismatic and experts in a particular field. Not only did I learn a lot, but I was also polished in my Italian. The staff was friendly and very helpful, and the central location was convenient.

While I was only there for 2 weeks, I learned a ton! Roberta was an excellent teacher and from the school I was able to understand how Italian functions - a skill without which my time in Rome would have been much more complicated. Would absolutely recommend to anyone for any amount of time!

Classes and teachers
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I had two good teachers, excellent in fact: Silvia and Stefania.

Silvia taught us (beginner´s course) from level 0 and up to at least understanding very basic Italian, and her way of carefully explaining is excellent (I am referring to explaining everything; how to use the language, why and why not like that or this, the way a certain grammar works, etc).

A lot of the things I learnt later, too. I learnt because she had done such good groundwork. Also, she was considerate, kind and fun.

Stefania taught us after that and with her I started to understand very much Italian, although during the second course I could not yet speak much (which probably was more a case of my own state-of-mind when I started out, as I said in the title with having grieved my dead mother many months and my mind felt "locked"). With her, we played fun games and she found ways of making us speak. Even I, according to her, spoke very well when I had to play a certain game! :) At the end of the second course, with her, I did suddenly speak Italian in quite a flowing manner.

She is an excellent teacher, because she made us laugh with her fun sense of humor.

She is also good at explaining (I am again referring to explaining everything; how to use the language, why and why not like that or this, the way a certain grammar works, etc).

During the third course, which for me then became 4th level with Stefania, I already felt much more relaxed. The teaching had been like therapy for my brain, and on the other hand my brain had started to now assimilate and absorb and feel familiar with the Italian language structure. During the third course I was talking almost all the time :D and even if mostly I was too tired to speak Italian in my spare time, I was able to say quite many things and even apply the difficult grammar (by no means all I was taught, but the most commonly used in every-day life).

What I didn´t like is that all the teachers (including Katja) seem to wait for every student to be ready before class starts. If I am there 99 times out of 100 on time, and class should start 9:00, then it should start 9:00 and not later. I don´t care if others always are stuck in a metro that doesn´t work or it was late or something. I managed to get from Via Raffaele Paolucci in the Monteverde area to the school on time every time except for twice although the whole trip lasted me much more than an hour one way.

Twice, the bus number 62 was so delayed that I simply got late. I never could use the fastest means of transportation (the metro), because I am claustrophobic and there was no suitable one anyway along my route. Most other students got late all the time while I had to sit and wait sometimes till 9:20 before class really had started properly. Even with discount, the fees are high enough to have the right to demand that there is no time wasted. It´s not only the financial aspect, it´s a matter of respect meaning that if class begins at 9:00 then it should, simple as that. The others would and will learn to get going earlier from home in the morning if class simply begins when it should. And if they don´t learn, it isn´t my problem. I understand if a nun or priest is not so motivated because they don´t even pay for the school themselves, but actually many of the nuns were always on time :D

This aspect of respect is a very Scandinavian way of thinking, I admit. Still, it angered me a lot that mostly classes began late. I know the teachers mean nothing bad by it (waiting for as many as possible to get there), on the contrary.

Location
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For me, the location could be seen as impractical, but I actually quite enjoyed seeing so much of the city every morning when I went to school!

Teaching material and others
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The books are not good but luckily the classroom teaching holds very high quality and makes up for it.

Like I wrote on the evaluations papers, the pens stink very much and I think there should be more neutral pens to write on those whiteboards with.

Facilities
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The facilities could be better. For example, there should be a chance to fill up the water bottle in the hallway because the toilets are always occupied.

System and break
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For me personally, it took way too long to get used to the long lesson before the break comes. I am not used to such long sessions without a break, and it was hard in the beginning, but I personally believe that it is actually a good part of the learning process - the "breaking in" process if you will - although it even sometimes overloaded my brain. For me (and certainly some of my school mates too!), the break should have come at around 10:30.

Still, maybe the process of, in a sense, brainwashing myself with Italian, works best like that -- when the morning is intense like that. Maybe the system is like that for such a reason. I wanted it intense in every way and had planned it so that I actually would get my brain cells moving. The fact that I also managed to learn is miraculous and I am very pleased. In retrospect, I think it may have been important that there was a bit of an overload in the morning before the break. I used to have juice or chocolate with me so that my blood sugar level would not sink too low.

Activities
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The tours with Stefania were excellent: varied, interesting, with fascinating stories. Each time was a different tour, and she had a kind caring way of taking care of us during the tour. It was one of the highlights and I never missed out on a single tour during the 3 months!

The other activities were probably good, too. I went twice on Andrea´s activities: once to the cinema and once to the university campus to see some art done by mental patients and to see the campus area. He is a very nice person! The only problem with most of his activities were that they were after school but much later, like in the evening, and I lived so far away that I could hardly ever participate because I would have needed to go back to Pza Bologna. With the cinema, I arranged it by going there on my own and meeting up with him there.

There was not a lack of activities but maybe I would have joined more of them -- and spent less afternoons on my own -- if they would have been around an hour after school so that after eating lunch nearby, I could have joined the activities right away. But especially in the beginning, the first month, it was very exhausting to get accustomed to everything so maybe then it would not have been possible in any case, but for the remaining two months I would have joined more activities if there would have been some. I remember a tour to Gianicolo that Andrea arranged and I could not participate in, I actually hoped it would be arranged again later but it never came again.

I have heard that Leonardo da Vinci has some lectures and classes or tours every afternoon after the lessons, and although I don´t know if it´s true, it also sounds like a nice thing thanks to the vast selection.

Classes: The first week 6 part., very good chance to learn a lot
2nd week 9 - (very) good chance to learn a lot
Conversation group: excellent learning - and due to some students who seemed to be not really interested always a risk to lose time, to lower the challenge
Teachers all excellent, engaged and very professional - I loved their interaction
Location for me optimal - close to my friends home, metro and buses - very good
Facilities: rooms very small - I would not have liked to be more people in the group

Where nice welcoming atmosphere - chance to be challenged in a good way - I stayed in a more advanced group I thought and it was wonderful!

The individual sessions: very good, specific to my needs and very challenging.

Activities: well organised, the teachers where very engaged. I liked especially the cultural tours, accompanied by an Art Historian.