Course overview

Italian is the fourth most studied language in the world and the Italian culture fascinates every year millions of tourists that decide to spend their holidays in this land rich in culture, music and literature, and professionals who aim to expand their business capacities through the acquisition of an ancient language like Italian. ​You will have the chance to participate in an Italian course that will throw you inside the culture of this country and to visit some of the most beautiful cities in Italy.
Designed and given by a native Italian speaker this course is offered in two standard formats, an intensive 1-week course or a 2-weeks long course of full Italian Language immersion. Each participant can choose the format that best suit his/her needs and the course is tailored to the individual needs of each participant.

Main objectives

This course aims to improve the participants’ Italian competences through the implementation of experiential language-learning methods and practice as well as cultural immersion in Italy.
The objective of this course is to let the participants know not only the Italian language, but also the cultural everyday and the manners of communication, immersing yourself in the architectural and culinary beauties.
Thanks to this course participants will:

• ​Improve their comprehension of spoken and written Italian by listening and interacting with native speakers;
• Master Italian grammar rules from simple to complex structures;
• Improve their writing skills and learn how to write a resume, cover letter and other styles of writing in Italian;
• Immerse themselves in the culture of Italy, through visits of some of the most beautiful cities of the country, tasting Italian food and experiencing how is to live in Italy;
• Participate in group projects and thus strengthen their presentation skills in Italian;
• Be introduced to different language learning methods and tools to help further their language study.
  

Sessions planned

Bologna
04/08/2019 – 17/08/2019 (1 week or 2 weeks)
26/07/2020 – 08/08/2020 (1 week or 2 weeks)

If none of these dates suits you please mind that if there are at least 8 participants interested we may organize an additional session ad-hoc for your school.

Target audience

This course is addressed to teachers, trainers, educational counsellors, career counsellors, school psychologists, headmasters, school management and administrative staff working in primary schools, secondary schools, vocational schools, training centres, adult education schools, higher education, kindergarten and NGOs.
Please mind that the course may include teachers from different school levels. In case you would like to attend a session tailored for your school level, please write to staff@ifom.info to check if there is any session planned.

Language

The course is held in English. For groups with at least 8 participants, we can organize an ad-hoc session in a different language. 
Please write an email to staff@ifom.info to get more information about it.

Standard daily programme

Please find below the standard indicative daily programme that will be personalized on participants needs and professional profiles.
Our standard program comprises 7 days of course, of which the first one is dedicated to networking, preparation and cultural immersion and the last one to follow up, specific needs and cultural activities. Please note that we always do our best to accommodate the specific needs of our participants in a flexible way, including but not limited to budget restrictions and travel arrangement. Participants can choose to arrive 1 day before the start of the course and/or leave one day after the end of it in order to enjoy a deeper cultural immersion. Upon specific request we can organize longer or shorter versions of this course.

•   2-weeks programme  
  
•   1-week programme  

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Sunday	-  Participants arrival  -  Individual orientation and information about the venue and the city   -  Networking activities  -  Guided visit in Bologna (optional)  -  Welcome dinner
Monday	-  Course introduction  -  Competences ex-ante evaluation  -  Ice-breaking activities  -  Teambuilding exercises  -  Italian Grammar according to Level  -  Conversation lab
Tuesday	-  Italian Grammar  -  Group Work/Cultural Activities & Games  -  Discovering Italian Culture - visit to an Italian school  -  Cultural activities in Bologna and traditional Italian aperitif
Wednesday	-  Italian Pronunciation  -  Conversation Lab ​ -  Guided visit in Florence or Venice (optional)
Thursday	-  Italian Vocabulary  -  Group Work/Cultural Activities & Games  -  Discovering Italian Culture - fashion industry     -  Cultural activities in Bologna and dinner in Pizzeria
Friday	-  Italian Practice Test According to Level  -  Culture Test  -  Dinner in traditional Italian restaurant
Saturday	-  Free Time  -  Guided visit in Florence or Venice (optional)
​Sunday	-  Free Time  -  Guided visit in Bologna or another major Italian city (optional)  -  Network activities (optional)
​Monday	-  Italian Grammar  -  Group Work/Cultural Activities & Games  -  Discovering Italian Culture - The Mediterranean diet: main features and                cultural values of the famous Italian way of eating  -  Cultural activities in Bologna and dinner in Osteria
Tuesday	-  Italian Vocabulary  -  Group Work/Cultural Activities & Games  -  Discovering Italian Culture - Laboratory: how to prepare homemade pasta
​Wednesday	-  Italian Pronunciation  -  Conversation Lab  -  Cultural activities in Bologna and traditional Italian Trattoria  -  Italian Practice Test According to Level  -  Group Work/Cultural Activities & Games  -  Discovering Italian Culture - visit to AlmaMater, the university  -  Cultural activities in Bologna and traditional Italian aperitif
​Thursday	-  Italian Practice Test According to Level  -  Group Work/Cultural Activities & Games  -  Discovering Italian Culture - visit to AlmaMater, the university  -  Cultural activities in Bologna and traditional Italian aperitif
​Friday	-  Culture Test  -  Space for discussion of future cooperation and planning follow-up activities  -  Course roundup and final evaluation  -  Validation of learning outcomes and certification ceremony  -  Additional training session tailored to specific needs (optional)  -  Cultural activities or additional guided visit in another major Italian city                 (optional)  -  Farewell Dinner
​Saturday	-  Participants departure

Sunday	-  Participants arrival  -  Individual orientation and information about the venue and the city   -  Networking activities  -  Guided visit in Bologna (optional)  -  Welcome dinner
Monday	-  Course introduction  -  Competences ex-ante evaluation  -  Ice-breaking activities  -  Teambuilding exercises  -  Italian Grammar according to Level  -  Conversation lab
Tuesday	-  Italian Grammar  -  Group Work/Cultural Activities & Games  -  Discovering Italian Culture: visit to an Italian school  -  Cultural activities in Bologna and traditional Italian aperitif
Wednesday	-  Italian Pronunciation  -  Conversation Lab  -  Guided visit in Florence or Venice (optional)
Thursday	-  Italian Vocabulary  -  Practicing the vocabulary: Cultural Activities & Games  -  Discovering Italian Culture: fashion industry     -  Cultural activities in Bologna and dinner in Pizzeria
Friday	-  Italian Practice Test According to Level  -  Culture Test  -  Farewell Dinner in traditional Italian restaurant
Saturday	-  Space for discussion of future cooperation and planning follow-up activities  -  Course roundup and final evaluation  -  Validation of learning outcomes and certification ceremony  -  Additional training session tailored to specific needs (optional)  -  Cultural activities or additional guided visit in another major Italian city                  (optional)  -  Participants departure

Other relevant facts

• Methodology
• Costs and Erasmus+ Funding
  
• Certification and Validation of learning outcomes
  

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We tailor the working methods based upon participants’ needs, attitudes and professional profiles in order to ensure high productivity, effectiveness and transferability into practice.
The standard methodology is highly practical and participative with hands-on approach that comprises real-job examples, case studies examination and simulations. We embrace collaboratively working methods that foster mutual learning and cooperation among participants. Our focus is on learning in an interactive and international environment knowledge applicable to the real contexts and/or in the classroom. The pedagogical methods that we use are based upon experiential training, group and peer activities, learning-by-doing and best practices’ exchange. They include visits with local schools and institutions allowing the participants to better understand the local education system as well as exchange ideas and contacts.
Morning Wrap-up and brief daily evaluations are foreseen to ensure quality of education and to adapt the learning programme to participants' needs better tailoring the education.
We organize optional social, networking and cultural activities in order to give participants the opportunity to know Italy as well as to exchange best-practice and establish professional cooperation and links.
The training and staff team is multinational thus giving a full European dimension to the course.

​Teachers, trainers, headmasters and any other staff of education organizations are eligible to receive an Erasmus+ grant covering all the costs to attend our training courses including travel, board and lodging, cultural activities and all fees. Our training courses are tailored to be fully funded by Erasmus+ and we offer different options to ensure that the Erasmus+ grant will be sufficient. Read more about Erasmus+ funding, shall you have any problem with your grant please let us know and we will see how to accommodate your needs.
 The most common option that we offer to schools and organisations costs EUR 1220 and includes course fee, certification and support fee, accommodation in single room, all coffee breaks, 3 meals per day, walking tour in the venue’s city and local transport during the training course. Based on your preferences and budget you can request different services, a less inclusive/cheaper package or you can choose to organize the board and lodging by yourself and opt to just attend the training course. Read more about how we take care of your subsistence.

At the end of the course, each participant will be awarded a certificate of attendance including a description of training content and as well as its starting and end date, together - if requested -  with the Europass Mobility Certificate.
We support the participants in every step of certification an d validation of learning outcomes with specific focus on European instruments and Erasmus plus requirements such as staff mobility/learning agreement, quality commitment and Europass mobility certificate.
We experienced that schools and education organizations may require additional documents to certify the competences learned or the presence in the training course. Upon request we can provide additional certification and reporting documents as well as we provide photos of the training course and a sum-up video that can be used for visibility and dissemination purposes.

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