Upon arrival at Il Sasso School, one of the best Italian language schools in Italy, I was taken to a room where 4 other students waited eagerly to learn Italian. Immediately, I and four other students took a placement test to identify what level our lessons would cover. Classes are divided into six levels based on the “Common European Framework of Reference for Languages” of the European Council. The language courses are complemented by courses covering a range of topics from history and literature to current affairs, art, cooking and wine.

The students travel from all over the world, for varying amounts of time and reasons to attend Il Sasso. My reasoning was simple…I want to fully immerse myself in this amazing culture. I nervously chose the 2 week program. Once I arrived, I realized there was no reason to be nervous. The staff was outstanding, understanding and made the process of learning a pleasure. I would guess it is comparative to teaching 5 year old kids; we played games, acted out skits and laughed a lot.

We would meet with one teacher in the morning and one in the afternoon; a few breaks were scattered throughout the day. During the breaks, “pausa”, we visited the local café to practice our Italian while sipping a cappuccino or a café macchiato.

To my delight, we were speaking in Italian right away! The sentences may have been short, but hey, we were speaking Italian in the heart of Italy! One of my favorite days included a field trip to the weekly market where we learned about the products sold and interacted with the people. The school offers activities in the afternoons such as cooking classes, wine tastings, guided walks and visits to beautiful gardens. Montepulciano is known for its wonderful wine and you can find exceptionally good restaurants all over town.