My wife and I attended Jane’s 3 half-day course in Italian. We really enjoyed it. Jane’s friend Christiana, a teacher from Italy, and Jane created an interesting and varied agenda for the course. This facilitated lots of opportunities to practise and develop our communication skills. We had a very friendly group with 3 other people of a similar standard to us and this allowed us all to learn together. This was our first 3 half day course with Jane and we fully intend to do another course next Summer on top of our on-going bi-weekly group discussion classes.
I have been on several of Jane Froehlich’s Italian courses – all in Italy in the past. This year it was held in Knutsford, with an Italian native teacher in addition to Jane. I thoroughly enjoyed the course, as usual. Both teachers had worked hard to put together a very interesting and informative course and I thought that my group worked well together. We spoke Italian throughout and I learned a great deal from the experience.
In July 2019, I attended an intensive 3-day (half-day) course run by Jane and with Cristina, who came over from Italy to help run the course. The course was well-run, fun, hard work and fascinating, and we all agreed that we had learnt a lot. In fact, we would have enjoyed a day or two more. It is unusual to be able to attend such a course in this part of the UK, and I am grateful to Jane and Cristina for organising it.
My father and I really enjoyed the 3 half-day course with Jane and Cristina. The structure of the course allowed us plenty of time to practice our speaking and listening but also learn some new vocabulary and practice pronunciation… We also really found learning in a group of other students of a similar level to us, beneficial. We are surprised ourselves at how much we could converse and really felt we improved a lot.
I thoroughly enjoyed the Italian course in Lucca, which I attended in August 2015. Jane and Cristina had prepared a wealth of interesting course material for us and our ‘classes’ were a lively mix of talk, quizzes, games and video clips. It wasn’t all work – we had trips out to a cantina in the countryside for wine tasting and to the hill top town of Montecatini. In Lucca, we ate out in lovely restaurants, went to a beautiful concert of live Puccini music and had plenty of time to explore. All in all, it was a memorable and unique experience.
I have just returned from a wonderful experience in Lucca: lovely hotel just outside the walls of this wonderfully tranquil city which is steeped in history; delicious Italian food in some of the many bars and restaurants the town has to offer; sightseeing, museums, wine-tasting and a Puccini concert; early morning walks on the walls. More important than all that though is the feeling that in the space of 5 days I have learned to hear the Italian language and had become a more confident speaker. All of this thanks to Jane and her Italian teacher colleague Cristina who not only organised all the outings but also provided us with excellent tuition. Our morning classroom sessions were helpful, interesting and fun and we soon became a group of friends despite not knowing each other beforehand. Activities had been well thought out and resources were good. Different abilities were catered for and everyone was encouraged to take part. I feel privileged to have been part of the group. Thank you Jane.
As the time of our trip to Lucca approached I had two main thoughts – the first was ‘ I can’t remember a single word of Italian so why am I going?’ and the second ‘Surely just breathing the air in Italy will improve my Italian’. Fortunately, the former was an unnecessary worry and the latter … well something helped me and I do feel my Italian has improved!
The course in Lucca was a fantastic success. Although the thought of ‘parliamo solo italiano’ for 5 days was daunting, both Jane and Christina made the transition gentle and comfortable with endless patience and encouragement as we tried to find the necessary words and phrases to express ourselves. They united the group through exercises and discussions and eased away any reticence about ‘having a go’ until we were almost fighting each other to speak! It was quite a transformation and all down to the exceptional role of our very good teachers.
The course was largely based on two methods of instruction. The mornings we spent in the ‘classroom’ using short articles, video clips, pictures etc as sources of topics for discussion and reiterating our experiences of the previous day. In the afternoon we went on various excursions to local historical towns, museums and a winery where we had guided tours in Italian which helped to improve our listening skills with different accents, voices and intonation.
I can thoroughly recommend the course with Jane and Christina and feel that no matter what level of Italian you arrive with, you will definitely leave with far more confidence in your ability. Being immersed in the country, hearing the language all day you do almost feel you might be thinking in Italian too!
Grazie mille Jane e Christina – un corso favoloso in una città bellissima.
Having been on 5 language courses with Jane in Italy, I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Lucca is an ideal setting – being close to the airport and within easy access of many places of interest. We discussed a variety of subjects and went on several excursions, including a visit to a museum, a wine tasting in a winery set in the beautiful Tuscan countryside and a trip to Pistoia, a nearby town. The course was particularly well prepared by both teachers – Jane Froehlich and Cristina Bolognesi. I am sure I speak for all the students when I say that we all benefited greatly from the course and all came home speaking Italian better.
I have been studying Italian with Jane for about 18 months, before which I had never learned a foreign language. It has been hard work but Jane is an excellent and very patient teacher and each lesson is tailor made to suit the level of the pupil. Learning is never dull with Jane as she uses different methods of teaching.”
“This year I felt fortunate to have attended a five day Italian course in August 2013, organised by Jane, in the beautiful town of Lucca. Jane’s planning and attention to detail is meticulous. Every aspect of the course was well thought out and arranged from beginning to end. Jane’s Italian colleague, Cristina, also helped with the tutorials. Whilst the lessons were quite intense, the trips out were both educational and interesting. On one occasion we caught a train to Pistoia and finished the day with a delicious meal in the town centre. On another occasion we visited a Cantina in the countryside for wine tasting and to sample local cheeses and salami. There were many highlights of the trip but my favourite was our evening at a Puccini concert in Lucca. All in all the course was full of variety and it was extremely enjoyable. I arrived home feeling more confident and with a renewed interest in my studies.
After approximately 18 months of learning Italian from beginners’ level, I had my first experience of a language course conducted abroad in August 2013. Prior to the course, I did feel slightly nervous, but happily went along with an open mind. Through Jane’s hard work and organisation I felt the course was an absolute success. My pre-trip nerves were in vain- I had a brilliant time, and expanded not only my Italian language skills but also my friendship circle as everyone in the group got on so well. The balance between classroom learning and actives was good – the ‘educational trips’ were well selected, especially the wine tasting visit to the vineyard, which was great fun!
I would highly recommend this value -for- money course to other students – the mix of language abilities within our group were all catered for well. We had sunshine, wine, cheese, ice cream – It was a brilliant learning experience!