Italy: Istituto Venezia, Venice
Overview
Istituto Venezia, the Venice Institute, has been offering language instruction since 1994 to students of all ages from around the world. In this diverse environment, students study Italian, offered at the beginning through advanced levels. The program in Venice is small, so courses are usually offered on the basis of individualized study. Students do not meet in regular classes with other students but rather have the exclusive guidance of a single professor for each course. Assignments are often tailored to each student's special interests. Students enrolled for a semester choose from the sixteen-credit Super-intensive Italian Language Program or the Venetian Civilization and Culture Program, which requires a six-credit Italian language course and two three-credit Venetian civilization and culture courses. The language of instruction is English with the exception of the language courses. The Super-intensive Italian Language Program is the only option during the summer.
Location
The Istituto Venezia is located in the heart of the university area of Venice. Having a high artistic value, the neighborhood draws many students who gather in coffee shops and attend live concerts.
CCIS
The College Consortium for International Studies (CCIS), a partnership of colleges and universities—two and four year, large and small, public and private, domestic and foreign—encompasses the broad spectrum of international higher education. CCIS members sponsor a variety of programs, notably study abroad programs and professional development seminars for faculty and administrators, which are designed to enhance international/intercultural perspectives within the academic community.
Venice is situated on 118 islands connected by 378 bridges. Called the Queen of the Adriatic, the city has a setting that no other city in the world can rival. It is a network of rii (streams), canali (canals) calli (streets) and campi (squares). The richness and charm of Venice does not derive solely from the presence of significant works of architecture and art (Bellini, Tiziano, Veronese, Tintoretto, Palladio, Sansovino, and many others) but also from the general layout of the city and its way of life.
The purpose of the Italian language courses is to teach students both spoken and written Italian. The direct method is combined with grammar and syntax to give equal importance to the oral and written aspects.
The summer super-intensive course is an intense, fast-moving course designed for students who wish to learn the language in all of its various aspects (speaking, reading, writing, and listening comprehension). The course is divided into five different levels. Each level offers four hours (an academic hour = 50 minutes) of lessons per day, Mondays through Fridays.
Semester and summer programs available.
