Porta d'OrienteOtranto, Italy

With this course conversation will be improved by debates, round table discussions and role-plays and you will learn how to sustain simple and also advanced conversation.

Attending the Intensive Italian language course you will finally be able to understand and communicate effectively in all your daily life situations or, if your level is intermediate/advanced, talk about complex subjects with ease, expressing your ideas fluently and spontaneously.

At more advanced levels conversation focuses on cultural subjects and on the Italian civilization and politics.

Open for students of all ages, at all different levels of Italian, who wish to understand, speak, read and write the Italian language correctly. This course is 4 hours of grammar and conversation per day.

Porta d'Oriente focuses on the Italian immersion experience. They offer an Italian immersion experiential learning opportunity, providing adults with intensive Italian language and cultural learning in its natural context. The Italian classes always have a direct link with external reality (all aspects of life of the town and the region). All individual external experiences provide material for the courses.

Experience tangible results in your Italian speaking skills and cultural understanding while:

• Attending small and intensive Italian classes differentiated by ability, so that you’re guaranteed to learn at your level
  
• Gaining cultural understanding through living the real life of the town.
  
• Exploring the beauty of Puglia while participating to the guided tours and activities and visiting beaches in your free time
  
• Focus always on the students
  
  The lessons are intensive because they are with native Italian speaking teachers specialized in second language acquisition and the class sizes are small in order to grant you an immersion in the language.
  
  The lessons are relevant because they are designed with your goals in mind and allow for many communicative opportunities to practice the Italian that you need to know!
  
  If you choose the Intensive Italian language course, 4 hours of Italian classes a day will strengthen and support the foundation of a rich immersion experience.
  
  All the intensive Italian language courses focus on the 4 abilities such us:
  
• Comprehension will be facilitated by the use of authentic audiovisual supports, films, radio broadcasts and television and the use of multimedia programs
  
• Writing will be improved by the production of texts with a precise communication perspective according to the different levels
  
• Conversation will be improved through debates and role-play
  
• Reading will be deepened by newspapers, professional documents, literary texts

This course has 25 lessons per week: 4 lessons in a group plus 1 lesson in minigroup (max 2 people) or individual per day

The Intensive-Plus 1 Italian language course consists of 4 lessons in a group course per day plus 1 lesson per day in mini-group of 2 persons or individual. Students will be introduced not only to the language (grammar and conversation) but also to art and culture, history and folklore, press and films as well as the current political and economical situation of Italy.

Porta d'Oriente focuses on the Italian immersion experience. They offer an Italian immersion experiential learning opportunity, providing adults with intensive Italian language and cultural learning in its natural context. The Italian classes always have a direct link with external reality (all aspects of life of the town and the region). All individual external experiences provide material for the courses.

Experience tangible results in your Italian speaking skills and cultural understanding while:

• Attending small and intensive Italian classes differentiated by ability, so that you’re guaranteed to learn at your level
  
• Gaining cultural understanding through living the real life of the town.
  
• Exploring the beauty of Puglia while participating to the guided tours and activities and visiting beaches in your free time
  
• Focus always on the students
  
  The lessons are intensive because they are with native Italian speaking teachers specialized in second language acquisition and the class sizes are small in order to grant you an immersion in the language.
  
  The lessons are relevant because they are designed with your goals in mind and allow for many communicative opportunities to practice the Italian that you need to know!
  
  If you choose the Intensive Italian language course, 4 hours of Italian classes a day will strengthen and support the foundation of a rich immersion experience.
  
  All the intensive Italian language courses focus on the 4 abilities such us:
  
• Comprehension will be facilitated by the use of authentic audiovisual supports, films, radio broadcasts and television and the use of multimedia programs
  
• Writing will be improved by the production of texts with a precise communication perspective according to the different levels
  
• Conversation will be improved through debates and role-play
  
• Reading will be deepened by newspapers, professional documents, literary texts

This course has 30 lessons per week: 4 lessons in a group plus 2 lessons in minigroup (max 2 people) or individual per day

The Intensive-Plus 2 Italian language course consists of 4 lessons in a group per day and 2 lessons per day in mini-group of 2 persons or individual. Students will be introduced not only to the language (grammar and conversation) but also to art and culture, history and folklore, press and films as well as the current political and economical situation of Italy.

Porta d'Oriente focuses on the Italian immersion experience. They offer an Italian immersion experiential learning opportunity, providing adults with intensive Italian language and cultural learning in its natural context. The Italian classes always have a direct link with external reality (all aspects of life of the town and the region). All individual external experiences provide material for the courses.

Experience tangible results in your Italian speaking skills and cultural understanding while:

• Attending small and intensive Italian classes differentiated by ability, so that you’re guaranteed to learn at your level
  
• Gaining cultural understanding through living the real life of the town.
  
• Exploring the beauty of Puglia while participating to the guided tours and activities and visiting beaches in your free time
  
• Focus always on the students
  
  The lessons are intensive because they are with native Italian speaking teachers specialized in second language acquisition and the class sizes are small in order to grant you an immersion in the language.
  
  The lessons are relevant because they are designed with your goals in mind and allow for many communicative opportunities to practice the Italian that you need to know!
  
  If you choose the Intensive Italian language course, 4 hours of Italian classes a day will strengthen and support the foundation of a rich immersion experience.
  
  All the intensive Italian language courses focus on the 4 abilities such us:
  
• Comprehension will be facilitated by the use of authentic audiovisual supports, films, radio broadcasts and television and the use of multimedia programs
  
• Writing will be improved by the production of texts with a precise communication perspective according to the different levels
  
• Conversation will be improved through debates and role-play
  
• Reading will be deepened by newspapers, professional documents, literary texts

This course is ideal for mature students who want to learn with students of a similar age group. It consists of 20 lessons per week and includes some cultural activities. Additional excursions can be booked on-site.

The Italian language school is particularly specialized for Italian language courses for seniors (over 50) and Italian courses for adults.

This tailor made Italian immersion program for seniors is designed to be flexible and to respond to the needs of each group, focusing on particular group interests such as conversation and grammar, Italian music, history, society, literature, architecture and nature.

The structure of the language is taught within a conversational framework, to help you to communicate in spoken and written Italian.

The Italian courses for seniors (over 50) and the Italian language classes for adults cater for different levels, encompassing listening, speaking, reading and writing. Course materials and methods are focused on creating a relaxed atmosphere in which you can enjoy learning and practicing Italian.

On request of the participants the Italian language program for seniors can be organized in 2 parts, the first dedicated to studying the language with 4 lessons a day of Intensive Italian course, which take place in the morning, and the second part is dedicated to a cultural program of activities which takes place in the afternoon.

The cultural program for seniors includes:

• Guided tour of Otranto
  
• Guided tour of the Greek area of the region (duration 5 hours) and other excursions
  
• Cooking lesson (2-3 hours)
  
  
  

If you want to attend a course that suits your particular professional and personal requirements and your time schedule, you can choose our private tuition program for 2 people.

Continual language practice, maximum concentration through intensive work with your personal teacher and, especially, active practising of your communication skills guarantee your swift progress and success in the shortest possible time.


If you want to attend a course that suits your particular professional and personal requirements and your time schedule, you can choose the private tuition program.

Continual language practice, maximum concentration through intensive work with your personal teacher and, especially, active practising of your communication skills guarantee your swift progress and success in the shortest possible time.

Teachers are able to suit your private tuition program to your wishes regarding dates and areas of interest.

This program is combined with the Italian Intensive course and contains 4 daily lessons of grammar/conversation per day plus 2 lessons in mini-groups or individual of Italian for special
purposes.

This course is for economic students and professionals who have frequent commercial contacts with international companies or for people who are interested in marketing and markets. This course will enrich their vocabulary with appropriate technical terms. It is ideal for Italian for managers: engineers, operators of small, average and big firms.

The business Italian course aims to develop your own linguistic competence in the sectors of economy and commerce, thanks to a thematic progression completed by audio-visual supports and the study of specific texts.

It is an excellent way to improve your business language skills in a short period of time is to take a language immersion course in the country that the language is spoken.

The course is designed for students who are interested in business with Italy.

During the business Italian course you will learn:

• To communicate confidently and effectively with Italian-speaking colleagues and clients
  
• Strengthen and develop relationships with existing and potential clients
  
• Gain a deeper understanding of the culture and work etiquette of your target market
  
• Build a distinct competitive edge when reaching out to international markets
  
• Learn technical vocabulary and industry-specific lexis unique to your sector
  
  

This program is combined with the Italian Intensive course and contains 4 lessons of grammar/conversation per day plus 1 individual lesson of Italian for special purposes.

The business Italian course aims to develop your own linguistic competence in the sectors of economy and commerce, thanks to a thematic progression completed by audio-visual supports and the study of specific texts.

It is an excellent way to improve your business language skills in a short period of time is to take a language immersion course in the country that the language is spoken.

The course is designed for students who are interested in business with Italy.

During the business Italian course you will learn:

• To communicate confidently and effectively with Italian-speaking colleagues and clients
  
• Strengthen and develop relationships with existing and potential clients
  
• Gain a deeper understanding of the culture and work etiquette of your target market
  
• Build a distinct competitive edge when reaching out to international markets
  
• Learn technical vocabulary and industry-specific lexis unique to your sector
  
  

The legal Italian course is for those students who have some knowledges in the field of law and who are interested in the language of law in Italian for professional reasons (legal/juridical translators) or for study. The course is also addressed to those who want to study in law faculties in Italy.

The program of the legal Italian course focuses on different areas of Italian law:

• Constitutional Law
  
• Roman Law
  
• Civil Law
  
• Administrative Law
  
• Labor Law
  
• Criminal Law
  
• Public Law
  
  Analysis of the Italian codes, texts (labor contracts, Italian-type contracts and laws on private contracting, sentences, administrative texts, tenders and several types of public deed, tax documents, terms and conditions, data processing documents, etc.) will provide students with the basic vocabulary and professional expressions.
  
  Each legal system has its own legal terminology, which is closely related to the culture, values and laws of a nation. Therefore, it is important to find equivalent legal concepts between different legal systems.
  
  The juridical course consists of the general language course (intensive course) plus 2 individual hours per day of legal Italian. The teacher is a law professional (lawyer or legal expert).
  
  The program of the Italian for law course can be personalized. Since the law field is extremely broad, students can plan in advance with the instructor a program focused on their needs, with a concentration on only some topics.

The medical Italian course is designed for doctors, nurses, dentists, medical students, and other medical professionals who want to study Italian for medicine because they work in a medical-scientific milieu where people speak Italian.. These courses are ideal for medical professionals who want to learn specific medical Italian vocabulary and expressions used in the Italian medical system.

The course aims at providing to the students the scientific terminology to speak and to understand specific texts.

The program of the can be planned with the instructor. In particular, if a student needs to increase his expertise in a specific area for professional reasons, the lessons will be focused on the students’ needs.

The course is for the students who have an intermediate level of Italian language.

Topics that may be discussed during the course:

• Human anatomy
  
• The nervous system
  
• Pathology
  
• Pharmacy
  
• Principle and practice of medical aid.
  
• Trauma
  
• Human psychology
  
  Since the field of the Italian for medicine is extremely wide, students can plan in advance with the teacher a program focused on their needs, choosing topics of their interest.
  
  The medical Italian course consists of the general intensive Italian language and culture course plus 2 individual hours per day of legal language.

Culture Lessons
Topics covered:

• Italian folklore: the Carnival, the Palio di Siena, the Tarantismo and anthropological analysis of these three kinds of folklore
  
• Understanding the Southern Italy through its music: anthropological exploration of the popular music of Southern Italy (Tammurriata from Campania and other forms of tarantella of Southern Italy such as the Pizzica)
  
  Doing the Italian culture course means being enriched with new tools for human, psychological, cultural, professional and linguistic growth. Lessons will analyze various interesting topics of the Italian cultural scene. During the Italian culture course you will analyze interesting aspects of the culture and Italian mentality with a deep anthropological and sociological analysis.
  
  The teaching method used to teach the Italian culture: it is a “collaborative learning” method where everyone with their own capacity is free to express a point of view and so to contribute to the topic of discussion. Students are continuously encouraged by the teacher through questions and activities to reconstruct and build together the contents of the cultural topics.
  
  The type of lesson that is not used is lecture style in which only the teacher speaks and the students listen. The method is very communicative, so students are encouraged to use a lot of the Italian language. Through the study of the Italian culture students will engage in a lot of conversation!
  
  Language Lessons
  All the Italian language lessons focus on the 4 abilities such us:
  
• Comprehension will be facilitated by the use of authentic audiovisual supports, films, radio broadcasts and television and the use of multimedia programs
  
• Writing will be improved by the production of texts with a precise communication perspective according to the different levels
  
• Conversation will be improved through debates and role-play
  
• Reading will be deepened by newspapers, professional documents, literary texts

Culture Lessons
Cooking classes are held 2 times per week in the full equipped kitchen of the school: students will prepare with the help of the cook the typical dishes of Italian and regional cuisine. The teacher is well trained but not a professional.

For the Italian language and cooking classes in Italy the school has the following program:

• Preparation of typical Italian and Apulian “antipasti”
  
• Course of typical home-made pasta (orecchiette, minchiareddhi e sagne torte) according to the old Apulian tradition
  
• Preparation of various recipes with pasta
  
• Preparation of the fish and mussels
  
• Preparation of various types of “focacce”
  
• Preparation of the most characteristic sweets
  
  Doing the Italian culture course means being enriched with new tools for human, psychological, cultural, professional and linguistic growth. Lessons will analyze various interesting topics of the Italian cultural scene. During the Italian culture course you will analyze interesting aspects of the culture and Italian mentality with a deep anthropological and sociological analysis.
  
  The teaching method used to teach the Italian culture: it is a “collaborative learning” method where everyone with their own capacity is free to express a point of view and so to contribute to the topic of discussion. Students are continuously encouraged by the teacher through questions and activities to reconstruct and build together the contents of the cultural topics.
  
  The type of lesson that is not used is lecture style in which only the teacher speaks and the students listen. The method is very communicative, so students are encouraged to use a lot of the Italian language. Through the study of the Italian culture students will engage in a lot of conversation!
  
  Language Lessons
  All the Italian language lessons focus on the 4 abilities such us:
  
• Comprehension will be facilitated by the use of authentic audiovisual supports, films, radio broadcasts and television and the use of multimedia programs
  
• Writing will be improved by the production of texts with a precise communication perspective according to the different levels
  
• Conversation will be improved through debates and role-play
  
• Reading will be deepened by newspapers, professional documents, literary texts

Culture Lessons
The art history course will focus on the study of the main artists and Italian artistic movements with analysis of the work. The history of Italian art course includes visits to museums, castles, exhibitions and archaeological sites.

For art aficionados, Italy is a paradise with an invaluable heritage of works and places: in Italy you will experience the greatest achievements in art, architecture and sculpture from the Classical World, to the Renaissance, the Baroque and contemporary art.

You will study the lifestyles and philosophy of the artists like Giotto, Botticelli, Brunelleschi, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci etc. The social context of the period will also be considered in order to better understand the development of the artists’ culture and way of thinking.

The program focuses on various aspects of history of Italian art, architecture and archeology:

• Prehistoric art in Apulia: Salentine dolmen and menhir, analysis of the several caves with graffitis and of the archeological finds (prehistoric Venus) discovered in the area
  
• A general outline of the History of Art and Architecture with the analysis of the most important Italian painters and architects (Giotto, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Canova, Brunelleschi, Donatello, Masaccio)
  
• Roman and Byzantine architecture: analysis of the Byzanthine church of St. Peter in Otranto and the Mosaic of the cathedral
  
• Romanesque and Gothic: analysis of Castel del Monte (Unesco heritage)
  
• Renaissance architecture
  
• Baroque: analysis of the Baroque style in Lecce
  
• Neo-Classical
  
• 20th-century architecture and contemporary architecture
  
  Doing the Italian culture course means being enriched with new tools for human, psychological, cultural, professional and linguistic growth. Lessons will analyze various interesting topics of the Italian cultural scene. During the Italian culture course you will analyze interesting aspects of the culture and Italian mentality with a deep anthropological and sociological analysis.
  
  The teaching method used to teach the Italian culture: it is a “collaborative learning” method where everyone with their own capacity is free to express a point of view and so to contribute to the topic of discussion. Students are continuously encouraged by the teacher through questions and activities to reconstruct and build together the contents of the cultural topics.
  
  The type of lesson that is not used is lecture style in which only the teacher speaks and the students listen. The method is very communicative, so students are encouraged to use a lot of the Italian language. Through the study of the Italian culture students will engage in a lot of conversation!
  
  Language Lessons
  All the Italian language lessons focus on the 4 abilities such us:
  
• Comprehension will be facilitated by the use of authentic audiovisual supports, films, radio broadcasts and television and the use of multimedia programs
  
• Writing will be improved by the production of texts with a precise communication perspective according to the different levels
  
• Conversation will be improved through debates and role-play
  
• Reading will be deepened by newspapers, professional documents, literary texts

Culture Lessons
The Italian cinema course is designed for those students who love Italian cinema and for those who want to learn about contemporary Italy and Italian culture.

The cinema course aims at a stylistic analysis of the most interesting films of the Italian cinema and different topics will be examined as social problems of the current Italian society (also with reference to literature topics).

In order to spur the conversation on the selected topics, some scenes from the most important films are chosen, interviews with famous protagonists are read and their acting performance is assessed. A part of the course is also linked to grammatical work, since emphasis is placed on understanding what has been read as well as exploring new grammatical structures. The Italian film strongly reflects the linguistic development of everyday language. The cinema language is a dynamic and committed language, a language that perfectly represents the further developments of colloquial Italian.

The Italian literature course is mainly based on monographic study of the most important authors of Italian literature, analysis of literary works and literary criticism.

During your studies you will explore the cultural context of the literature you read as well as its influence on other literature of the period, all while improving your fluency in oral and written Italian.

This course consists of 4 lessons in a Intensive Language Course plus 2 private hours on Italian Literature & Cinema course each day.

Doing the Italian culture course means being enriched with new tools for human, psychological, cultural, professional and linguistic growth. Lessons will analyze various interesting topics of the Italian cultural scene. During the Italian culture course you will analyze interesting aspects of the culture and Italian mentality with a deep anthropological and sociological analysis.

The teaching method used to teach the Italian culture: it is a “collaborative learning” method where everyone with their own capacity is free to express a point of view and so to contribute to the topic of discussion. Students are continuously encouraged by the teacher through questions and activities to reconstruct and build together the contents of the cultural topics.

The type of lesson that is not used is lecture style in which only the teacher speaks and the students listen. The method is very communicative, so students are encouraged to use a lot of the Italian language. Through the study of the Italian culture students will engage in a lot of conversation!

Language Lessons
All the Italian language lessons focus on the 4 abilities such us:

• Comprehension will be facilitated by the use of authentic audiovisual supports, films, radio broadcasts and television and the use of multimedia programs
  
• Writing will be improved by the production of texts with a precise communication perspective according to the different levels
  
• Conversation will be improved through debates and role-play
  
• Reading will be deepened by newspapers, professional documents, literary texts

This program is combined with the Italian Intensive course and contains 4 lessons of grammar/conversation per day plus 1 individual lesson of Italian for special purposes.

Culture Lessons
This course aims to provide students with a cultural and updated overview on relevant aspects of the social and cultural reality of Italy.

Most of the topics concern Italian culture and society, art, cinema and literature. The program is open to any suggestions by the students for other cultural topics or issues.

Topics covered:

• Deepening of economic and cultural aspects (differences between Southern and Northern Italy)
  
• Deepening of aspects of Italian history
  
• Italian political system: analysis of documents
  
• Discussion of aspects of “anthropology” and sociology of contemporary Italy through the figure of the “woman / mother” and complex sociological phenomenon behind others cultural subjects such as the Mafia, unemployment, and the Palio of Siena
  
• The Mafia: culture, sociology and mentality
  
  Doing the Italian culture course means being enriched with new tools for human, psychological, cultural, professional and linguistic growth. Lessons will analyze various interesting topics of the Italian cultural scene. During the Italian culture course you will analyze interesting aspects of the culture and Italian mentality with a deep anthropological and sociological analysis.
  
  The teaching method used to teach the Italian culture: it is a “collaborative learning” method where everyone with their own capacity is free to express a point of view and so to contribute to the topic of discussion. Students are continuously encouraged by the teacher through questions and activities to reconstruct and build together the contents of the cultural topics.
  
  The type of lesson that is not used is lecture style in which only the teacher speaks and the students listen. The method is very communicative, so students are encouraged to use a lot of the Italian language. Through the study of the Italian culture students will engage in a lot of conversation!
  
  Language Lessons
  All the Italian language lessons focus on the 4 abilities such us:
  
• Comprehension will be facilitated by the use of authentic audiovisual supports, films, radio broadcasts and television and the use of multimedia programs
  
• Writing will be improved by the production of texts with a precise communication perspective according to the different levels
  
• Conversation will be improved through debates and role-play
  
• Reading will be deepened by newspapers, professional documents, literary texts

The course for Italian language teachers is delivered as a single module consisting of language, culture and didactic components.



The course for Italian teachers is for language professionals and instructors teaching Italian in their own country. Scuola Porta d’Oriente also offers specific courses for non-native Italian teachers and other language professionals. If you are an Italian teacher in your country or wish to become one, then you can attend a specific course about Italian didactics, Italian language and culture.

Course objectives
The training and refresh courses for Italian teachers are delivered as a single module consisting of language, culture and didactics components. The student will become familiar with all the registers of the Italian language (formal, informal, familiar, slang) to cope with complex situations of communication both in writing and in oral settings.

The aim is to achieve fluency and accuracy in Italian language. The student at the end of this course will acquire a solid linguistic and metalinguistic competence (that is, awareness of the rules of grammar and style of Italian).

Language instruction is not separated from the culture, as all topics included in the language program have a cultural objective will be included.

Important prerequisites
The refresh courses for Italian teachers takes into account needs, interests and characteristics of the participants, and therefore, it may be subject to changes and additions according to the students’ suggestions. The teachers are open and willing to consider any proposed ideas for inclusion or improvement.

The Italian teachers training is aimed at:

• Italian language teachers abroad
  
• Italian language teachers for foreigners in Italy
  
• To the future teachers of Italian as a foreign language who want to acquire the methodology and contents to outline programs to propose to their students
  
• To all those who have the opportunity to get refresher course funded by the Erasmus-plus Program