Italian Language School in Sicily, Italy

Scuola Ulisse, Catania:
At The Scuola Ulisse in Catania we want to provide our students with the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of Italian and the local culture through leisure activities in the lively city centre.

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- excellent teaching expertise
- small classes stimulate learning
- beautiful seaside surroundings of Catania

The school adopts student-based teaching methods, aimed at guiding students’ own learning through a variety of different activities. Classes are therefore small, so as to allow teachers to attend to individual students as well as to group activities. The four basic skills of listening, reading, speaking, and writing are developed, along with important supplementary skills, such as those of presentation, debate, note-taking, and summarising.

As required by modern language teaching, students are encouraged to reflect actively on the language, identifying and describing particular grammatical forms, and to develop their vocabulary and speaking skills in oral activities like conversations and role-plays. Besides standard Italian textbooks and the written materials developed by the school and by the teachers themselves, students also make use of the school’s audio-visual equipment and the internet.

Students’ progress is regularly checked over the course of the lessons, by means of brief individual and group verification tests.

Standard Italian Courses; Commercial Italian Courses; Italian Music, Literature and Cookery Courses.

The Scuola Ulisse also offers students accommodation, either in a local ‘bed and breakfast’ or small hotel or, at a lower cost, in an apartment. The apartments have kitchens and bathrooms, are well-served by public transport, and offer single and double rooms, or the personal use of a whole apartment.

Besides the study of the Italian language, the Scuola Ulisse aims to introduce students to Sicily’s infinitely rich historical, cultural, and natural heritage. Students are offered various excursions, provided by various tour operators. For instance, students will be able to visit Siracusa and its splendid ancient Greek amphitheatre, which every summer plays host to Greek tragedies as well as modern plays and concerts, the beautiful baroque towns of Noto, Ragusa, and Modica, the stunning Valley of the Temples at Agrigento, the famous Roman mosaics of Piazza Armerina, and the medieval town of Taormina, internationally famous seaside holiday resort. Students will also be able to visit Mount Etna and see the most recent lava flows, or take trips to Sicily’s uncontaminated coastal nature reserves, full of protected specis.

Modern Catania is a picturesque and dynamic city of 350,000 inhabitants, notable particularly for its lively night-life and its position on the coast under Mount Etna. The university students, including visiting students from all over Europe, and the numerous pubs, cafes, restaurants, music venues, cinemas, and theatres make the ancient streets of the centre particularly vibrant at night. Along the coast not far from Catania there are also the ancient [fishing] villages of Aci Castello, with its stunning Norman castle, and Aci Trezza, made famous by Giovanni Verga’s novel, I Malavoglia, and known also for the rock stacks lying a little out to sea – according to Greek mythology, these are the rocks which the Cyclops hurled at Ulysses’s ship. In the evenings, particularly during the summer, the bars, ice cream shops, and restaurants which line the sea fronts of these villages are busy with people.

Above Catania, and visible even from the streets in the centre, stands Mount Etna, 3,323 metres tall and the largest active volcano in Europe. Here one can go skiing, and take walks in the woods and on the barren volcanic terrain go skiiing, take walks…, and visit recent lava flows. From high points the volcano also offers unique panoramas over almost 70 kilometres of coastline, which varies from cliffs of black volcanic rock to the sandy beaches and natural oasis at the mouth of the Simeto river. This coast too can be easily reached by public transport, and offers numerous tourist sites and comfortable lidos. Thanks to Sicily’s mild climate, it is possible to enjoy this stunningly beautiful natural landscape throughout the year.