Saturday February 15/2014: ZOMBIE WALK VENEZIA 2014

On the occasion of the Opening of the Carnival, the first Venice Zombie Walk will take place in town!
The ZOMBIE WALK is a parade made of people dressed up as real zombie. The parade will follow a preset path, stumbling and imitating the style of the zombies, classical characters of books and of contemporary cinema and tv serials.

The trend of th Zombie Walk, born in the USA, is now arriving in Europe and also in Italy and the venetian edition, who is considered to be the biggest ever organized in Italy, will include also the "landing" of the zombies in town, at the Fondamenta delle Zattere, at 4.00 pm, where a boat will arrive, full of "walking dead" people. The parade will start here, reaching the Pescheria place, where will take place theZOMBIE PARTY, with drinks, food and music.

Summer international masterclass of Music in Portogruaro - Fondazione Santa Cecilia

Literary Trieste Tour

This stroll in the town centre of Trieste is an opportunity to breathe the atmosphere that inspired some among the greatest Italian and European writers and to visit the favourite places of the outstanding figures of literature who lived in Trieste such as Saba, Svevo, and Joyce.The tour begins in Piazza Unità, from where we meander through the alleyways of Cittavecchia, an area beloved by Italo Svevo who took here his daily strolls, and by Joyce who in his writings reproduced faithfully the heterogeneous and frenzy climate of this area. Opposite the Teatro Verdi, which Joyce used frequent since he was an opera lover, there stood the Union Bank offices where Svevo worked for as many as 18 years; life in that bank became the scenery for his first novel: Una Vita (A Life).The tour continues along Via San Nicolò. At number 30 you can find the "Umberto Saba" Antiquarian Bookshop, which was managed by the poet with the same name and on whose shelves precious volumes are still to be found. At number 32 is the palace which used to be the headquarters of the Berlitz School, the institute where Joyce worked for several years as an English teacher, and where the friendship between the Irish writer and Italo Svevo began. Moving on towards Viale XX Settembre, at number 16, you can find the palace where Ettore Schmitz, better known under the name of Italo Svevo, was born.

Info KEYTRE SRL

Sonja from Germany

I participated at an intensive language course in Italy from 17.09.2012 to
28.09.2012. Therefore I decided to study at the school IL Faro. The school is located
in the center of Caorle. It takes just a few minutes to get to the beach or to the
Citycenter, where all the shops and restaurants are. While studying I lived in a
holiday apartment in front of the beach. The apartment was very nice and pretty
modern. I booked this apartment at the agency "adriamare" which was recommended to me
by school.
There are three teachers at school. The Italian courses are taught exclusively in
Italian language. This is conductive to advanced learning. The school also provides
all the study material. The main season in Italy ends in September. This is
particularly noticeable at school, because there are just a few students. Therefore
I had private lessons with Miss Liviana Cechet. There have been two students from
Kanada, too, who participated in another course. Every day I had to prepare some
homework, for example grammar or writing exercises. The following day I discussed
the homework with my teacher. So I had the chance to improve my knowledge about the
italian language in dialogue.
I can highly recommend this school, especially the committed and motivated
teachers. Moreover the school organizes Sight Seeing Tours. This is an
extraordinary opportunity to get to know the Italian culture.
I had a very nice time in Caorle and in addition it was possible for me to improve my
Italian language skills within a short time.

What they say about us: Italian Society’s group Amicizia study holiday

The language school (il Faro) was in the centre of the old part of the village and proved to be of very high quality indeed. The group was divided in three depending on the level of tuition required. All members felt their Italian improved as the lessons were well suited to their existing language ability.

This Easter a group of Amicizia members from Sligo and Dublin, totalling 20 in all, made their way to the resort village of Caorle between Venice and Trieste. The area is unlike any of the places visited in previous years- resembling parts of Holland and Belgium rather than the usual Umbrian-Tuscan scenery. Long sandy beaches interrupted by lagoons that stretch for miles into the interior, small settlements based on cultivation of the flat canal drained fields, small scale fishing from the shallow Adriatic, wine making and of course tourism. The group arrived on Easter Sunday so the following day ( la Pasquetta) being a major holiday for Italians brought large crowds to the village. The hotel on the beach used by the group was full for a few nights but later things quietened down and Caorle took a deep breath before the summer season.

Several trips were made to surrounding places of interest. Close to Caorle is one of the largest areas in Italy for the production of organic wine and the group took a bus to visit the farm of the Piccinin family "Le Carline". Naturally a sampling of the produce was needed. Members were surprised to find this winemaker has a delicious white wine labelled "AMICITIA" the Latin version of the name of the society. The excursion to Venice was by ferry from Punto Sabbioni to Piazza San Marco which was a delightful way to reach the old town of Venice which is so incantevole that it simply defies description.

Some members went to Trieste, a frontier city with notable historic overtones, others went to Portogruaro closer to Caorle. A private coach was hired to visit Padova, site of one of the oldest universities in Europe.

(The Sligo Champion News)

summer 2012

LANGUAGE COURSES

A1. Intensive courses (20 weekly lessons) divided in 4 skill levels (beginner, intermediate 1 and 2, advanced)

A2. “Senior” courses (10 weekly lessons) also divided in 4 levels, designed for the more mature student who wishes to learn in an age-homogeneous group.

A3. “Junior” courses (10 weekly lessons), for children 5 years and older, that combine the learning of Italian with the fun of recreational activities.

A4. Conversation courses (10 weekly lessons) focused on oral communication in order to improve the understanding of the language and verbal fluency.

A1, Intensive Group Courses (20 weekly classes)
Language courses in small groups of a maximum of 6 students. Four daily lessons of 50 minutes each, structured in 4 levels of difficulty:

• Beginner: Here you will find Italian for absolute beginners. We will cover grammar, conversation, reading, and listening comprehension exercises.
• Intermediate 1: Best suited for advanced beginners with a good command of the essential language structures.
• Intermediate 2: Geared toward those who have a good Italian vocabulary and grasp of the grammar, but still wish to improve in conversational and writing skills.
• Advanced: A must for those who have already mastered the language and want to focus on more advanced and specific language problems. Here special attention is given to syntax and style, with more intense conversational exploration.

The intensive group language courses aim to develop all four the language skills (reading listening, speaking, and writing) by equally combining grammar study and communicative approach. The course is structured in a four week period. At the end, the student may, after taking an assessment exam, pass to a higher level of difficulty.

A2. Courses "Senior" (10 weekly lessons)
This course is specifically designed for a more mature kind of student who wishes to learn in an age-homogeneous group of fellow students, and with a program specifically designed in topics and structure for an older audience. Available in different levels. Ten weekly lessons of 50 minutes each, either in the mornings or in the afternoons.

A3, Courses "Junior" (10 weekly lessons)
Our courses for "young learners" combine the learning of Italian with the fun of recreational activities. By using games, songs, drawings, the teacher leads the young student to the new language in an amusing and creative way. The child's learning progresses are constantly monitored and the highly qualified teachers guarantee excellent results in a safe and caring environment. Ten weekly lessons of 50 minutes each, either in the mornings or in the afternoons.

A4. Conversation Course (10 weekly classes)
This course is focused almost exclusively on the oral communication to improve the understanding of the language and verbal fluency. Great attention is given to pronunciation, intonation, and elements proper of Italian spoken language to achieve a nearly native modulation of the language. Ten lessons per week of 50 minutes each, either in the mornings or in the afternoons.

And if you are looking for something special, please do not forget to check also our special focus classes and private lessons.

It is never too late ... to learn Italian

Italian language developed from the Vernacular languages spoken on the Italian soil in the middle Ages.
In the 16th Century, Cardinal Pietro Bembo provided the Italian language with specific rules based on the works of the great Tuscan authors of the 14th century: Dante Alighieri, Giovanni Boccaccio and Francesco Petrarca.
In the early 19th century, Alessandro Manzoni, in his famous historic novel I Promessi Sposi (the Betrothed), brought several changes to the Italian language, lowering its register to conform it to the language spoken in his time.
For the Italian people, however, who are still used to speak a variety of local dialects, Italian became a common –national- language only in the 20th century, after WW2, thanks to the mass media and particularly to popularization of TV. One show in particular made the difference in the literacy process: “Non è mai troppo tardi” conducted by Alberto Manzi and broadcasted by RAI from 15 November 1960 to 1968. It was suspended after 484 episodes, when the increased school attendance made it less indispensable.

Marco Mengoni: Best European Act at the MTV-Europe Music Awards 2010

Marco Mengoni, winner of the third season of the Italian X-Factor, was awarded the Best European Act, at the 17th edition of the Mtv Europe Music Awards, in Madrid, on November 7th.

People from all over the world watched the incredible show, which features live performances by Shakira, Bon Jovi, Katy Perry, Ke$ha, Eminem, Justin Bieber, Marco Mengoni and many more. The awards ceremony was presented by the beautiful and lovely Eva Longoria.

If you love Italian music and you haven’t heard of Marco Mengoni yet, you can check his music on the website http://www.marcomengoni.it/

S.O.S. Spritz: a recipe to share

This post is for all our students who wish to taste the faboulous Venetian Aperitive at home.

Here is the Spritz recipe as you have enjoyed it in Caorle:
fill 2/3 of the glass with Aperol and white wine (in proportion of 1/3 and 2/3 respectively) and 1/3 with soda water.

Stir it and decorate with a slice of orange or lemon.

Add ice if preferred.
Drink it with a variety of “Cicchetti” and appetizers of your choice or chips.

Cin cin!

FARO excursions

Here are some of the varied excursions we offer to students attending IL FARO.
Promenade in Caorle: an hour-long guided walk along the most significant artistic and historical locations in this old town of fishermen.
A tour in history with a private bus we visit Concordia Sagittaria, an ancient roman colony, and the medieval town of Portogruaro. We conclude the trip with D.O.C. wine tasting in the Lison-Pramaggiore winery.
Gourmet bike ride a 20km (12 miles) bike ride in the Caorle countryside to admire the natural beauty of the area with stopovers at local farms to eat and enjoy the fresh and delicious regional products (level of difficulty: easy).