Istituto Italiano Scuola

Studio alla scuola da due anni… ho imparato tantissimo. Tutti gli insegnanti sono fantastichi, e la direttrice e «vice» direttrice sono meravigliose. Ho anche preso delle lezioni privati con un’insegnante infaticablile… sono abbastanza costose ma vale la pena. Le classi sono divertenti, e gli studenti sono amichevoli e seri. Non c’e‘ niente di meglio che studiare alla scuola IIS.
I’ve been studying at IIS for nearly two years, and really can’t thank them enough for everything. The director and her assistant are fantastically helpful, and I have also taken private lessons from a fantastic teacher from Napoli. The lessons are a bit pricey, but there is a discount for purchasing multiple lessons that through bad planning on my part I missed out on. You can arrange one lesson to drill in a particular subject, or a ten-​week discounted «packet».
The teachers currently at the school are all top-​notch (and the director and assistant are also teachers-​and excellent). As with learning anything, whether or not you personally mesh with your particular instructor will be a bit random, but there is a large stable of teachers and a pretty good range of available course times so that you can switch if need be.
I always think rave Unilocal reviews are a little phony, so I’ll include a small gripe. One unfortunate (for me) side effect of learning Italian in SF from native speakers is that many of them are permanent residents here with American spouses or strong interests in the US and its culture. This means they relate well to beginning students, especially those that have never studied another language, but at times in class we skip cultural/​historical readings in the materials, or the instructors are a bit disinterested in that material. To be fair, the instructors are from all over Italia, and it’s completely understandable that someone from Piemonte doesn’t know about the traditions in rural Sardegna or isn’t particularly interested in music in a local dialect. Italian culture is very localized, and for a country the size of California there are a zillion little towns with their own oddball history or secrets. The teachers are from all over Italia, and basically reflect this aspect of Italian culture, but it means you have some work to do to explore the part of the culture most interesting to you.
This slight complaint is completely offset by the school’s association with the Italian government’s cultural institute (Istituto Italiano di Cultura di San Francisco). They share the same space, now in Opera Plaza, and there is a regular slate of films, academic presentations, art exhibits, and on and on and on. The school itself also regularly hosts Saturday seminars, cooking classes, wine tastings and presentations by Italian vintners, and more. Although the school and institute are unfortunately no longer in North Beach, there is also a vibrant community of Italians and Italophiles in SF to visit, Italian mass at St. Peter and Paul on Washington Square, and so on. IIS has been a door for me to learn the language and experience the culture, the culture my family left behind when they came to the US at the turn of the century. I’m not exaggerating when I say my life changed for the better when I walked in and talked to the Director, Diletta Torlasco, one afternoon. Change yours too!
Also, the teachers (like many Italians) are very, very well-​educated. My tutor is a trained archaeologist, and as you can see on the website, others are trained in architecture, engineering, and more. There are also several that have graduate degrees in romance languages or have taught Italian in Italy to high school or college students. One necessity for learning a language is making conversation, and these lovely people never, ever run out of interesting things to talk about.
Finally, the school is also well-​adapted for casual learners, offering a regular «Italian for travelers» workshop, and absolute beginner classes once per week. The teachers make a special effort to encourage shy or reticent students to participate, and as mentioned above (and despite what other reviewers have said) it is a perfect place to start from absolute zero with your Italian study.