At the Domus Aurea Centre learning Italian takes place in a cultural and historical framework that helps you learn about Rome and Italy through art, history and traditions.

By now we have twenty years of educational experience.
Expert language teachers carefully plan the teaching units using modern methods of direct teaching to use the language as a means of communication.
 
The small number of students in each class (maximum 8) allows the teachers to dedicate time to each student individually, meeting their language needs.
Highly active and motivated, our teachers also act as “interaction leaders” and are there for the students even during social gatherings.

Before starting a class students take both a written and an oral test to determine their level of Italian. At the end of the course a brief final test completes the evaluation process.
A Certificate of attendence recognized by the Italian Ministry of Public Instruction will be given to each student.
On request the school is able to provide certificates for Visa and resident permit for students.

The school
 
The Domus Aurea School came to life in 1997, from the idea of its founder, Massimo Sponsiello, and the present Director of the School, Nella Leo, to create a joint program with Apulia, that would reveal all the different facets of Italy.

The school is located in the heart of the city, between via Nazionale and the Coliseum, just a short walk from the legendary Trevi Fountain and the eternal Roman Forum.

The school is on the first floor of a 19th century building. There are 5 classrooms each with a table and chairs, a whiteboard and a tape recorder.

There is a small multimedia laboratory with free internet connection, a spacious administrative area, the Director’s office, 2 toilets and a small garden terrace.

In the entrance hall there are the drinks dispensers (coffee and water) and a notice board. Near the secretary’s office there is a small lounge where those who come for course information can wait.

Teaching and courses

At the Domus Aurea Centre for Italian Language and Culture the teaching method is functional-communicative: based on communication and interaction integrated with the study of grammar.

The teaching units emerge from the integration of the linguistic skills taken in the following order: reading-listening, comprehension, speaking and writing. Vocabulary is a part of the reading-listening and comprehension module, while grammatical analysis is the moment for the student to examine the syntactical structure of the language.

To help our students learn quickly and to enrich their knowledge of Italy, Domus Aurea develops students' skills integrating language with general culture.
Our students come from all over the world; to respect our choice of teaching methods, communication in the classroom takes place mainly in Italian. 
 
The teachers, with the help of a progressive vocabulary base, help the beginning students to express themselves correctly starting from the very first lessons.
There are five language levels: Beginners, Elementary, Intermediate, Advanced and Profinciency. Each level is completed in 80 hours of class time.

To guarantee this there is a tutoring service, both for group lessons and individual lessons, to help the students. This allows us to follow each student‘s instruction step by step and, based on the objectives of the course, allows us to check results as the course moves along. Furthermore, where there are specific needs, tutoring guarantees a service usually offered only through individual lessons.

As far as study tools is concerned, we will focus on the following points:
1) Teaching materials: planned and provided by the teachers in structured teaching units. These are integrated with other publications and authentic materials such as newspapers, photographs, advertisements, and so on.
2) Multimedia support material: the basic use of teaching materials like the TV, the video and the computer for multimedia programs contribute to maintaining the students’ interest and motivation.
3) Work outside the class: watching films and reading in Italian guarantees the continuity needed for good results.

At the end of each course the students receive a Diploma containing the teacher’s comments, the number of hours studied, the level and the type of course taken. The students also receive a certificate that indicates their performance in each of the skill areas; this information is used in conjunction with the teacher’s advice to suggest the best way for each student to carry on his language studies, either individually or in another course.