School Profile
Pixel is an education and training agency based in Florence (Italy).
Pixel specialises in organising customised individual Italian language courses for foreigners. The courses are highly personalised and flexible, responding to the specific needs of the student or of small groups of students in terms of training contents and time.
When enrolling, students are asked to specify the type of language skills that they intend to develop and in which professional sector they operate. This allows the teaching staff at Pixel to design a completely personalised course which is supported by learning material (in the form of handouts) developed ad hoc.
The teacher is also chosen according to his/her specific skills and background so as to be able to carry out a language course that responds in its entirety to the student's specific interests.
Experience
Pixel was founded in 1999 by a team of professionals with over 10 years experience in the field of transnational cooperation for education and training.
Pixel has vast experience in the organisation of professional language courses aimed at individuals who intend to acquire Italian language communication skills.
Credentials
Pixel’s quality system is certified in compliance with the UNI EN ISO 9001:2000 standard (certificate n° SQ.41823).
Pixel is recognised by the Italian Ministry of Education according with the Ministerial Law n. 90 of 1-12-2003.
Pixel is also accredited as a specialised education and training organisation by the Tuscan County Council and by the Italian Ministry of Health.
Pixel is involved as promoter or partner in the following transnational cooperation projects focusing on language learning, funded by the European Commission carried out in transnational cooperation with European universities and Language training centres:
“
Eurobusiness Language Skills” project, coordinated by Pixel and financed by the European Commission in the framework of the Leonardo da Vinci programme. The project created an online course for distance learning of Italian, English, French and Spanish in a business context.
For further information please visit the project portal
http://www.eurobusinesslanguageskills.net/“
Language eTeacher Services” project coordinated by Pixel financed by the European Commission in the framework of the Leonardo da Vinci programme. The project is currently creating a portal for training language teachers on the application of new technologies to language teaching.
For further information please visit the project web site
http://www.leonardo-lets.net/“
Collaborative Learning Teacher Training” project financed by the European Commission in the framework of the Socrates programme. The project is training language teachers on the application of cooperative learning in a language learning environment.
For further information please visit the project web site
http://www.statvoks.no/coltt/“
eEuroInclusion” project financed by the European Commission in the framework of the Socrates programme. The project developed a database of language resource centres specialised in less widely taught languages.
For further information please visit the project portal
http://www.eeuroinclusion.org/index.php
The learning methodology proposed by Pixel in its Italian Language Customised Courses, adapts itself to the personal characteristics and requirements of the student. The focus, independent of the level, is on the development of both written and oral communication and comprehension skills.
Grammar is developed in a functional way and relates to the linguistic contents which the students intends to develop in order to equip them with the tools for correct expression and understanding at whatever level of linguistic knowledge.
The learning approach adopted is highly practical and makes continual use of simulations and learning games with the aim of making everything learnt immediately applicable and efficient.
The learning material is personalised, in fact it is developed ad hoc to respond to the needs and objectives of every individual student.
Target Group
Pixel’s Italian language courses, are addressed to individuals and to already established groups where the members share the same specific interests (e.g. small groups of tourists who wish to learn Italian for travelling throughout Italy or groups of students interested in a particular subject) in order to guarantee that all courses are tailor-made.
Pixel’s training offer is aimed at:
Managers and professionals who wish to learn a lot in a short period of time and require a tailor-made approach.
Adults and young people who wish to learn Italian for specific purposes: e.g. tourism, art, fashion, study, work etc.
Teachers of Italian language and culture who wish to further and update their knowledge of Italian.
Teaching Staff
The courses, are taught by mother-tongue Italian speakers with a university degree.
All teaching staff have a consolidated experience in teaching Italian as a foreign language. Each teacher is specialised in different contexts (e.g. business language; tourism; art; fashion; administration and finance etc.).
The teacher follows the student individually and continually with both skill and patience.
Pixel designs and creates customised individual language courses, which are completely personalised.
The individual courses organised by Pixel allow students of all levels to reach excellent results in a short period of time.
The contents of the course are entirely personalised: the student specifies the type of language skills that he/she intends to acquire as well as his/her area of interest and time availability and is presented with a tailor-made programme which responds totally to his/her language learning objectives.
The courses offered aim to improve both the written and oral communication and comprehension Italian language skills. The course topics are discussed and agreed upon directly with the student, as are the number of hours.
Courses which have already been developed have focused on the following themes:
Basic Communication in Italian:
greetings and presentations; describing people and situations; everyday life communication; shopping; eating etc.
Italian language for business:
presenting one’s own company; travelling for business; receiving business partners; participating in meetings; making presentations; business correspondence etc.
Italian language for marketing:
promoting one’s own company; presenting a product; negotiation; sales; participating in a trade fair.
Italian language for tourism management:
written and oral communication and comprehension in a tourism-hotelier environment.
Italian language for travelling in Italy:
asking for directions; means of transport; eating in Italy; finding accommodation; planning a tour etc.
Italian language for art and architecture:
written and oral communication and comprehension in the field of the history and theory of art and architecture as well as for the practice of art and architecture.
Italian language for fashion:
written and oral communication and comprehension in the fashion sector, which therefore includes clothing; leather ware; accessories etc.
Italian language for cookery:
written and oral communication and comprehension for Italian cooking and eating.
Italian language for the medical sector:
written and oral communication and comprehension in the field of medicine, which therefore includes: communication between the doctor and the patient; social relations in the field of medicine; medical terminology etc.
Refresher Courses for teachers of Italian:
examination of various aspects of the Italian language and teaching methodologies; current affairs in Italy; new proposals and solutions for language teaching, new teaching material proposals.
Working in Italy:
curriculum vitae; job interview technique; socialising in a business environment; researching the Italian job market
