You are completely new to Italian, or you can speak and understand Italian in a very limited way. We will teach you the fundamentals of basic Italian communication, like introduce yourself and others and ask and answer questions about personal details.

Program Structure

Register to a beginner sub-levels:
Beginners 1
PICK A DATE AND REGISTER

COMMUNICATIVE CONTENT

  • Greetings
  • Introducing yourself/introducing other people
  • Asking about someone’s place of origin
  • Asking and giving phone number and address

 

  • Start a conversation
  • Asking and giving personal information
  • To be sorry for something
  • To thank

 

  • Ordering in a café and in a restaurant
  • Asking for things in a polite way
  • Asking for the bill
  • Making a reservation
  • Spelling

GRAMMAR

  • Subject pronouns
  • Present tense ESSERE-AVERE-CHIAMARSI
  • The alphabet
  • Nouns
  • Definite and indefinite articles
  • Nouns and adjectives agreement
  • Introduction to interrogatives and demonstratives
  • Numbers 0-100
  • Prepositions a – in
AVAILABLE CLASSES
Dates
Day/time
Teacher
Price
October 15 to January 7 (10 WKS) *no 11/26, 12/24, 12/31
TH 12:00 - 2:00 pm PT
Teacher: Dario (IN PERSON)
$400/term
October 17 to January 9 (10 WKS) *no 11/28, 12/26, 1/2
SA 11:00 am - 1:00 pm PT
Teacher: Gianna (IN PERSON)
$400/term
October 17 to January 9 (10 WKS) *no 11/28, 12/26, 1/2
SA 9:00 - 11:00 am PT
Teacher: Valentina (ONLINE)
$390/term
October 20 to January 5 (10 WKS) *no 10/27, 12/29
T 6:00 - 8:00 pm PT
Teacher: Angela (IN PERSON)
$400/term
October 20 to January 5 (10 WKS) *no 12/22, 12/29
T 6:00 - 8:00 pm PT
Teacher: Valentina (ONLINE)
$390/term
October 21 to January 6 (10 WKS) *no 12/23, 12/30
W 4:00 - 6:00 pm PT
Teacher: Gianna (IN PERSON)
$400/term
October 21 to January 6 (10 WKS) *no 12/23, 12/30
W 4:00 - 6:00 pm PT
Teacher: Valentina (ONLINE)
$390/term
TEXTBOOK
Book (mandatory)
Nuovo Espresso Plus 1 - Chapters 1-2-3
GET THE BOOK
Workbook (mandatory)
Nuovo Espresso Plus 1 - workbook
GET THE BOOK
Beginners 2
PICK A DATE AND REGISTER

COMMUNICATIVE CONTENT

  • Free time and leisure activities
  • Talk about how often one does something
  • People’s interests and occupations
  • Express agreement and disagreement
  • Asking and telling time

 

  • Booking a hotel room
  • Asking for the price
  • Home furniture and urban environment
  • Complaining about a specific problem
  • Description of an apartment

 

  • Description of a place
  • Description of an itinerary
  • Directions
  • Expressing regret
  • To apologize

GRAMMAR

  • Regular verbs -IRE
  • Verbs ANDARE -GIOCARE–LEGGERE- USCIRE (present tense)
  • Frequency adverbs
  • The days of the week
  • Mi piace- Mi piacciono
  • Indirect pronouns (singular)
  • Perchè

 

  • C’è- Ci sono
  • POTERE-VENIRE (present tense)
  • Prepositions da…a…
  • Prepositions with articles
  • The months
  • Ordinal numbers
  • The date
  • Numbers 100 +

 

  • Ci + andare
  • Noun-adjective agreement
  • Adjectives in -CO -CA
  • Partitives (plural of indefinite articles)
  • Molto
  • DOVERE-SAPERE
  • More interrogatives
  • A CHE ORA ?
AVAILABLE CLASSES
Dates
Day/time
Teacher
Price
October 17 to January 9 (10 WKS) *no 11/28, 12/26, 1/2
SA 1:00 - 3:00 pm PT
Teacher: Dario (IN PERSON)
$400/term
October 19 to December 21 (10 WKS)
M 6:00 - 8:00 pm PT
Teacher: Stefano (ONLINE)
$390/term
October 20 to January 5 (10 WKS) *no 10/27, 12/22, 12/29
T 12:00 - 2:00 pm PT
Teacher: Mariangela (IN PERSON)
$400/term
TEXTBOOK
Book (mandatory)
New Italian Espresso - Chapters 5-6-7-8
GET THE BOOK
Workbook (mandatory)
New Italian Espresso - workbook
GET THE BOOK
Beginners 3
PICK A DATE AND REGISTER

COMMUNICATIVE CONTENT

  • Talk about past actions and events
  • Holiday activities
  • Specify when a past event took place
  • Talk about the weather

 

  • Food
  • Grocery shopping
  • Description of a store
  • Recipes and dishes

 

  • Work habits and working hours
  • Daily routine
  • Congratulations and wishes for special occasions and holidays
  • Italian public holidays

GRAMMAR

  • Past tense : passato prossimo
  • Time indicators
  • Regular and irregular past participles
  • Absolute superlative
  • Double negative
  • Qualche

 

  • The seasons
  • Quantities
  • Partitive (singular)
  • Direct pronouns (lo ,la, li, le, ne)
  • Impersonal construction (si + verbo)

 

  • Reflexive verbs
  • Time and frequency indicators
  • FARE (specific usage)
AVAILABLE CLASSES
Dates
Day/time
Teacher
Price
October 15 to January 7 (10 WKS) *no 11/26, 12/24, 12/31
TH 4:15 - 6:15 pm PT
Teacher: Gianna (IN PERSON)
$400/term
October 17 to January 9 (10 WKS) *no 11/28, 12/26, 1/2
SA 11:00 am - 1:00 pm PT
Teacher: Griseldo (IN PERSON)
$400/term
October 19 to January 4 (10 WKS) *no 12/21, 12/28
M 9:30 am - 11:30 am PT
Teacher: Alice (ONLINE)
$390/term
October 19 to January 4 (10 WKS) *no 12/21, 12/28
M 4:00 - 6:00 pm PT
Teacher: Gianna (ONLINE)
$390/term
October 21 to January 6 (10 WKS) *no 12/23, 12/30
W 6:00 - 8:00 pm PT
Teacher: Griseldo (IN PERSON)
$400/term
TEXTBOOK
Book (mandatory)
New Italian Espresso - Chapter 9-10-11-12
GET THE BOOK
Workbook (mandatory)
New Italian Espresso - workbook
GET THE BOOK
Grammar book
Videogrammatica della lingua italiana
Alice - M 9:30 am - 11:30 am PT
GET THE BOOK
Beginners 4
PICK A DATE AND REGISTER

COMMUNICATIVE CONTENT

  • Family
  • Description of a photo
  • Expressing possession
  • Gifts and weddings

 

  • General review

GRAMMAR

  • Possessive adjectives
  • Relative superlative
  • Reflexive verbs (Past tense)
  • Perchè- Siccome
AVAILABLE CLASSES
Dates
Day/time
Teacher
Price
October 19 to January 4 (10 WKS) *no 12/21, 12/28
M 4:00 - 6:00 pm PT
Teacher: Griseldo (ONLINE)
$390/term
October 15 to January 7 (10 WKS) *no 11/26, 12/24, 12/31
TH 6:00 - 8:00 pm PT
Teacher: Dario (IN PERSON)
$400/term
October 20 to January 5 (10 WKS) *no 12/22, 12/29
T 6:00 - 8:00 pm PT
Teacher: Griseldo (ONLINE)
$390/term
TEXTBOOK
Book (mandatory)
New Italian Espresso - Chapters 13-14-15 + general review
GET THE BOOK
Workbook (mandatory)
New Italian Espresso - workbook
GET THE BOOK
Conversazione Beginners
PICK A DATE AND REGISTER

Short 5 weeks course aimed at improving our students’ conversational skills on everyday topics.

No books required.

Classes are 90 minutes long.

We have both IN PERSON and ONLINE group options.

To join these groups, students must have completed our regular Beginners 3 course or demonstrate an equivalent level.

AVAILABLE CLASSES
Dates
Day/time
Teacher
Price
Sept 3 to October 1 (5 WKS)
TH 11:30am -1:00 pm PT
Teacher: Francesca (ONLINE)
$180/term
Sept 10 to October 8 (5 WKS)
TH 2:30 – 4:00 pm PT
Teacher: Mattia (IN PERSON)
$190/term
October 15 to November 12 (5 WKS)
TH 11:30am -1:00 pm PT
Teacher: Francesca (ONLINE)
$180/term
October 15 to November 12 (5 WKS)
TH 2:30 – 4:00 pm PT
Teacher: Gianna (IN PERSON)
$190/term
October 21 to November 18 (5 WKS)
WED 6:00 - 7:30 pm PT
Teacher: Chiara (ONLINE)
$180/term
November 19 to January 7 (5 WKS)
TH 11:30am - 1:00 pm PT
Teacher: Francesca (ONLINE)
$180/term
November 19 to January 7 (5 WKS) *no 11/26, 12/24, 12/31
TH 2:30 – 4:00 pm PT
Teacher: Gianna (IN PERSON)
$190/term
November 25 to January 6 (5 WKS) *no 12/23, 12/30
WED 6:00 - 7:30 pm PT
Teacher: Chiara (ONLINE)
$180/term
TEXTBOOK
PRICE
Prices are listed next to each group.

A 15$ nonrefundable processing fee will be automatically added at checkout.

Books are not included in the enrollment price.


DISCOUNTS

ENROLL IN 2 GROUPS: if you enroll in 2 groups in the same Term, you will get a 15% discount on the second group's enrollment (the less expensive)
This discount will be applied automatically upon enrollment.


Additionally, send an email to italianschool@sfiis.org to get the following discounts:

BRING A FRIEND: If you enroll with a friend (new to IIS), you both get a 10% discount on your first enrollment with IIS

PRIVATE CLASSES: if you are enrolled in a group, you can purchase private classes with a 10% discount

BULK REGISTRATION: if you enroll in 2 or more Terms at the same time, you will not pay the $10 registration fee and will get an additional 10% discount
DURATION
Group Classes
from 5 to 10 weeks groups, different duration
Term 1
January 18 to March 28, 2027
Term 2
April 12 to June 20, 2027
Term 3
August 2 to October 3, 2027
Term 4
October 15, 2026, to January 10, 2027

Let our students speak for us!

Truly a gem of a school
Erin Yu
"SFIIS runs a fantastic org and program - truly a gem of a school. The staff are warm and wonderfully efficient. I've done both in-person and online classes, and plan to continue for as long as I can. They cover all levels of Italian proficiency, with an engaging mix of private lessons, themed classes (e.g. Italian for Travelers), and regular Term classes. If you can, I highly recommend going in person for at least some lessons - they have a wonderful office in sunny North Beach."
Cannot recommend this online foreign language program for toddlers enough!
Andrea DiSandro
"First and foremost, let me sing praises for the incredible teacher, Francesca. She possesses a remarkable talent for not only teaching but captivating young minds. Her ability to blend learning and play seamlessly is nothing short of amazing. [...] What's truly heartwarming is witnessing my daughter's enthusiasm for her weekly class. [...] As a family that values multilingualism, I can confidently say that this virtual program stands head and shoulders above the rest. [...] I am beyond impressed and immensely grateful for the positive impact this program has had on our family. If you're seeking a top-tier virtual language learning experience for your little one, look no further. This program is truly amazing, and I wholeheartedly endorse it to any parent seeking to enrich their child's linguistic abilities.
Beginners 1 experience
Jeffrey Jordan
"I just completed my first course with Istituto Italiano Scuola and was quite impressed. It was both rigorous and fun in balance, inspiring me to learn and take my Italian further than ever before. I'll be back for the next level course."
IL MIO POSTO FELICE!!!!
Leslie Hughes
“What I like most about participating in a literature class with the Istituto is having classmates with whom to discuss our books. I like hearing their opinions and responding to them. Reading is a great pleasure of mine, but sharing a book makes reading an adventure. With a teacher guiding us we improve our language skills and become more self-confident expressing ourselves. I’m grateful for the opportunity!”
The best way to maintain and improve my language skills
Dennis Abbe
“I have been taking classes at the SFIIS for years because, short of a long stay in Italy, it is the best way to maintain and improve my language skills. But more than that, I enjoy being with the other students and my instructor(s), many of whom are now good friends. In my class we read classic and contemporary Italian literature, and our instructor keeps us up to date on Italian culture and even politics. The experience on Zoom is almost as good as the in-person classes; Barbara is amazing in her use of the tools to run a lively, efficient, and fun class.”
I've made life-long friends through SFIIS classes
Dede Heitman
“The SFIIS school offers the best, well rounded Italian languages classes in the Bay Area. With native speakers as teachers, the classes provide a comprehensive, natural and fun way of learning. Everyone feels welcome, no matter the level. The teachers are encouraging, entertaining and enthusiastic about their language and culture. As a bonus, I've made life-long friends through SFIIS classes. Please join our Italian language learning community!”
An authentic learning experience
SPEAK
ITALIAN
AND
LIVE
NEW
EXPERIENCES