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:
Beginner 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
April 3 to June 12
M 6:00 - 8:00 pm
Teacher: Jimmy (ONLINE)
April 3 to June 12
M 6:00 - 8:00 pm
Teacher: Gianna (IN PERSON)
April 5 to June 7
W 11:00 am - 1:00 pm
Teacher: Giulia (ONLINE)
April 8 to June 10
SA 9:00 - 11:00 am
Teacher: Jimmy (IN PERSON)
TEXTBOOK
Book 1 (mandatory)
New Italian Espresso (with workbook) - Chapters 1-2-3-4
Book 2 Grammar (mandatory)
Nuova Grammatica Pratica della lingua Italiana
Beginner 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 -GIOCARELEGGERE- 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
April 3 to June 12
M 6:00 - 8:00 pm
Teacher: Giulia (ONLINE)
April 5 to June 7
W 6:00 - 8:00 pm
Teacher: Luigi (ONLINE)
April 6 to June 8
TH 4:00 - 6:00 pm
Teacher: Mattia (IN PERSON)
April 6 to June 8
TH 11:00 am - 1:00 pm
Teacher: Mattia (ONLINE)
April 8 to June 10
SA 9:00 - 11:00 am
Teacher: Giulia (ONLINE)
TEXTBOOK
Book 1 (mandatory)
Nuovo Espresso 1 Chapters 4-5-6
Book 2 Grammar (mandatory)
Nuova Grammatica Pratica della lingua Italiana
Beginner 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
April 3 to June 12
M 6:00 - 8:00 pm
Teacher: Barbara (ONLINE)
April 4 to June 6
T 11:00 am - 1:00 pm
Teacher: Alessia (ONLINE)
April 5 to June 7
W 4:00 - 6:00 pm
Teacher: Jimmy (IN PERSON)
April 5 to June 7
W 6:00 - 8:00 pm
Teacher: Elena (ONLINE)
April 6 to June 8
TH 6:00 - 8:00 pm
Teacher: Giulia (ONLINE)
TEXTBOOK
Book 1 (mandatory)
Nuovo Espresso 1 Chapters 7-8-9
Book 2 Grammar (mandatory)
Nuova Grammatica Pratica della lingua Italiana
Reading Books
"Storie per principianti", Valeria Blasi
Alessia - T 11:00 am - 1:00 pm
"Una parola tira l’altra, Luciana". Paterna ed Emanuela Guglielmino
Alessia - T 11:00 am - 1:00 pm
"Un giorno diverso", Antonio Sparatore
Elena - W 6:00 - 8:00 pm
Beginner 4
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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
April 4 to June 6
T 6:30 - 8:30 pm
Teacher: Luigi (ONLINE)
April 8 to June 10
SA 9:00 - 11:00 am
Teacher: Alice (ONLINE)
TEXTBOOK
Book 1 (mandatory)
Nuovo Espresso 1 Chapter 10 + General review
Book 2 Grammar (mandatory)
Nuova Grammatica Pratica della lingua Italiana
Reading Books
"Il ladro di scarpe", Enrico Lovato
Alice - SA 9:00 - 11:00 am
PRICE
$350/term
+ 10$ nonrefundable registration fee
Book is not included
DURATION
Full-Term Classes
10 week courses, classes meet once a week
Term 1
January 9th to March 18th
Term 2
April 3rd to June 10th
Term 3
July 17th to September 23rd
Term 4
October 9th to December 16th

Let our students speak for us!

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!”
IL MIO POSTO FELICE!!!!
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.”
IL MIO POSTO FELICE!!!!
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 feel 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
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