You can understand the Italian language used in everyday situations and you can have a basic conversation, only if the speaker speaks slowly and clearly. We will help you improve your skill, learning to talk about your likes/dislikes, your family and your routines, order a meal in a restaurant and go shopping.

Program Structure

Register to a elementare sub-levels:
Elementare 1
PICK A DATE AND REGISTER

COMMUNICATIVE CONTENT

  • Shopping
  • Clothing
  • Colors
  • Expressing doubts
  • Expressing taste and opinions
  • Giving advice
  • Asking for advice
  • Comparisons

 

  • Talking about memories
  • Description of habits in the past
  • Description of situations

 

  • Physical and personality description
  • Comparison between people personality
  • Polite form
  • Hypothetical sentence
  • Making a proposal
  • Giving advice
  • Expressing wishes

GRAMMAR

  • Piacere
  • Indirect pronouns
  • Troppo
  • Questo/quello
  • Informal Imperative (Tu)
  • Comparative

 

  • Imperfetto
  • Imperfetto and Passato prossimo
  • CI
  • Alterati (-ino and -one)
  • ————-
  • Né… né
  • Verbs farcela, sapere, andarsene
  • Comparison quanto/come
  • Passato prossimo Cominciare and Finire
  • Present conditional
  • Qualcuno-nessuno
AVAILABLE CLASSES
Dates
Day/time
Teacher
Price
Jan 8 to Mar 18
M 6:00 - 8:00 pm PST
Teacher: Gianna (ONLINE)
$380/term
Jan 11 to Mar 14
TH 6:00 - 8:00 pm PST
Teacher: Jimmy (ONLINE)
$380/term
Feb 12 to Mar 18
M + W 9-10:30AM PST
Teacher: Jimmy (ONLINE- INTENSIVE)
$380/term
TEXTBOOK
Book 1 (mandatory)
Nuovo Espresso 2 Chapters 1-2-3
Book 2 Grammar (mandatory)
Nuova Grammatica Pratica della Lingua Italiana
Reading Book
Un giorno diverso, Marco Dominici
Gianna M 6:00 - 8:00 pm PST
Elementare 2
PICK A DATE AND REGISTER

COMMUNICATIVE CONTENT

  • Accepting/rejecting a proposal
  • Motivating a refusal
  • Making an appointment
  • Booking a play by phone

 

  • Expressing surprise and disappointment
  • Inquiring about something
  • Asking about the duration of a trip
  • Asking for the price

 

  • Interactions on a social media
  • Expressing needs
  • Talking about food and eating habits
  • Commenting the taste of food
  • Expressing opinions

GRAMMAR

  • Progressive form stare + gerundio
  • Direct pronouns and avere (ce l ’ho)
  • Agreement between direct pronouns and past participles
  • Adverbs già / non… ancora
  • Position of direct and indirect pronouns with infinitive verbs
  • Relative pronouns che and cui
  • Tranne

 

  • Imperfetto VOLERE
  • SAPERE e CONOSCERE Imperfetto and Passato prossimo
  • Imperfetto vs Passato prossimo
  • Volerci

 

  • Quello che
  • Irregular Imperative (tu)
  • Negative Imperative (tu)
  • Verb Servire
  • Position of pronouns with the imperative (tu)
  • Informal imperative (irregular verbs)
AVAILABLE CLASSES
Dates
Day/time
Teacher
Price
Jan 9 to Mar 12
T 11:00 am - 1:00 pm PST
Teacher: Alessia (ONLINE)
$302/term
Jan 10 to Mar 13
W 6:00 - 8:00 pm PST
Teacher: Elena (ONLINE)
$380/term
TEXTBOOK
Book 1 (mandatory)
Nuovo Espresso 2 Chapters 4-5-6
Book 2 Grammar (mandatory)
Nuova Grammatica Pratica della Lingua Italiana
Reading Book
Mistero in Via Dei Tulipani, Cinzia Medaglia
Alessia T 11:00am - 1:00pm PST
La casa sulla scogliera, Cinzia Medaglia
Elena W 6:00 - 8:00 pm PST
Elementare 3
PICK A DATE AND REGISTER

COMMUNICATIVE CONTENT

  • Talking about health issues
  • Description of symptoms
  • Confirming a possibility
  • Giving advice about health
  • Giving advice about sport activities Talking about workout habits
  • Trying to convince someone

 

  • Talking about the future
  • Talking about wishes and plans for the future
  • Writing a letter for a job
  • Suppositions
  • Conditions
  • Talking about work

 

  • Apologize
  • Telling a story
  • Telling what happens in a specific moment
  • Showing curiosity about a story and the person who tells the story
  • Expressing disappointment

GRAMMAR

  • Imperative (Lei and voi)
  • Negative Imperative (Lei and voi)
  • Position of pronouns with the imperative (Lei)
  • Comparative and superlative of buono and bene
  • Nouns in -tore and -ista
  • Some nouns with irregular plural

 

  • Futuro semplice
  • Bisogna
  • Metterci with the meaning avere bisogno di tempo
  • Periodo ipotetico della realtà (se + present tense or future)
  • Pronouns la and le

 

  • Mentre/Durante
  • Stare per + infinitive
  • Passato prossimo of modal verbs
  • VOLERE-DOVERE-POTERE
  • Conjunctions però, quindi, perchè, mentre, quando
AVAILABLE CLASSES
Dates
Day/time
Teacher
Price
Jan 9 to Mar 12
T 6:30 - 8:30 pm PST
Teacher: Antonella (ONLINE)
$380/term
TEXTBOOK
Book 1 (mandatory)
Nuovo Espresso 2 Chapters 7-8-9
Book 2 Grammar (mandatory)
Nuova Grammatica Pratica della Lingua Italiana
Elementare 4
PICK A DATE AND REGISTER

COMMUNICATIVE CONTENT

  • Description of an apartment
  • Expressing needs and wishes
  • Being for or against specific subjets
  • Comparisons

 

  • General review

GRAMMAR

  • The adjective Bello
  • Present subjunctive (regular verbs)
  • Present subjunctive (some irregular verbs)
  • Usage of subjunctive to express necessity, hope, personal opinion
  • Comparative più… di/che
  • Adverb Magari
AVAILABLE CLASSES
Dates
Day/time
Teacher
Price
Jan 9 to Mar 12
T 6:30 - 8:30 pm PST
Teacher: Elena (ONLINE)
$380/term
Jan 11 to Mar 14
TH 6:30 - 8:30 pm PST
Teacher: Barbara (ONLINE)
$380/term
TEXTBOOK
Book 1 (mandatory)
Nuovo Espresso 2 Chapter 10 + General review
Book 2 Grammar (mandatory)
Nuova Grammatica Pratica della Lingua Italiana
Reading Book
Rose rosse per il commissario, Regina Assini e Susanno Longo 
Elena T 6:30 - 8:30 pm PST
Villa dei Mughetti, Stefano Giordano
Barbara TH 6:30 - 8:30 pm PST
PRICE
Prices are listed next to each group.

A 10$ nonrefundable registration fee will be automatically added at checkout.

Books are not included in the enrollment price.
DURATION
Group Classes
from 5 to 10 weeks groups, different duration
Term 1
January 8th to March 16th
Term 2
April 1st to June 8th
Term 3
July 29th to September 28th
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 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
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