You can communicate in Italian in a variety of everyday social contexts, like at work, in school, at home. You will learn to talk and interact in Italian with more confidence, especially when traveling to Italy. You will also widen your grammar and vocabulary range.

Program Structure

Register to a intermedio sub-levels:
Intermedio 1
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COMMUNICATIVE CONTENT

  • Making analogies
  • Inviting someone to do something together
  • Asking for an opinion
  • Expressing surprise, relief, happiness, empathy
  • Expressing doubts
  • Asking to borrow
  • Telling about a cultural or a linguistic accident
  • Expressing opinions
  • Expressing agreement and disagreement

 

  • Asking for help
  • Complain
  • Expressing hope
  • Expressing disapproval
  • Expressing wishes
  • Expressing a prohibition
  • Asking for the cause
  • Motivate
  • Insist
  • Making plans
  • Expressing preferences

 

  • Description of products
  • Description of objects (material, usage, features)
  • Asking/confirming an intention
  • Explaining the cause
  • Making a guess
  • Expressing emotions and mood
  • Expressing fear
  • Expressing a condition
  • Making a complaint
  • To forgive / to justify yourself
  • To blame

GRAMMAR

  • Trapassato prossimo
  • Prima di + infinitive
  • Verb Dovere to express a hypothesis
  • Pronomi combinati
  • Negative prefix in-

 

  • Past conditional to express an unfulfilled wish
  • CI – NE
  • Some pronominal verbs
  • Possessive pronouns

 

  • Past subjunctive
  • Subjunctive review
  • Tenses and moods correlations
  • Suffix -accio
  • A patto che, purchè, a condizione che + subjuntive
AVAILABLE CLASSES
Dates
Day/time
Teacher
Price
Aug 20 to Sept 24 (6 WKS)
T 6:30 - 8:30 pm PST
Teacher: Antonella (ONLINE)
$225/term
TEXTBOOK
Book 1 (mandatory)
Nuovo Espresso 3 Chapters 1-2-3
Book 2 Grammar (recommended)
Nuova Grammatica Pratica della Lingua Italiana
Reading Books
Linea A, Antonella Santini 
Antonella - T 6:30-8:30 pm PST
Intermedio 2
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COMMUNICATIVE CONTENT

  • Different means of communication and appropriate language
  • Making comparisons
  • Giving an explanation
  • Starting a conversation on the phone
  • Offering help and availability
  • Asking about a person
  • Reporting an error
  • Reporting what somebody else said
  • Transcribing a message left by a person

 

  • Telling the plot of a book
  • Expressing interest/disinterest/ preference
  • Suggestions
  • Giving advice
  • Asking for reason and explaining
  • Giving an opinion

 

  • The family and social changes
  • Introducing a new topic with a question
  • Participating in a discussion
  • Asking for confirmation and confirm
  • Comment a statistic
  • Expressing the consequences of a fact
  • Advantages and disadvantages of a condition

GRAMMAR

  • Imperfetto Subjunctive
  • Come se + subjunctive
  • Indirect speech
  • Verbs andare and venire in an indirect speech

 

  • Che io sappia
  • Tenses and moods correlation
  • Passive voice with Essere and Venire
  • Passato remoto
  • The historical present tense (narrative present)

 

  • Sebbene, nonostante, malgrado, benché + subjunctive ,
  • Anche se + indicative
  • Special comparatives and superlatives
  • Fare + infinitive
  • Impersonal form of a reflexive verb (ci si)
AVAILABLE CLASSES
Dates
Day/time
Teacher
Price
July 30 to Sept 24 (9 WKS)
T 6:30 - 8:30 pm PST
Teacher: Elena (ONLINE)
$345/term
Aug 1 to Sept 26 (9 WKS)
TH 6:30 - 8:30 pm PST
Teacher: Barbara (ONLINE)
$345/term
TEXTBOOK
Book 1 (mandatory)
Nuovo Espresso 3 Chapters 4-5-6
Book 2 Grammar (recommended)
Nuova Grammatica Pratica della Lingua Italiana
Reading Books
Io non ho paura, Niccolò Ammaniti
Elena - T 6:30-8:30 pm PST
La fuga di Bach, Regina Assini, Susanna Longo
Barbara - TH 6:30 - 8:30 pm PST
Intermedio 3
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  • Holidays
  • Expressing the lack of desire to do something
  • Explaining the reason of a dissent
  • Making fun of something
  • Expression of irony
  • Reminding a promise
  • Expressing preferences
  • Telling about an embarrassing experience
  • Giving advice
  • Hypothesize
  • Talking about one’s behavior in certain situations

COMMUNICATIVE CONTENT

  • Italians in history
  • Telling the life of an historical figure
  • Telling a journey
  • Expressing disbelief

 

  • Discover Italy
  • Asking a question indirectly
  • Asking about the characteristics of a place
  • Asking and giving information
  • Asking for confirmation
  • Report what another person said
  • Report the beauties of a place
  • Expressing disappointment

GRAMMAR

  • Adverb Mica
  • Past conditional as future in the past
  • Hypothetical sentence secondo tipo (possibility)

 

  • Modal and temporal gerund
  • Adjectives in -bile
  • Loro with an impersonal function
  • Position of pronouns with gerund

 

  • Indirect interrogative sentence
  • Indirect speech with the main clause in the past tense
  • Prima di – Prima che
AVAILABLE CLASSES
Dates
Day/time
Teacher
Price
July 23 to Sept 24 (10 WKS)
T 6:30 - 8:30 pm PST
Teacher: Jimmy (ONLINE)
$380/term
July 25 to Sept 25 (10 WKS)
TH 6:30 - 8:30 pm PST
Teacher: Gianna (ONLINE)
$380/term
TEXTBOOK
Book 1 (mandatory)
Nuovo Espresso 3 Chapters 7-8-9
Book 2 Grammar (recommended)
Nuova Grammatica Pratica della Lingua Italiana
Reading Books
I promessi sposi, Alessandro Manzoni
Jimmy - T 6:30 - 8:30 pm PST
Ritorno allle orgini, Valentina Mapelli 
Gianna - TH 6:30 - 8:30 pm PST
Intermedio 4
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COMMUNICATIVE CONTENT

  • Italian language today
  • Talking about linguistic and cultural mistakes
  • Expressing irony
  • Soften and invite to soften the tone of a discussion
  • Expressing a strong disagreement
  • Making assumptions in the past
  • Talking about language learning

 

  • General Review

GRAMMAR

  • Passive voice with Andare
  • Subjunctive past perfect
  • Hypothetical sentence (terzo tipo) in the past
  • Past gerund
  • Past infinitive
  • Dopo + past infinitive
AVAILABLE CLASSES
Dates
Day/time
Teacher
Price
July 13 to Sept 14 (10 WKS)
SA 9:00 - 11:00 am PST
Teacher: Luigi (ONLINE)
$380/term
TEXTBOOK
Book 1 (mandatory)
Nuovo Espresso 3 Chapter 10 + General review
Book 2 Grammar (mandatory)
Nuova Grammatica Pratica della Lingua Italiana
Reading Books
Aperitivo a Firenze, Sandro Cappelli
Luigi - SA 9-11 am PST
Ripasso Intermedio
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A class to review some of the main topics students learn in our INTERMEDIO classes, with a special focus on grammar, under the guidance of teacher Jimmy.

There will be a total of 5 classes, 2 hours long, once per week.

AVAILABLE CLASSES
Dates
Day/time
Teacher
Price
June 18 to July 16 (5 WKS)
T 6:30 - 8:30 pm PST
Teacher: Jimmy (ONLINE)
$190/term
TEXTBOOK
Book 1 (mandatory)
Nuovo Espresso 3
Conversazione Intermedio
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Short 5 weeks course aimed at improving our students’ conversational skills on everyday topics.

No books required.

Classes are 90 minutes long.

AVAILABLE CLASSES
Dates
Day/time
Teacher
Price
Aug 1 to Aug 29 (5 WKS)
TH 6:00 - 7:30 pm PST
Teacher: Elena (ONLINE)
$170/term
Sept 5 to Oct 3 (5 WKS)
TH 6:00 - 7:30 pm PST
Teacher: Elena (ONLINE)
$170/term
TEXTBOOK
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.


DISCOUNTS

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

ENROLL IN 2 GROUPS: if you enroll in 2 groups, you will get a 15% discount on the second group's enrollment (the less expensive)

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

To get these discounts, send an email to italianschool@sfiis.org
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 29h to October 7th
Term 4
October 14th to December 14th

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
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