Smart Course

Campus Athena

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Course description

Smart Courses are suitable for students looking for an introductory course to Italian language.
As long-distance courses they consist only of three short sessions a week.

Course topics

Listening, Speaking, Pronunciation, Reading, Writing, Vocabulary, Grammar and Activities

Class schedule

Course duration
1-16 weeks
Start dates
Every Monday
Classes per week
6 lessons per week (each lesson lasts 45 min)
Class days
Monday, Wednesday and Friday
School holidays
29 Mar 2024, 01 Apr 2024, 25 Apr 2024 - 26 Apr 2024, 01 May 2024

Campus Athena does not hold classes on the holiday dates above. The school does not compensate for these holidays, so make sure to choose your start date accordingly.

Class times

You can choose from the following class times:

Morning session
12:00 PM - 01:30 PM

Class schedule may change depending on availability and season.

Class level

All levels, beginner to advanced
You will take a placement test before your arrival in Catania to determine your class level.

Class size

Average 5 students
Maximum 20 students

Student age

Age range 16 years old and older
Average 35 years old

Certificate

A certificate of completion will be issued at the end of the course.
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Photos

  • Classroom at Campus Athena 1/4
  • Students of Campus Athena 2/4
  • Building of Campus Athena 3/4
  • Students of Campus Athena 4/4
reviews

Reviews

86% recommend

based on 7 reviews
5 stars
6
4 stars
0
3 stars
1
2 stars
0
1 star
0
Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location

"Excellent communication and organisation, but challenging as the other student (s) had more advanced language skills"

Janella Christie, student from Australia

Frederika the teacher was fantastic and managed to bridge the gap between students abilities. Location was central and other than the actual classroom, not sure what the "facilities" were. Similarly as I was there for just 5 days, there was just one dinner. Lessons were organised with relevant handouts and a good balance between speaking and listening.

It would be useful to have the payment method on the website as "Sum up" is not available in Australia and I had assumed I would pay by debit/ credit card. I found the first 2 days particularly challenging as the other 2 students were fluent with conversation and were there to perfect their grammatical skills, whereas I was at a more basic level and certainly couldn't freely "chat". It would be valuable if there were some basic italian story books( children's??) to borrow during the course.

Otherwise, it was an enjoyable week (although challenging) I wonder if we were put together due to lack of other students? I may have preferred 1:1 lessons and fewer hours. Would love to return for longer and be taught by Frederika.

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My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Date of study
9 Oct 2023 - 13 Oct 2023
Would you recommend this school?
Yes
This is a verified review. This student has booked a course at this school through Language International.

"Personal, professional & friendly!"

Mayon Wheeless, student from USA

My experience with Campus Athena exceeded my expectations!
The school’s location was walking distance to my VRBO, downtown Catania, and the train station. And it is situated in a beautiful Italian building.
The teachers jumped right into giving me the intense courses that I signed up for. Giulia, my professoressa, took me from zero Italian language skills to A2 during my two week study.
Great study/vacation!

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My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Duration of study
1 week
Date of study
18 Sep 2023 - 29 Sep 2023
Would you recommend this school?
Yes
This is a verified review. This student has booked a course at this school through Language International.

"It was wonderful experience"

Alisa Belousova, student from Russia

This school I liked a lot. I really happy that learned Italian in this school. There are very friendly people in this school. Everybody helped me with any questions with pleasure. Every lesson was very interesting and we talked with the teacher a lot. Location of the school is very good: not far from the center and amazing Opera theatre. Last lesson was at the streets of the city: we walked with the teacher and talked about everything: about the city, the architecture, the kitchen of this country and a lot of things. I think that I will come back in this school soon!

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My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Date of study
9 Dec 2019 - 13 Dec 2019
Would you recommend this school?
Yes
This is a verified review. This student has booked a course at this school through Language International.

"Excellent learning experience with multiple teaching methods used"

Geoffrey Treloar, student from Australia

Lucky for me it was a one on one experience. Bianca was patient and employed a number a teaching methods to maximise my learning results. I am happy with the results. Catania has some advantages over some other Italian locations because few of the locals are fluent in English which make engagement in Italian essential. The catanians in general were helpful with understanding my limited Italian. The city is definitely worth the week for it history food and sights. I stayed in an Airbnb not far from the school and close to a tour pickup point.
I would recommend the school and. Catania for learning Italian.

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My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Date of study
2 Sep 2019 - 6 Sep 2019
Would you recommend this school?
Yes
This is a verified review. This student has booked a course at this school through Language International.

"Not what I expected"

Amanda Katherine Lambert-Pennington, student from USA

I did a week of intensive Italian at Centro Didattico Athena. The experience was not what I expected. I took an entrance exam geared toward the intermediate level. From the exam results I clearly had some grammatical deficiencies, which I hoped I would get to work on during the class. Additionally, I wanted to have the opportunity to practice speaking - which was my main reason for wanting to do this class. The facilities were good, it was easy to get to by Metro from the place I was staying (I was staying with a friend who lives in Catania). Unfortunately, the course was not what I expected.

I was in a class with one other person, who was quite advance in her level of Italian. Thus, we were a bit mismatched in terms of skill level. Initially this was ok because we had a teacher that was very sensitive to our different skill levels and we were working on grammar that I had just finished studying in my class at home, which was a nice review. This teacher was really good at meeting me where I was at and helping me feel comfortable speaking, even if I made mistakes. She was encouraging and I was feeling more confident in my speaking ability as a result. However, this dynamic changed dramatically with the second teacher. We studied passato remoto for 3 days and the mode of instruction was not very didactic. We did hours of grammar worksheets and very little conversation.

When we did speak, she was not very helpful and made me feel uncomfortable when I made mistakes. I felt like she was teaching only to the other student and at more advanced level than was appropriate for me. She made no attempts to adjust the material or style. Even the other student was frustrated. I left the class feeling a bit traumatized and less confident in speaking that when I started.

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My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Date of study
27 May 2019 - 31 May 2019
Would you recommend this school?
No
This is a verified review. This student has booked a course at this school through Language International.

"Extraordinarily high quality of teaching"

Leonard L. Cavise

I had the benefit of two very talented and dedicated teachers of Italian. With my low level of proficiency, they were very patient and forgiving. The administration was very friendly and accommodating. This is a very serious school, not something for tourists looking for something to do. The three hour classes are thorough, comprehensive and well-planned. The teachers have a very good feel for what the mistakes of English-speakers are likely to be. They insist on grammatical correctness, good listening skills, and, finally, extensive practice in conversation. I would recommend this school (and Catania, for that matter!) to anyone sincerely interested in the Italian language and culture.

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My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Duration of study
5 weeks
Date of study
15 Mar 2018 - 21 Apr 2018
Would you recommend this school?
Yes

"Language Courses on an individual level and"

Cem Güler

I took an intensive language course at Centro Didattico Athena for one month. I couldn't speak any Italian at the beginning but learned very fast because classes were very small and the teachers super experienced and nice.

The balance between grammar lessons and cultural lessons and activities was perfect for me: There were screenings of Italian short films, city tours, museums... but also classic grammar lesons (but in a nice way). In my point of view the key method of the teachers was talking (they encourage you a lot) and that's also how I learned best.

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My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Duration of study
3 weeks
Date of study
19 Feb 2018 - 16 Mar 2018
Would you recommend this school?
Yes
visa

Visa support

We cannot apply for visas on behalf of students. The school is also not authorized to issue documents to support your visa application. If you need a visa, you have to apply for a visitor or tourist visa on your own.

Flights and airport transfer

Please note that we do not book flights for our students. If you are researching airfare costs, we recommend using Kayak.com, a search engine that lets you compare flight options from your home country to Catania based on your budget, schedule and preferences.

Travel insurance

Study abroad worry-free with Language International's health and personal effects insurance coverage. When you book a course with us, you can opt to purchase an international insurance plan that covers not only your health care cost but also loss of your personal belongings. You must book your insurance in advance when you register.

Learn more about our insurance plan »

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Questions and answers

Have questions? Get answers from Campus Athena staff, Language International student advisors, and past students.

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