Italian
10-week Course

Course Description

• 20-hour course over 10 weeks, one 2-hour class per week
• Fits easily into your life
• Ideal for long-term learning, busy people or those studying for fun
• Focuses on practical language for use outside the classroom
• Sociable, relaxed atmosphere

Class Times: 6:30-8:30pm

Start Dates Available: Oct 2010 , Oct 2010 , Oct 2010

Average Class Size: 8

Minimum Age: 18

Course Materials: Included in the course fees

School: Cactus London Trafalgar (Strand) / Map

Location: London - Trafalgar

Language: Italian

Course Type: 10-week Course

Cactus Curriculum

Cactus part-time language courses are typically offered at seven levels, from Cactus Level 1 to Cactus Level 7, suitable for students with and without prior knowledge of the language. Studied in sequence, the seven levels are designed to progress students from beginner level through to advanced. The programme can be picked up at any level, according to existing language skills. Each level can also be studied as a one-off course in its own right to build or refresh language skills at the chosen level.

Courses run consecutively throughout the year with breaks for the Easter and Christmas periods. This provides the opportunity for continuous training, allowing students to progress and move up to higher levels as their skills develop.

What level am I?

To help you decide which level is right for you, please look at the course level descriptions and take our online language level test.

Course level descriptions

Cactus Level 1 Cactus Level 2 Cactus Level 3 Cactus Level 4 Cactus Level 5 Cactus Level 6

What will I learn?

The course outlines give an overview of the content and learning framework of Cactus part-time group courses and include themes, grammar and vocabulary you can typically expect to cover. These are intended as a guide only and our teachers may at times adapt the course content to suit the specific level, aims and interests of the class.

Read the Italian course outlines for all levels

All of our courses are carefully structured and designed to cover a wide range of topic areas, grammatical structures and skills. Cactus Foreign Language Courses include the following elements:

• Spoken communication to build confidence in interacting with native speakers
• Listening and comprehension skills to improve understanding
• Grammar and sentence structure
• Everyday language for use in real-life situations, both spoken and written
• Core vocabulary
• Pronunciation
• Reading practice and written communication

All of our teachers are fully qualified and experienced foreign language teachers with a specialised background in adult education.

What progress will I have made by the end of the level?

The Learning Pathway provides a guide to what you can expect to achieve by the end of your course at any given level and also shows what progress you can expect to make if you stick with it and carry on studying subsequent levels

Cactus Level 1 pathway Cactus Level 2 pathway Cactus Level 3 pathway Cactus Level 4 pathway Cactus Level 5 pathway Cactus Level 6 pathway

The School - London Trafalgar (Strand)

This school is situated in a bright, freshly decorated period building, just off the Strand near Trafalgar Square. Students are greeted by friendly reception staff and a welcoming reception area, complete with flat screen TVs, ambient music and colourful spaces. The building's 13 fully-equipped classrooms extend over five floors of this Georgian town house. As well as offering foreign language evening courses, the school is also a flourishing English language training provider, welcoming international students from around the world.

Nearest Tube: Charing Cross / Embankment

More on Cactus London Trafalgar (Strand) School

The Teachers

Our teachers are qualified and experienced language trainers, and are all native or bilingual speakers. They have been interviewed by our full time Academic Team, and have had their references followed up. We assign classes according to the strengths of our teachers and work with them to ensure the quality of course delivery is excellent at all times. We have also introduced a comprehensive Teacher Development Programme at Cactus, which incorporates a range of seminars, classroom observations, same-language teacher forums, regular newsletters, and information on methodology and hands-on teaching techniques. Our teaching philosophy is based on looking at ideas, asking questions, and meeting challenge.

Course Materials

For all Cactus Foreign Language Courses you will be supplied with course materials, which form the basis of your study.

Student Feedback - See what students have said

At the end of your course you will receive a questionnaire. Your feedback enables us to maintain the quality of our language courses and ensure you're getting the maximum out of your chosen course.

Read the feedback here

Course Feedback

• The teacher is really easy to get along with and makes class seem very relaxed. It's been quite a fun class.

  (Helen, Feb 2010)

• The booking process was excellent and hassle free and received communication leading up to the course which was good.

  (Valerie, Apr 2007)

• Silvia explains concepts in a clear and concise manner. She is always well prepared and the worksheets and exercises are excellent. Silvia speaks in Italian for a lot of the lesson which encourages the class to stretch thier knowledge.

  (Joshua, Jan 2007)

• Hi! Love the small class size. Claudia is great. The text book would be better if the instructions and explanations of grammar were in english rather than Italian, other than that, it's all good so far.....

  (Kristen, Apr 2006)

• Very friendly and approachable teacher. Always patient and willing to go through doubts until clarified.

  (Maureen, Jan 2006)

• Claudia is great, very patient and helps in any way. 

  (Kathleen, Jan 2006)

• Silvia is a very good teacher who is always well prepared. The exercises we do are always interesting and very useful, and I feel like I am learning a lot. 

  (Claire, Jun 2005)

• Very helpful to provide me with everything taught in a lesson when I miss it. Very nice.

  (Ivana, May 2003)

School Feedback

• Very good. Progressing at a good speed.

  (James, Feb 2010 )

• Well organised. Good range of approach. Patient and enthusiastic.

  (Lucy, Feb 2010 )

• Good teacher. Interesting and fun.

  (Chris, Feb 2010 )

• Our teacher is excellent. She explains all activities and ensures that our pronunciation is correct, whilst making sessions fun.

  (Ravi, Feb 2010 )

• The teacher was friendly and competent. Class covered a lot of material and provided good basic knowledge of the language.

  (Camilla, Feb 2010 )

• The teacher is really easy to get along with and makes class seem very relaxed. It's been quite a fun class.

  (Helen, Feb 2010 )

• Ian’s handouts are very good.

  (Gloden, Apr 2007 )

• Everything has gone well so far. The school seems very organised and Jenny is always very organised and enthusiastic ans happy to answer any questions.

  (GEMMA, Apr 2007 )

• All made very simple and easy to book and attend. Teacher was great, enthusiastic and explains things well.

  (Susanne, Apr 2007 )

• The booking process was excellent and hassle free and received communication leading up to the course which was good.

  (Valerie, Apr 2007 )

• The Teacher is pleasant and the group handling is a mixture of fun and serious. He is doing great over all.

  (Keith, Jan 2007 )

• I'm impressed with the standard of teaching. The course is thoroughly enjoyable and very useful.

  (Robert, Jan 2007 )

• The teacher of this course is very experienced and professional. She is very dedicated and will go out of her way to get good course material for each lesson. 

  (Josh, Jan 2007 )

• Top notch, good value and an enthusiastic teacher.

  (Josh, Jan 2007 )

• Francoise makes a lot of effort and it is most appreciated. Her classes are fun and stimulating.

  (DUNCAN, Jan 2007 )

• Booking was very easy. The teacher is very warm and encouring, all activities are explained very clearly. Great location! I will definately be progressing and doing another course once this one is complete.

  (Lisa, Jan 2007 )

• Silvia explains concepts in a clear and concise manner. She is always well prepared and the worksheets and exercises are excellent. Silvia speaks in Italian for a lot of the lesson which encourages the class to stretch thier knowledge.

  (Joshua, Jan 2007 )

• Maribel is great, I really enjoy her classes. There is a good mix of conversation and grammar. She is helpful and encouraging. We have a lot of fun.

  (Bridget, Jan 2007 )

• Franek is lovely, he keeps us entertained and makes us work hard. Everyone in the class has a good time as far as I can tell and if someone is struggling Franek always manages to help them out and get them up to speed, without slowing the rest of the class down.

  (Katherine, Oct 2006 )

• I think Gueler is a great teacher, we have all made good progress and she is very thorough and patient. I definitely want to come back again next term.

  (Nuala, Sep 2006 )

• I am pleased I can read so much in just 10 weeks.

  (John, Sep 2006 )

• She is a very joyful woman, she teaches with professionalism, she knows exactly how to teach the material in an interesting and playful way. It's a delight to be in her class!

  (Monique, Sep 2006 )

• Oliver is a great teacher. He knows how to pass us his knowledge and at the same time make our lesson pleasant. 

  (Kalliopi, Apr 2006 )

• All OK!

  (Trevor, Apr 2006 )

• Really friendly and there seems to be a good admin team doing the enrolment.

  (Mia, Apr 2006 )

• Excellent teacher and excellent introduction to learning. Spanish Beginner

  (Genevieve, Apr 2006 )

• Hi, Yes, the class is good, nice teacher.

  (Iain, Apr 2006 )

• I enjoyed first lesson and everything went OK.

  (Mitsuhiro, Apr 2006 )

• Yes, really enjoyed the lesson. Very good that the teacher speaks Spanish the whole time – really makes you concentrate. Looking forward to the next lesson.

  (Kavita, Apr 2006 )

• Good teacher, enthusiastic.

  (Iain, Apr 2006 )

• Hello, It was perfect!

  (DUNCAN, Apr 2006 )

• Hi! Love the small class size. Claudia is great. The text book would be better if the instructions and explanations of grammar were in english rather than Italian, other than that, it's all good so far.....

  (Kristen, Apr 2006 )

• Very easy to register for course. I am enjoying the course, Franek makes the course fun and pushes us to learn at a good level. The grammer is tough, but I'm sure with some additonal practicing it will fall into place.

  (Stuart, Apr 2006 )

• Our teacher is very good and very patient.

  (Lisa, Jan 2006 )

• Very helpful and pleasant.

  (Michael, Jan 2006 )

• Very positive and helpful.

  (Tanya, Jan 2006 )

• Very happy with all aspects of the course.

  (Francis, Jan 2006 )

• Alberto is great so far, very focused and attentive to individual requirements.

  (Andrew, Jan 2006 )

• The teacher seems really good.

  (Janice, Jan 2006 )

• Diana is always very prepared. She shows great enjoyment teaching, which makes the class very enjoyable.

  (Oliver, Jan 2006 )

• Very enthusiastic teacher, made it easier to learn and spurred me on.

  (Alister, Jan 2006 )

• She’s a fantastic teacher! 

  (Harman, Jan 2006 )

• Friendly, helpful teacher, assists in all areas.

  (Lucinda, Jan 2006 )

• The lesson was really good thanks.

  (Lisa, Jan 2006 )

• Buenos Dias! 1st lesson with Maribel was great... gracias! Looking forward to the next one.

  (Teresa, Jan 2006 )

• The lesson went very well thanks. Raquel is a very good teacher and the class was very enjoyable.

  (Mary, Jan 2006 )

• The first lesson was fine and I enjoyed it.

  (Kaddour, Jan 2006 )

• Thanks very much – I am very happy with the course (so far I can tell from one lesson) The teacher seems to be very enthusiastic and professional.

  (Franciska, Jan 2006 )

• Hi, really enjoying it. Teacher very good and friendly! Thanks for your help!

  (Tanya, Jan 2006 )

• The first couple of lessons have gone ok thanks. The teacher is enthusiastic and encouraging us to learn at a good pace.

  (Stephen, Jan 2006 )

• The lessons are going well thank you and I am happy with the content so far.

  (Richard, Jan 2006 )

• The course is progressing well, Yolanda (I hope that is the correct sp) is taking the course along at what I feel is the correct speed and keeps the courses interesting too.

  (Julian, Jan 2006 )

• The lesson is fine.

  (Wendy, Jan 2006 )

• I will be definitely looking to continue with my course to a higher level.

  (Alma, Jan 2006 )

• I am doing the Beginners Spanish course and I am finding it very good. After a few lessons it's clear that we are making progress and our teacher, Yolanda, is excellent. She makes the class interesting, very interactive and conducts the whole class through Spanish. Many thanks.

  (Deirdre, Jan 2006 )

• All good thanks, and pretty much as expected. Jesus is great, and the class is varied.

  (Bluebell, Jan 2006 )

• Yes thanks it was brill. Teacher is really good - quite a big leap from previous level but hoping to keep up with the others.

  (Faye, Jan 2006 )

• So far I am enjoying the class and the teacher is very pleasant and approachable.

  (Laura, Jan 2006 )

• The lessons are going really well at this stage, only two weeks in and it seems to be OK. It is much better now that we have received the text book, apparently there was a hiccup in the delivery system to begin with.

  (Megan, Jan 2006 )

• I think the classes are coming along well. The teacher is really good and she always ensures that we all understand. I like the structure of the lessons with getting plenty of time to speak.

  (Dipti, Jan 2006 )

• Hi, I have enjoyed the three classes that I have attended and was able to catch up when I was on holiday. I have learnt French in a variety of ways, but the class atmosphere is very good, as it encourages me to learn and complete my homework.

  (Marissa, Jan 2006 )

• He is good, would like to have him [the teacher] for elementary stage if possible.

  (Oluyemi, Jan 2006 )

• He’s very helpful and always willing to explain in detail.

  (Katherine, Jan 2006 )

• The teacher is excellent. Very helpful and doesn’t move on from topics until everyone understands. Makes sure everyone participates.

  (Laura, Jan 2006 )

• Very friendly and approachable teacher. Always patient and willing to go through doubts until clarified.

  (Maureen, Jan 2006 )

• Claudia is great, very patient and helps in any way. 

  (Kathleen, Jan 2006 )

• Good introduction to the language, very enthusiastic teacher and easy booking process
  

  (Elizabeth, Jan 2006 )

• This is my second term with Gueler. She's an excellent teacher, my German is improving with every lesson. I am throughly enjoying the course.

  (Jennifer, Oct 2005 )

• Silvia is a very good teacher who is always well prepared. The exercises we do are always interesting and very useful, and I feel like I am learning a lot. 

  (Claire, Jun 2005 )

• Very helpful to provide me with everything taught in a lesson when I miss it. Very nice.

  (Ivana, May 2003 )

• Muy bien gracias. Lovely to be asked - actually. Small class size helps and people are more or less on same level. Alberto speaks clearly and slowly which really helps. Would really like him to keep up speaking only in Spanish to us - as even occasional translation can break the translation - however accept that other class mates need to be happy with this as well.

  (Maire, Jul 2002 )

Images of the School