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Via De Gasperi 5 - 48121 Ravenna (I)Telephone: +39 0544 36261 - Fax: +39 0544 38399www.scuolapalazzomalvisi.com

Welcome to Ravenna

home of Palazzo Malvisi,

one of Italy’s oldest and most prestigious schools

of ITALIAN LANGUAGE and

CULTURE.

Welcome to Ravenna

home of Palazzo Malvisi,

one of Italy’s oldest and most prestigious schools

of ITALIAN LANGUAGE and

CULTURE.

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THE SCHOOL

The School is based in Ravenna, in the Romagnaregion, between the centre and the north of Italy, onthe Adriatic Coast. Ravenna is a city of enormoushistorical significance, having been a capital citythree times in its long and distinguished history.Palazzo Malvisi Ravenna is one of the independentmembers of the Scuola Palazzo Malvisi group for-med in 1981. With nearly 30 years’ experience, thePalazzo Malvisi brand is well known for its educa-tional excellence and for the efficient but friendlyway in which the School is run.The School’s ethos is to offer students well qualifiedteachers and up-to-date teaching methods in a wel-coming environment that is authentically Italian. The School was one of the first in Italy to introduceexperiential learning – an integrated approach to develo-ping the four aspects of language learning (speaking,listening, reading, and writing), to learning grammaticalstructures and to understanding Italian style and culture. One of the key aspects of our teaching approach is thecontinuous connection between the work undertakenin class and what students experience outside the cla-ssroom because our experience has shown that thebest way of learning a language is for students to com-pletely immerse themselves in the target language, notjust in the classroom but all day every day.

Additional information• The School offers approximately 350 square mt of accommodation

in an elegant building at the heart of the city centre• The School’s accommodation was completely

restructured in 2007• 12 spacious classrooms with large windows• All classrooms are equipped with modern audio-visualtechnology• Air conditioning• Wi-Fi, 4 computers with ADSL broadband, whichstudents can use at no charge • Library, audio-visual library, reading/study room for

magazines and newspapers• Coffee and refreshment area

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The effectiveness of a language course dependslargely on the quality of the teaching staff.All our teachers are native Italian speakers andare graduates in language or humanities subjectswith vast experience in schools and state univer-sities in addition to their years of experience inour School. They were selected not only on thebasis of their qualifications, professional expe-rience and teaching ability but also for their abi-lity to engage and inspire their students.All our teaching staff have undertaken postgra-duate training or masters degrees and all haveobtained DITALS II, the most prestigious uni-versity qualification for the teaching of Italian asa foreign language. CVs can be provided uponrequest.The School has a strong focus on continuousimprovement and innovation. There are regularstaff meetings with the School’s management andthe Academic Director, and continuous profes-sional development is achieved through partici-pation in external courses and workshops.

• Student card giving discounts in the local area• 4 permanent members of teaching staff• Approximately 10 members of teaching staff

employed on a seasonal basis• Average age of teachers: 34• All teachers have DITALS II• Approximately 300 students enrolled per year• Maximum capacity: 100 students at any one time• Average number of students in high/low season: 65/25• Average age of students in high/low season: 27/35• Geographic origin of students: Switzerland 38%;

Germany 13%; USA 11%; Austria 9%; Holland 5%;other countries 24%

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Main Italian language courses:• Intensive group course, 20 lessons per week: G/20• Combined course, 20 lessons per week in a group plus

individual lessons: G/20+I/…• Personalised individual courses, from 15 to 40 lessons

per week: I/15... I/40• “DUO” courses - two students with a teacher - 15 or

20 lessons per week: DC/15 – DC/20• Intensive individual courses, living with the teacherFor all students enrolled on our courses, the followingactivities are available free of charge:• Additional conversation class, 1.5 hours a week• Additional grammar help, 1.5 hours a week

THE SCHOOL

Palazzo Malvisi Ravenna offers the completerange of Italian language courses (intensive orextended; individual; group; or combined) to meetevery kind of individual or professional need.The School offers short courses (3 or 4 weeks) inorder to build on previous language learning or asan introduction to the language.The School also offers 6-month or full-year cour-ses which help students to gain the necessary lan-guage skills for enrolment in Italian universitiesor for professional positions in Italy. Students are always assigned to a group accordingto their knowledge of the Italian language – usingthe 6 levels of language competence defined by theCEFR (Common European Framework ofReference for Languages), launched by theCouncil of Europe in 2000. Our classes are 55 minutes long and groups havea maximum of 8 students.

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Palazzo Malvisi is recognised and authorised by theItalian Ministry of Education, Higher Educationand Research (Ministero dell'Istruzione,dell'Università e della Ricerca). The School works in partnership with manyItalian and international universities, including:• The University for Foreigners, Perugia, as anexamination centre for CELI examinations.• The University for Foreigners, Siena, as a trai-ning centre and examination centre for DITALScertification.• The University of Urbino "Carlo Bo", as anaccredited centre for work-based teacher trainingin the teaching of Italian as a second language.• The Italian Language Academy, as an examina-tion centre for DELI-DILI-DALI examinations.• Colorado College and the University ofRichmond, USA, have accredited the School fortheir “Summer Abroad” academic programmes. • The University of Graz, Austria, has selectedthe School for work-based teacher training aspart of the “Erasmus Praktikum” scheme.

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RAVENNA

San Francesco Santa Maria in Porto SS. Giovanni e Paolo

Mausoleo di TeodoricoDuomo e Battistero NeonianoBattistero degli Ariani

ITALIA

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Basilica di San Vitale Piazza del Popolo

Sant’Apollinare NuovoSan Giovanni EvangelistaSant’Apollinare in Classe

ITALIA

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THE CITY

Ravenna has all the facilities of a city, but with thewarmth and the tranquillity of a town. This greatlittle city has art, culture, and the finest ancientmosaics in the world. Ravenna embodies Italianstyle and Italian tradition, and the local peopleare famous for their friendliness.The centre of Ravenna is only a short distancefrom the sea, enabling students to combine theirstudies with a seaside holiday.Enchanting and awe-inspiring, Ravenna has been acapital city three times: of the Western RomanEmpire, of King Theodoric of the Goths and of theByzantine Empire in Europe. Priceless works of artconnected with Ravenna’s unique history are housedin the city’s museums and monuments which havebeen declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO.Dante Alighieri, Italy’s greatest poet and father ofthe Italian language, spent the last years of his life inRavenna and is buried here in a monument in thecity centre, just a couple of minutes from the School.Above all, Ravenna is a quiet and safe city whichisn’t inundated by tourists and offers an authen-tic Italian experience. It’s the ideal location for arelaxing study holiday.

Some key facts:Region: Emilia RomagnaPopulation: approximately 90,000 in the city

and up to 157,000including the surrounding areaNon-Italians approximately 10%

Area Approximately 650 square kilometresNearest airports: Forlì (30km), Rimini (50km),

Bologna (80km)Temperature: Winter, min -5 °C / max 12 °C

Spring/Autumn,min 12 °C / max 22 °CSummer, min 20 °C / max 32 °C

Typical prices: Coffee 1€; pizza and beer: 15€; dinner: 20 – 40 €; Bus 1€/h; taxi in city, 8/12€

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How to get to Ravenna:• Train: The train station is in the city centre. There aretrains from Venice and Bologna that stop at Ravenna.

• Plane: The nearest major airport is Bologna, which isabout 80 km away. Many airlines fly to Rimini (50 kmaway) and, less frequently, to Forlì (20 km away).

• Car: Ravenna is on the A14 Adriatica motorway;coming from the North, after 90 km from Bologna inthe direction of Lecce/Taranto, Ravenna is well signpo-sted when you get to about an hour from Ancona.

The most popular means of transport in Ravenna isthe bicycle. As the city is so compact, with every-thing close at hand, and much of the city is closedto traffic, the bicycle is the ideal way to get around.The city has many cycle paths (the longest in Italy)and you can get to your destination in just a fewminutes by bike. Eating out in Ravenna is a revelation.Restaurants, trattorie, and pizzerie are availablethroughout the city. They offer the deliciouslocal cuisine at very reasonable prices. Bars, winebars and piadinerie are ideal places for a quicksnack or a cappuccino (the piadina is the ancienttraditional bread of the Romagna region).By bus or train, you can explore the small citiesand towns around Ravenna: Faenza, famous forits ceramics; Russi, famous for its festival of newwine; and the famous seaside resorts of MilanoMarittima, Cervia, Cesenatico and Rimini.Above all, Ravenna is in a key geographic positionenabling you to explore the whole of Italy. Forexample, you can get to cities of art such asFlorence or Venice in less than 2 hours, and Rome,the eternal city, is only 4 hours away by car.

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ITALIAN CULTURE

All year round, Ravenna offers many differentcultural events: concerts, theatre, dance, art exhi-bitions, antiquarian markets and fairs, museumsand libraries.

The quickest and most effective way to learn alanguage is to study the language in the place it isspoken. Therefore our extracurricular activities –both cultural and leisure – make a major contri-bution to effective learning.

To help students to make best use of their freetime, we offer a twice-weekly programme of acti-vities which is comprehensive but not intrusive.These activities help students first to makefriends and then to use Italian in every aspect oftheir daily life as much as possible.

In our portfolio of academic programmes, weoffer many courses in aspects of Italian cultureand, in addition, a wide range of specialised cour-ses aimed at students who have specific needsrelated to their profession or discipline.

Special courses in aspects of Italian culture:• Mosaic art• Introductory course in traditional Italian cookery• Italian wine• Italian cinema• History of Italian art• Italian literature• The history of political communication in ancient Rome• Introductory course in Christian iconography• Italy’s greatest cities of art

And in addition:• Business in Italy, terminology and practical advice• Italian for lawyers• Courses for teachers of Italian who are not nativespeakers of Italian• Courses in preparation for DITALS certification

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MOSAIC ART

Ravenna is known as the capital of ancientmosaics. UNESCO has declared Ravenna’smosaics a World Heritage Site for their beautyand their historical significance.

Visitors come from every corner of the world tostudy the iconography or, in other words, thebeauty and significance of the images in Ravenna’smosaics – which range from religious to politicalimages, from botanical to architectural images,and are rich in historical, religious, and philoso-phical significance.

The particular techniques that characteriseRavenna’s Byzantine mosaics (the diverse andirregular positioning of the pieces which createsvivid effects of light and colour) are still alivetoday, not only in the wonderful ancient mosaicsbut also in the daily professional work of manymosaic workshops based in the city.

The Accademia di Belle Arti (Academy of FineArt) is worthy of special mention. Founded at thestart of the Nineteenth Century, the Accademiaremains a driving force in the cultural life of ourcity.

The eight monuments that have been declared a World Heritage Sites by UNESCO:

• Mausoleum of Galla Placidia (first half of the 5th Century)• Neonian Baptistry (end of the 4th or the beginning ofthe 5th Century)• Oratory of S. Andrea - Archiepiscopal Chapel (begin-ning of the 6th Century) • Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo (6th Century) • Mausoleum of Theodoric (first half of the 6th Century)• Arian Baptistery (first half of the 6th Century)• Basilica of San Vitale (first half of the 6th Century) • Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe (consecrated in 547)

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THE SURROUNDING AREAELEGANT RESORTS ANDUNSPOILT NATURE

Romantic and serene, Ravenna is only a few kilo-metres from the exciting, fashionable and funRomagnola coast. The resorts have famous andelegant nightclubs and discos, top-of-the-rangeshops, and disco-bars on the beach. They attractthe young and trendy from all over Europe.The endless sandy beaches are fully-equipped forevery type of sport: sailing, beach volley, beachtennis, wind surfing, fishing etc but they are alsothe perfect place for total relaxation, under abeach umbrella, between the clear blue sea andthe ancient pine forests.The countryside around Ravenna offers an incre-dible variety of natural environments, includingextensive pine forests, farming land, orchards,valleys and canals edged with the traditionalfishing nets, nature reserves of swamped forestsand, just a few kilometres away, gentle rollinghills lead to next-door Tuscany.

Useful web sites:www.turismo.ra.ithttp://ravennaintorno.provincia.ra.it/www.ravennamosaici.ithttp://www.ravennantica.it/http://www.ravennafestival.org/www.viviravenna.itwww.parcodeltapo.it/

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HEALTH AND SAFETY

Ravenna is one of the safest cities in Italy with avery low crime rate. In addition, Ravenna isalways one of top Italian cities in official surveysof the quality of life – little traffic; good services;parks and other green spaces; car parking, cyclepaths etc.As unforeseen events can always happen, theSchool has contracted with two separate medicalpractices that provide free and prompt medicalcare. In addition, Ravenna has a modern andwell-respected hospital, not far from the School,where more major medical treatment can be pro-vided if necessary, and this too is completely freeof charge.Our host families have been very carefully selec-ted and the School meets with hosts to ensurethat they offer the best possible experience tostudents. Living in an Italian home is often anunforgettable experience and represents a majorfactor in students’ progress. The School is fully insured by a major internatio-nal insurance company.

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• Palazzo Malvisi is an activity of the Mida TrainingCenter srl company, service company withheadquarters in Ravenna, via De Gasperi 5.

• The company is registered with the localChamber of Commerce (CCIAA)registration number 14343

• Sales tax/VAT reference number: P.IVA: 01145530398• Bank details: IBAN: IT53H0564013100000000014230• Bank details: BIC/ SWIFT: BPMOITB1BPR• Our services are provided in accordance with our terms

and conditions which can be provided upon request• Company President: Sandra Goop, Swiss

and Lichtenstein national, tel: +39.34.76.76.34.92• Company Vice-President and Director:

Michele Merola, Italian national, tel: +39.335.458.739