“I took three individual Italian lessons with Elisabetta at La Piccola Scuola in Matera.  Before I arrived, Elisabetta asked what I needed to work on and when I got there, she had lessons planned and worksheets printed out.  Elisabetta is very professional, knowledgeable and patient.  In the three hours we covered a lot of material and I was impressed with how clearly she explained things.  The school is in the lovely city of Matera, the European Capital of Culture 2019.  If you want to learn Italian or brush up on your Italian language skills in a picturesque southern Italian town, I highly recommend La Piccola Scuola”.

Diane, Usa.

“I had a wonderfully enjoyable and rewarding learning experience with Piccola Scola. Having taken a series of private classes during my visit to Matera, the school tailored them to my individual needs using a creative combination of tools- role play, listening, reading and writing excersises.
The school and Elisabetta offered a personal touch and a fruitful understanding of the  Italian culture and language, maximising on what exactly I needed from these sessions. I will certainly be pursuing further classes going forward, to further strengthen my knowledge.
Thanks to Elisabetta for a excellent introduction to my Italian !”.

Dina, England.

“This was the first time that I took a language course in the country where the target language was spoken (instead of taking weekly classes in my city), and it was the right decision because “Immersion” is so much easier this way. The school is located in a really lovely town and offers a good atmosphere in a nice building. Elisabetta, the teacher and director,  is very motivated and it was a pleasure to learn with her. She answered every question we had and took our individual room for improvement into account. I attended a two week course with 4 hours of lessons daily (Monday to Friday), in a very small group of 3. Local people were very relaxed and reacted favourably to our attemps to transfer theory into practice – very important because to learn a language, it needs to be spoken, without fear of making mistakes. – It is easy to move around in Matera, my apartment was only a five minute walk away from the school. There are several museums, lots of restaurants and cafés, and possibilities to make excursions to neighboring places using public transportation. I really hope to come back and improve my Italian skills!”.

Sophie, Switzerland.

Whether it is winter or summer, it is always the right time to come to Matera to learn Italian. In spring, the wheather is warm, days are longer and persistenly sunny. This is the right moment to dine outdoors, walk around the alleyways and narrow streets of the Sassi, or for a hike on the Murgia plateau or discover rupestrian churches. In the summer, open air concerts and shows, music and literary festivals liven up the city’s squares. This is when contemporary scuplture exhibitions open up in rupestrian churches. The religious feast of Madonna della Bruna is also held on July 2. And when it is stifling hot, the beaches on the Ionian Sea, a few kilometres away from Matera, are just the best place to go. In autumn the air becomes crisper, the sun makes way for the rain and the seasons change reveals its evocative charm. A trip to Parco Nazionale del Pollino might offer the chance to admire the foliage before leaves fall to the ground. Who prefers to stay in the city, may choose to explore the warm museums. Winter in Matera is the best time for a peaceful atmosphere. In december visitors can experience the live nativity scene set in the Sassi and enjoy the traditional local dishes in the several city’s restaurants, taking advantage of the seasonal cold weather. This is when the theatre season opens, and some music festivals are also held.