Italian Immersion: Language, Tours & Stay in Liguria

“The Italian course was a very good experience. The lessons were clear, engaging, and easy to follow. The teacher explained everything with patience and enthusiasm, and I was able to improve my understanding and vocabulary quickly. I highly recommend this course to anyone wanting to learn Italian in a practical and enjoyable way.”

The Italian course was a very good experience. The lessons were clear, engaging, and easy to follow. The teacher explained everything with patience and enthusiasm, and I was able to improve my understanding and vocabulary quickly. I highly recommend this course to anyone wanting to learn Italian in a practical and enjoyable way.

LingoInn run a 50% discount scholarship twice a year and in 2023, I won! With only a few months to prepare for the trip, I was nervous as a first-time solo traveller to China (my partner and mother told me not to go). However, LingoInn answered my questions patiently and kindly, and I over-prepared (big-time). As it turned out, everything went really well. My teacher, Wang Laoshi 王老师, met me at Shijiazhuang train station the night I arrived, and from then on, I was treated as her VIP guest. Everything was taken care of, with humour, patience and kindness. For instance, I had an unexpected, horrid toothache develop a few days into the homestay, that my travel insurance would cover (actually, it only cost $5 AUD so the insurance wasn't needed), but 王老师 herself took me to the dentist and acted as interpreter. She also coped beautifully with my liquids and soft foods diet when making all the meals (part of the homestay fee), took me to a pharmacist, and reassured me when I felt ashamed of my wussiness (I've heard Chinese people go without anaesthetic during childbirth!). As I settled in and my nerves eased, I began to enjoy myself. One of the two big reasons that I selected 王老师 was because I had a photo on my bedroom wall at home, of a beautiful temple suspended on an ancient bridge in a chasm. It turned out to be part of the Cangyan Shan temple complex --- near Shijiazhuang! We had a full-day tour walking around the mountain (lots of exercise) and her husband was chaffeur. The other reason was that she teaches 古琴 guqin, an ancient, beautiful, 7-stringed horizontally-played zither. I had three guqin lessons, besides daily Chinese lessons for three hours a day. When I had enough of study, we did 八段锦 baduanjin (a kind of tai qi) or took her mini German Shepherd, 老连 Lao Lian, for walks around the gated apartment community. 刘先生 Liu Xiansheng，her husband, also showed me gongfu cha, which is another passion of mine. It was, in summary, a wonderful experience, and a great way for a nervous first-time visitor to experience China.