Italian schools in Genova
Italian language schools in Liguria →︎
2 selected schools in Genova, Liguria. Compare course hours, housing and accreditations, then write directly to the school you prefer.
Genova at a glance
This is Genova (Liguria): the streets you'll walk every morning on your way to class, and the places where you'll need real Italian, the kind spoken at the bar and the market.
Compare the 2 schools in Genova
Of the 2 schools in Genova, 1 hold an accreditation checked by an independent body and 0 are exam centres. Classes range from 12 to 12 students and lessons last 45 to 45 minutes: those two numbers change the real value more than the price does.
| School | Real hours a week | Students per class | Lesson length | Google reviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Door to ItalyASILS | 15 hours | 12 | 45 min | — |
| Scuola Tricolore | 18 hours 20 min | 10 | 55 min | — |
Where the schools are in Genova
schoolsnot to be missedairportHover the green dots for details, click the red ones to open the school page.
Genova Cristoforo Colombo (GOA), 7 km away
More cities in Liguria
Day trips nearby
At the weekend, without a car:
- Sestri Levante40 km
Trenitalia regional trains from Genova station. Intercity buses from the station for towns the train doesn't reach.
Distances are as the crow flies.
The Italian you hear in Genoa
Genoese is the most closed language in Italy, and that is not a judgement but a phonetic description. It has vowels Italian does not have, ö and ü as in French, and a tendency to swallow everything else. A Genoese speaking Genoese is, to an outsider, simply impenetrable.
The good news is that the Italian of Genoa is perfectly clear, and that Genoese is now mostly spoken by older people and songwriters.
Two words you will hear anyway: belin, which in Genoa serves for surprise, anger, greeting and punctuation, and mugugno, the constant low grumbling that Genoese claim as a national trait.
For an A1 learner it works well: the Italian spoken is standard and clean, and the dialect stays a layer underneath, to listen to without having to understand.
Three people from Genoa. Christopher Columbus (1451). Niccolò Paganini (1782), the violinist rumoured to have made a pact with the devil. Fabrizio De André (1940), who recorded a whole album in Genoese, Crêuza de mä, and turned it into a classic.
Frequently asked questions about Genova
- How much does accommodation cost in Genova?
- A host family with breakfast usually costs about €180–260 per week for a single room; a room in a shared flat generally starts at €150–220. These are rough figures: the price changes with the season, the distance from the centre and the meals included. Almost every school on this page books accommodation for you, so ask for a quote covering course and room together.
- How many Italian language schools are there in Genova?
- We have selected 2, with courses from 20 to 20 hours a week. They are all compared above.
- How do I choose between the schools in Genova?
- Look at three numbers, not the price alone. The real lesson length: 20 hours of 45 minutes are 15 actual hours, of 60 minutes they are 20. How many people are really in the class in high season, not the stated maximum. And the total including enrolment, materials and accommodation, not the weekly rate.
- Which schools in Genova are exam centres?
- No school in Genova is an exam centre: you sit the exam at a nearby venue, and the school helps you register.
- Do the schools in Genova help you find accommodation?
- Yes, all 2 of them. Host family, shared flat or residence: the host family is the most useful for the language, because it makes you speak Italian every evening.
- How much does an Italian course in Genova cost?
- Rates vary a lot and should be asked of the school. When you do, ask for the total: a one-off enrolment fee is almost always added to the weekly rate, usually 50–90 euros in Italy, and books, accommodation, cultural activities and exam fees may be charged separately.
Events this year
The city's big festivals, food fairs and cultural seasons through the year. They're not just entertainment: they're the best training ground for your Italian. At a local festival you end up ordering, asking directions, chatting with locals: the real language, the kind books don't teach. If you can, line up a week of your course with one of these.
Rolli Days Twice a year the aristocratic Rolli palaces, a UNESCO site, open their doors with free guided tours. A perfect chance for art and architecture vocabulary, listening to Italian guides. | spring and autumn |
Salone Nautico In September Genoa hosts the largest boat show in the Mediterranean and the city fills with visitors. Useful for the vocabulary of the sea, boats and commercial Italian. | September |
Before you leave for Genova, start at home.
With the ti app you arrive in Italy already understanding what you hear: stories at your level with translation in 14 languages, exercises and a pathway from A1 to C2.
Half of the A1 path is open, no sign-up
★★★★★(6)by Alessio, a teacher since 2018
Start with A1 ↗︎Search for amo Italian
