How to learn Italian language in a small Tuscan village
There is something deeply comforting about studying Italian in a small village in Tuscany, where the hills roll softly, time moves slowly, piano piano, and language learning feels more like shared life than formal study. Our little group met twice a week in a village near San Casciano in Val di Pesa, a place that already sounds musical enough to be an Italian lesson all on its own.
Our classroom is upstairs in the Casa del Popolo, House of People, a wonderfully Italian institution. Downstairs there is a café, the kind where local elderly people stay for a coffee, an espresso, talk a lot, and meet each others. On good mornings, I arrived early enough to enjoy a cappuccino there before class, and my heart on the feeling that yes, questa è vita.
Our teacher, Enrico is a retired Italian language and literature teacher with silver hair, calm eyes, and the gentle and smiling authority of someone who has explained the grammar of Italian more times than he can remember. He is like Charlie to us and we female students his angels, angeli. Perhaps because patience is required when explaining Italian grammar to an international group.
Around the table sit women, each from different contry, from Finland, the Netherlands, Ukraine, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Morocco, and Albania. Different accents, different life stories, different levels of language, different reasons for being in Tuscany, but one shared goal: parlare italiano. Mostly, we speak Italian. We discuss everyday life, read texts, laugh at mistakes, and gently wrestle with grammar. We share also information and differences among our cultures. Some of us were preparing for official language exams; others are simply preparing for life.
Learning from books, leaflets, ads, speaking, reading - so very practical in a small group (4-7 persons).
Enrico took one look at me after the first lesson and announced, kindly, confidently that I would take the B1 cittadinanza intermediate exam in December. This was October. I did not even think to do any official exam, and thought my level is maybe A2. Well, I nodded, smiled, and thought, Va bene… I suppose my Italian agrees with you, I had studied a bit Italian in Finland earlier and have been a Italy fan since teenager.
On December 6th, I did exactly that. The B1 citizenship exam was a long day, una giornata lunghissima, several hours. Two listening exercises, one writing task, one grammar task, text analysis, and finally the speaking part. By the end, my brain felt like overcooked pasta, but I also felt quietly proud. I think I did pretty well. And I am forever grateful to my Italian “driver”, I could have never found the exam place, east of Firenze in a small village. I smiled to myself thinking: the last time I had sat an exam like this was during my MBA studies in 2015 in Finland. In Finland, during my teacher training, there were no traditional exams. So this Italian exam felt both familiar and new, serious and somehow joyful.
6.12.2025 made my B1 citizenship cittadinanza exam in Italian language close to Firenze.
My international friends from the Italian language group have become my support system in Tuscany. From Enrico and from each other, we can ask anything, practical advice, language tips, life questions. There is always someone who says, Non ti preoccupare, and actually means it, do not worry, help is here.
We are not just learning Italian.
We are building community.
We are becoming braver with words.
We are discovering that mistakes are welcome guests.
And somewhere between grammar exercises, shared laughter, and a morning cappuccino downstairs, Italian stopped being just a language and became a place. I am so grateful of this teaching and learning together. Avanti così. 💛
We got this little book with some exercises and grammar, only 13 euros including the membership to Casa Del Popolo, where there is great café also and possibility to speak Italian and read local newspapers. Casa del Popolo are places run by ARCI.
I also learn Italian by watching Italian movies and TV series, read all advertisement I manage to find, follow Italian teachers´videos in Istagram, try to read a simple book sometimes. After visiting Vietri sul Mare and Amalfi watching Mina Settembre di Napoli in TV has been very pleasant and interesting.
Have you done language exams abroad? Would you like to come to Tuscany to learn Italian?
#learning #teaching #language #Italian #italiano #exam #esamen #B1 #intermediate #grouplearning #culture #Tuscany #Toscana #insieme #together #CasaDelPopolo
Here we meet for Italian learning twice a week. Here elderly people and village people meet for a caffé or an aperitivo. Sometimes there are events in Casa del Popolo.
