Learn Italian & Live in Your Teacher's Home in Bari with Home Language International

This program met several of my travel and language learning goals. Having visited northern Italy several times in the past, I was eager to discover the Puglia region. I have also been rather passively studying Italian for the past several years, but had had no opportunities to speak the language. Another goal was to take a language course in Italy that would create that opportunity both to speak and to enlarge my vocabulary. At the same time, I did not want to find myself in a course with others who were not as motivated to learn Italian and might speak English outside of class; I was looking for an immersion experience. My experience with the Home Language International program responded to all of these goals. I enjoyed the daily classes, but even more the immersion setting where the language lesson did not stop after the class was over; through ongoing conversations with Ivette, my host, on all sorts of topics, my vocabulary was greatly enriched, and I had ample opportunity to improve my speaking and comprehension. I also fully enjoyed discovering the Puglia region with my host, with whom I visited neighboring towns and organic farms, as well as the local sights, market, and restaurants. I was also very pleased with my host's generous culinary offerings, preparing delicious dishes using local ingredients, including a variety of fish/seafood. We definitely hit it off. The small town of Locorotondo and the Puglia region are wonderful locations for this type of program.