October 2025 in le Marche, Italy
Join Elena for a week of intensive Italian language tuition and take advantage of her 16 years experience teaching Italian to foreign students of all ages, abilities and nationalities. This Italian language immersion program is all about conversational Italian and is designed to give you the confidence and ability to talk your way around Italy in whatever situation you might find yourself.
In early 2025 we are relocating from Lucca to the bucolic countryside of southern le Marche with its gorgeous scenery of medieval hilltop towns, Romanesque churches and endless green valleys that sweep down to the Adriatic coast.Â
Tourism here is on a much smaller scale than Tuscany, the pace of life is slower and shopkeepers have time for a chat so it’s the perfect place for you to practice your Italian. This is a sparsely populated area where old traditions survive and where local people are friendly and welcoming.Â
It’s a world away from the all the tourist hotspots in Italy where airbnb is destroying the fabric of daily life for Italians - in this idyllic part of central Italy the local communities want and need more tourists so be part of what we like to call 'regenerative tourism' and find out for yourselves why we fell in love with this area of le Marche between the mountains and the sea and why we feel it is so important to sustain and support authentic Italy.
Is this an intensive Language Program or a Tour? Actually it’s both because although you’ll be in the same villa for the entire week participating in language classes, you’ll also enjoy escorted trips around southern le Marche to all sorts of interesting places, many of which we’ve visited countless times over the years and have written about on this website.Â
For those of you who have hitherto only experienced Italian cities, you will be charmed by the spectacular countryside of southern Marche where rolling hills of olive trees, vines and ancient borghi belli give way to the higher elevations of the Parco Nazionale dei Monti Sibillini.
Don't read the description 'language classes' and imagine a place of drudgery and repetition as if you were back in high school. Elena realized long ago that the only way for adults to learn a foreign language proficiently was to make it fun and entertaining and as a result many of her students in Lucca come back year after year and many also sign up for online lessons with her once they're back home.
So, leave your inhibitions at home and bring your energy and enthusiasm with you so you can get the most out of 7 days of thinking, speaking and dreaming in the world's most mellifluous language.
Elena with some of her students in Lucca - in the classroom, conducting guided tours and wine tastings and relaxing at the end of the day with them.
Elena is not only one of the most beloved Italian teachers in Lucca but is also a qualified Sommelier and Maestro d'Olio (the olive oil equivalent qualification) so you will learn much more than just Italian during your week here. Furthermore her father was born in Ascoli Piceno and she has enjoyed a lifelong family affection for southern le Marche, which has now come full circle with our permanent relocation here.
8 Days / 7 Nights in a luxury villa in the Sibillini foothills of southern le Marche close to the small hill town of Belmonte Piceno.
Price:Â Â 2,900 euros per person fully inclusive of all daily transport, language instruction, 7 nights accommodation and all meals, excursions, cooking class and wine & olive oil tastings. (This price is based on 7 people, if there are only 6 participants the price will be 3,200 per person)
Dates:Â Â Saturday 4 - Saturday 11 October 2025
Group Size:  No more than 7 people so that everyone can get the maximum benefit from Elena’s time.
Support:Â Â Group transportation with a professional driver will be provided for the pick-up and drop-off in Ancona at the start and end of the week as well as for the various afternoon excursions during the week. Elena will teach the class every morning, accompany the group on all the excursions and share lunch and dinner with everyone so she will be fully available 12 hours a day throughout the week to provide language help and any other assistance required.
Accommodation: Casale Iris near Belmonte Piceno will be your home for the week and with 7 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms everyone will enjoy a very comfortable stay.Â
Language ability: We currently envisage that this course will appeal mostly to intermediate level students who are looking for a week’s full language immersion to help push them to the next level.Â
If there is sufficient interest either at the beginner level or the advanced level we will either change the emphasis for the program or bring in another teacher and divide the participants into two groups.
Prior to booking your place, Elena will first chat to you briefly by zoom to determine your Italian language level.
Booking:Â Â You can secure your place with a 500 euro deposit
Terms & Conditions:Â Â Â Will be sent on request to interested persons.
Contact:   For further information, clarifications or to express interest in booking this program please contact us at mike@mykindofitaly.com
Daily Itinerary:
DAY 1: Group pick up at a central location in Ancona early afternoon. If the weather is nice we’ll stop just south of Ancona for a couple of hours to visit the beautiful medieval seaside town of Sirolo with its panoramic views of the Monte Conero promontory and the coastline.
From Sirolo a 1 hour journey will have you at the villa in Belmonte Piceno in time to relax and settle in before drinks and dinner at the villa.
DAY 2: Classes will begin every day at 9.15.am and continue until 12.45.pm with a short coffee break mid-morning. We will try to arrive earlier every morning for you with fresh cornetti from a nearby pasticceria but in any case we will stock the villa kitchen every day with a variety of breakfast items.
After lunch we’ll take the private transport again for a tour around the local area stopping at some of our favorite places so you get a feel for the Marche hill country. San Ginesio, Penna San Giovanni and San Severino Marche will likely be on the itinerary. Dinner at a local restaurant.
DAY 3: After morning classes and lunch we’ll head into the mountains, weather permitting, for a 2-3 hour hike from the northern end of Lago di Fiastra to Lame Rosse. There will also be the option of an escorted shorter walk. Drinks and dinner will be at the villa this evening.
DAY 4: After morning classes and lunch we’ll return to the classroom in the early afternoon for 2-3 hours because tomorrow will be a full day’s touring with no classroom time. Late afternoon we’ll have a hands-on cooking class for several hours followed by dinner where we will enjoy everything we prepared earlier.
Wine tasting Tutorial: prior to dinner Elena will guide you through the red and white wines of le Marche, in particular the white wines where Verdicchio, Passerina and Pecorino excel.
DAY 5: We’ll mark the half-way point of the program with a full day touring to our favorite towns in southern le Marche, including most of the following, time permitting: Ascoli Piceno, Offida, Ripatransone, Grottammare Alta and Torre di Palme.
Offida (above left) and the 1824 Teatro Luigi Mercantini in Ripatransone (above right)
DAY 6: No travel today. Instead we’ll put in a couple of extra hours in the classroom because everyone will take it in turns this afternoon to give a presentation in Italian to the rest of the group describing what they liked about yesterday’s tour or how they would compare an Italian town to their home town or any another topic that the class can relate to. Elena will be on hand to ask you questions and have you thinking on your feet so your speaking confidence can grow.
Olive Oil Tutorial: prior to dinner Elena will show you have to taste and compare some of Italy’s finest olive oils, including some of our favorites from Tuscany and Umbria that we have written about like Baldaccini and Decimi.
Tonight’s dinner will be a pizza party at the villa with everyone involved in the preparation and there will be a prize at the end for the best pizzaiolo!
DAY 7: After morning classes and lunch we’ll visit the provincial capital of Macerata for our final afternoon excursion and celebrate our last evening with dinner at a local restaurant.
DAY 8: Departure after breakfast with transport provided back to Ancona.
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