CELI EXAMS Training Course "Combined"

What can I say. From the first day the professionalism of the management and staff was obvious. The grading was done simply and efficiently, the classes were lively, interesting and fun, Cultural aspects of Sicily was covered along with historical aspects and fun facts,

Grammar was covered in an interesting and practical way. Extra curricular activities were well planned and suited to all ages. A wide variety of interests were covered. The sharing and cross contact of all other nationalities and how they would explain how the same topics worked in their countries was an aspect that was unexpected but a great learning all round.

Everything went well and great contacts were made between people.

One thing I would suggest and something I forgot to raise whilst there, would be to set up a WhatsApp group with the students, in particular for the ones who travelled alone. If someone wanted to go for a drink or a pizza a suggestion could be put into this group and people could pair up sooner.

A great experience, one that I will repeat in the not too distant future.
Thanks to all,
Mary+

Friendly environment, good teacher, there is actually not much more to say.

Sometimes, there was some disturbing noise from other classes.

This was my first language course abroad, I am a senior but I took a normal course.
To my surprise, most of the participants were the same age as me. (+++)

The teaching groups were small; there were 2 of us in the first week and 4 in the second.

The teachers were very good and inspiring and I learned exactly the things I wanted to learn,

The location of Solemar Academy is good (the city is quite small) near the beach, there was air-condition in the classrooms and very nice courtyard for recess.
There were many different activities during the week.
I It was possible to get a room through the school, but I lived i an a nearby B&B Lumachella (+++++) There were very nice rooms and a really good breakfast. In addition, it took approx. 5 minutes to walk to school.

I liked everything ( only negative thing was, that because of the covid, there was mandatory to use the masks).

I was in a class of five of us all similar standards. Our teacher was excellent, patient and knowledgeable. She pitched the level just right. The academy arranged a tour around the town which was brilliant and more to the point was free of charge. My
accommodation was lovely, a big room in a villa with shared facilities. I thought it was a bit far from the school but apart from that it was excellent. Ivana lived there and helped me - she worked at the academy and was very good. All in all it was a good experience and I would go back again.

This academy is one of the best places to learn Italian there is! There is one class for each level, which really facilitates the process of learning. Not only are the teachers excellent at they job, but they're also really kind outside the class. With regard to the location of the academy and its facilities as well, what can I say, there's nothing you can complain about. If you wanted to set up an academy, you just would want to do it like these guys.
The housing, that's what I didn't like as much. I lived in a place called Villa Caterina, which is an apartment house in which various people spend their holidays. The house was in a high place, so to get there I had to go up a really infuriatingly long street. Yeah, if you like to walk like me, it's paradise, but otherwise, run from it as if it was the plague. I came back to Madrid with soccer player strong legs! Uh, also, if you decide to stay here you will have roommates, who can be nice or not. The last roommate that came in after the first one left was an incredibly nice german girl with whom I got along really well. Heck, we even had breakfast together once, I did an avocado salad and she fried some eggs. She was really nice, so nice you felt good to exist. The other two roommates I had were not as pleasant, unfortunately. I could talk about them using harsh language, but I'll refrain from rude attitudes and use the mildest language I can. The first one was a young girl from Belgium who, despite telling me she was not sociable at all, spent all day outside ; needless to say I developed a series of theories about her companies, she once talked about "guys talking to her in the street". The second one was a czech woman, oh boy, do I remember her with love and affection, she said to me the least amount of words that is possible to say to a person you spend two weeks with in the same appartment. She didn't like me in a quite transparent way so convivence was sometimes uncomfortable. She said almost nothing, for a talkative person like me, it was hell. Did I do something wrong to deserve this ostracism? Did I offend her in any respect? What, woman, what, why don't you like me?, I thought all the time. At least I got to have some fun picking on her because she couldn't like me less so, what she gonna do if I annoy her, like me even less?, I didn't even care. Oh, and she duplicated the consonants when she spoke italian. I'm not saying I have perfect pronunciation, but I can appreciate how annoying is that kind of thing. It's like the stereotypical accent of you language you hate hearing on foreigners, it's just painful to hear... In conclusion. All these bad things I just said, I don't really care, I just needed to get that trash out off me. What generated this resentment and what I really care about is that, look, I don't care how they speak italian, I don't care what they do with their lives, but we were all roommates and the least we could do was being nice to each other. And they failed consistently every day. They did not talk to me, they just said "hi" and rushed into their bedrooms, there was no kindness. It does not feel nice to be treated that way. The worse thing than being alone is being alone surrounded by people.
There was no chance I could spend my time with those two silent people, let alone have fun with them, so I kind of was forced to go out and make friends outside of the house. With perspective, I reckon this was the best timeline possible. Because I had in home two people with whom it was impossible to have a single conversation, I went outside in search of people to speak with; and I found them. Bartenders, shop owners, people at the beach, people at the street, there was people to practice with everywhere and, without realizing, I made some amazing friends and improved my italian a lot. Those have been such great holidays and, by combining the academy time and the environment time, I maxed to the top my learning process.
Solemar Sicily is not just an excellent academy but also the wonderful place it's in, a village in which there is wonderful food and wonderfull people to make the best out of your holidays and learning experience. To sum up, THIS is a place to learn Italian. Putting those two girls aside, the experience was absolutely perfect. Ten out of ten, would repeat for sure!

The teachers were very talented and organized an interesting teaching process with great involvement of the students.
I really learned a lot.

Everything was great. The teacher, Marco, the quality of the lessons and the school itself was a lovely place in a great location.

I've been at the Solemar language school for 2 weeks. I had to make an online placement test upfront and got ranked in an intermediate course (I've learned Italian ~2-3 years at University).
The welcome on the first day was very friendly, we got a bit of Italian breakfast and coffee. I've been in a group of 4 persons from different countries (Switzerland, Australia, Slovakia and Austria). So the group was very small which was great because we could speak a lot in Italiano (which is the hardest part, at least for me). We didn't do lots of grammar but a lot of conversation, discussions, watched some videos, listened to Italian songs.
The instructors are very friendly. Valerio who owns the school even took us to a private tour to Tusa (a small City with a cool beach) and the Piramides (insider tip), which was really great. I've also participated in school organized tours such as a boat trip, horse riding, a barbecue at night, Cefalu City tour, a tango course and much more.

In the second week I've got an upgrade to a higher course. It was much more challenging but great to further improve my Italiano.
I've also moved to Villa Caterina in the second week which is a school owned Appartemento with 2 cute dogs.
I would absolutely recommend taking a course at Solemar language school in Cefalu, it's absolutely worth it.

Cefalù ist der perfekte Ort für eine Sprachereise. Die Stadt ist nicht groß aber dafür sehr liebenswert. Tolle Lage. Aufgrund der Größe findet man sich schnell zurecht und kommt schnell in Kontakt mit anderen Stundenten und Einheimischen. Die „Cefaludesi“ sind sehr aufgeschlossen, freundlich und hilfsbereit!
Die Schule ist zentral gelegen. In kleinen Klassen kann jeder Student schnell Fortschritte erzielen und so auch in kurzer Zeit viel lernen. Neben der Sprache erfährt man auch viel über die Geschichte und die Kultur Siziliens.
Die Lehrer sind allesamt sehr motiviert und passen ihren Unterricht an die Interessen und Wünsche der Studenten an.

kleine Klassen,sympathische und freundliche Lehrer, die auch ausserhalb des Unterrichts einem das Gefuehl geben hier Willkommen zu sein. Einladende und stilvolle Schule. Dank der abwechslungsreichen Aktivitaeten lernt man das Land, die Leute und Spezialitaeten hautnah kennen und lieben. Die Villa Catherina bietet einem die Moeglickeit neue Leute kennen zu lernen und gemeinsam Zeit mit ihnen zu verbringen. Cefalu: Meer, Strand, Restaurants, Bars, freundliche und hilfsbereite Italiener und DOLCE!

The classes were very interesting, we focused on the oral section, which was my disadvantage, so i think i managed to upgrade my speaking a little bit.. All tha teachers were very friendly and experienced.. and Valerio, che pazzo tizo! Hahah.. Cefalu was the place to be for me in the summer because of its big beautiful beach ,its historical center and its restaurants,bars and shops for souvenirs, clothes ecc...I stayed in villa Caterina which is very beautiful and has a view at the sea.. the only thing i didn’t like was this crazy dog “Iva” that was approaching and barking to me unstoppably every time i was getting into the villa!

I made a 2 weeks course at Solemar and learned a lot.
My teacher was Marco. We had a lot of fun in class and talked a lot which was what we wanted. It was a small course which was good.
The whole Solemar team was always nice and welcoming and it was a very friendly

Learning atmosphere. They had a nice variety of trip offers for the afternoons.

I stayed at villa Caterina for the two weeks and absolutely loved this place with an amazing view over cefalu and the sea.
There is nothing I can complain about.

I studied italian language at Solemar Academy for four weeks in June. It was my first experience at a language school and I am so happy that I have been there. Everything was perfect: the teachers, the school itself, the location, the other students... As soon as I entered Villa Caterina I felt at home. The school is very familiar and the classes are not to big so that you learn a lot. I started with only a few words in italian, but at the end I was able to communicate more fluently: I lost my fear to make mistakes. The school offers many activities also for free, for example a barbecue at Villa Caterina or a boat trip arround Cefalu. All is well organized and you can have a lot of fun.
My teacher was the best for me! She is polite and patient and made me feel safe to practice the language. In my first week we played a theater scene in Italian language - for me a quite interesting experience, because I am working as an actrice. All in all I can highly recommend this school - I will definitively go there again!