City	Taormina
	Country	Italy
	Program Duration:	2+ weeks
	Minimum Fee:	$1,454
	Cost Includes:	Tuition, insurance, texts and materials, entry and exit placement exams, program monitoring, single room in shared student apartment, use of kitchen. 30.5 hours per week. Standard Course + 10.5 hours per week of cooking lessons offered by a Sicilian host mother.
	Hours per Week:	30

 

Standard Course + "Family Style" Cooking Course

Group language instruction of 20 hours per week plus 10.5 hours per week of private cooking lessons with a Sicilian host mother. The cooking course is given in the home of a Sicilian "mamma". Cooking lessons will be provided on the preparation of a full meal with units focusing on the first course (pasta, risotto, or soup), a second course (vegetarian, meat or fish), side dishes (salad or vegetables), and sweets or cake. The course includes a weekly dinner with the host mother in the homestay.

About the School and Area

Babilonia was established in 1992, and is the only Italian language and cultural center in Sicily recognized by the Association of Language Schools of Italian as a foreign language. The school is housed in a renovated four story 19th century building which faces the community tennis courts, the lush public gardens, the Bay of Naxos and Mount Etna. The roof-top terrace and student lounge offer one of the most amazing views available in Taormina.

Each classroom is equipped with individual student desk-chairs, a magnetic white board and other visual displays, a cassette recorder-player and headphones. The student library, lounge and computer room provides all students with access to the internet, CD-Rom programs for self-study, satellite television, VCR, stereo with cassette and CD player, and a varied collection of music, films, magazines, and books.

The school staff is dedicated to developing close, personal relationships with each student. All teachers are university graduates, speak at least two other languages, have studied these languages at university and/or language schools abroad, and have been trained to teach Italian as a second/foreign language.

The center takes advantage of the regularly scheduled teacher training seminars and workshops offered through a variety of qualitative language instruction associations. In addition, the school organizes their own ongoing in-house teacher training program.

The school is situated in the heart of Taormina, one of the most popular and most important towns in Sicily. Taormina is located high atop Mount Tauro, just above the Bay of Naxos. The magnificent Mediterranean blue bay and the not so distant, often smoldering Mount Etna offer a spectacular view which can be seen from almost any point in Taormina. Of the possible destinations for studying the Italian language in Italy, Taormina represents one of the very few possibilities in Southern Italy, by the sea and in a beautiful town full of history and culture. Its celebrity is due to its beauty, its incredible history and architecture, and its reputation for welcoming travelers. Taormina is perfectly situated to offer students easy access to the beautiful and historically important treasures of Sicily.

The town of Taormina is also an important archaeological location. The first Greek Colony in Italy was established in its Bay of Naxos. And the town is also home to one of the most famous Greek Theaters in the world, where the main events of the summer Film, Music, Dance and Theater International Festival of "Taormina Arte" are held. There are also many more important monuments in town, from the Greek period to Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Norman, Spanish, French, Baroque, etc. With a strong vocation for tourism, Taormina offers many opportunities in the way of hotels, restaurants, bars, discos, entertainment and sports (windsurfing, scuba diving, mountain-biking, canyoning, rafting, tennis and golf).

For more information about this course or to register, send an email to a program coordinator using the form below.