January, 2023 The location is excellent and the price is comparable to other schools close by. The problems are: They hire teachers that don't have an idea of how to teach language. At Michelangelo I had classes with four different instructors and they were all teacher centered, they were NOT student centered. The classrooms don't have a computer or even a projector (used in the the 20th.century) because neither of the instructors use any kind of media: no pictures, games, music or interactive activities in class. It was like learning a language in the 16th. century. You're given a manual that has very bad explanations and you get homework from it. In class, you never have any dialogue activities in Italian with your classmates. All you do is to answer a question the teacher will ask you. Some instructors have favorite students and they are the students who are called to the whiteboard to correct the homework or to speak in class. They don't have an entrance exam, and they're not very strict with starting dates, so you might waste time and money sitting in a class that is not at your level. In the internet it says that starting days is always on Mondays but sometimes there are students starting any day of the week and a week or two later, they find out that the class they were told to start at, was not the right level for them. The institute owns apartments that are close to the school and rent them to the students. When I went to see the apartment they offered me, it looked fine. It had TV, stove, fridge, washing machine and a fan. After I moved in, I found out that the television, the washing machine, the internet, the refrigerator and the fan didn't work. There was not a microwave oven and there was not AC and it's extremely hot during the summer. The apartments they rent to students are close to the institute, an area with lots of night life; therefore, it's extremely noisy; almost impossible to sleep at night. I visited other apartments where other students from Michelangelo were staying and like mine, the maintenance was zero. I went to visit a classmate and in her apartment, the stove and the refrigerator didn't work at all. She could use only the microwave. They offer excursions on Saturdays with an excellent tour guide who's the institute's secretary but the excursions repeat to the same places every month so if you're there for more than a month, there're not new guided places for you to visit. Last but not least, the classrooms don't have AC, so in the summer it is really hard to be in class. In addition, this school is in a second floor and there's not an elevator, therefore, it's not appropriate for persons with mobility limitations. There's a classroom but not a bathroom at street level. You might take your classes in that classroom downstairs, but if you can't go up the stairs, you will miss events and information that happen in the second floor. If you'e 50+ and want to take one of the other classes (cooking, art, etc,) in addition to language, they don't always have enough number of students that are 50+ and the most probable thing is that they will tell you that they can't do it at the moment because there're not others students 50+. And as it happened to me, when there are enough students to take the cooking class, they won't inform you. My recommendation is: Florence is a beautiful city. Make your life happier by living in a place where the appliances work and where there's a working internet. Study at a school where there is an incoming placement test, so you will be placed exactly at the level you are (if you look, some schools offer the online test for free). Also, look for a school where the instructors have at least a computer in the classroom to get materials from the internet and where the instructors use methodology to make you speak Italian with classmates during and outside class. Unfortunately, the Instituto Michelangelo can not offer this to you. My two cents.

Absolutely LOVED spending 3 weeks with this institute! The best teachers, staff, and community!! I really believe in this incredible place and think it’s one of the best. I was becoming so present and strong with the language. Each lesson is structured as a grammar lesson in the morning and then a conversational focused lesson in the afternoon. They also do class trips on the weekends to neighboring cities. (Pictured below is Lucca) If you have a long stay or even want to try out a week, I highly recommend this place!

A very good summer courses with cooking experience. The best present for a student in summer.

I highly recommend taking Italian lessons at Istituto Michelangelo in Florence. From the 2nd of March 2020 until may 15th 2020 I’ve taken lessons. Because the lockdown started on the 5th of March in Italy, I’ve had 3 days in a classroom, and the rest of the lessons online. Despite the lockdown, I’ve had an amazing experience and splendid lessons. The school building in the middle of the city centre. The teachers and the director are incredibly nice. I started with teacher Luca, a kind and funny man who taught passionately. His explanations were clear and the lessons were good to follow. When the lockdown started and we couldn’t be in the classrooms anymore, he organized walks around the city and started teaching us and telling stories. This was absolutely wonderful of him and a great alternative. The online lessons I got from Caterina, a lovely and patient woman who explains very clearly and is always in a good mood. After 2,5 months we finished level B2 (we asked her for a faster track, I think usually it takes longer). I am very happy that I’ve had Caterina as a teacher. I absolutely highly recommend her lessons. The school also organized my accommodation, which was wonderful. The first apartment I shared with two other girls, we all had a big room with a desk and a big closet. The apartment had a big terrace with a view on the top of the duomo. I loved waking up every morning and spending the online lessons inside in my room or on the terrace in the sun. Despite the lockdown, I’ve had a lovely time here. Because my roommates left after a while, I moved to a 1 person apartment, also in the city centre, with a living room, separate kitchen, bathroom and bedroom upstairs. Everything was tidy, clean and working. For all the accommodations I paid +/- 500 euro per month and was always around 5 minutes to walk to the school. The school also offers many trips and excursions after the lessons and in the weekends. From museum visits with tour guides to weekend trips to cities and the island Elba. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to go on these trips. Taking a gap year and starting in lockdown is a strange situation, but the teachers and director of Istituto Michelangelo have taken care of me in the best ways possible. I highly recommend taking Italian lessons at Istituto Michelangelo. They are an exceptionally good school that cares a lot about their students. I feel grateful to have such a nice experience! A special thanks to Caterina for the lovely lessons and to Domenico Cancellieri for taking care of me with the housing in this period.

Best language school in Florence. What a wonderful experience! This authentic Italian language and arts school has been around for almost 50 years and is still run « family style » even though they have up to 150 students at a time during peak season. With highly competent teachers in all levels of Italian (A1 to C2 levels), small classes of maximum 10 students, and many cultural activities (weekend trips as well as excellent guided tours of Florence highlights such as Santa Maria Novella church and Palazzo Vecchio every week), you will make friends of all ages and cultures (students range from 17 years old to 75!) and learn Italian at your own pace. They also offer cooking classes, art classes, and private lessons, which are all very much appreciated by the students. A shoutout to Claudio, who teaches with passion and precision, and helped me improve tremendously in 4 weeks. Grazie mille!!

This is great school with a fun culture. My first experience studying at the Instituto Michelangelo was in 2008, I enjoyed it so much that my husband and I having been going back every year! It is worth the trip from Australia to Florence every September. The teachers are all friendly, professional, multi lingual and Florentine. The school organizes an apartment for us right in the historical centre of Florence, walking distance to the school and all the important landmarks of the city. They even organize our weekly outings and excursions to amazing places all over Tuscany. If you want, you can even learn to cook the Italian way with Agostino. At the end of the week, having aperitivo with the teachers and students at the local bar is a lot of fun and some times, Lapo takes us for a jog to Piazzale Michelangelo to work off a few excess kilos and for a spectacular view of the Renaissance city. All in All, its simply a fantastic Italian experience.

I can san without doubt this is the best Italian language and culture school in florence. Not only are the teachers and staff members qualified and professional, but they will make you feel like family. It was my first time traveling alone, and the school made me feel secure, from the good accomodation they found for me, from the treatment I was given by everyone. Everybody was so welcoming and available. I am very satisfied with my progress in Italian, which was exponential considering I was only there for two months. I made friends of all ages from all over the world and I leave Florence wanting to come back to Michelangelo Institute to see my teachers and Lapo, all which made my experience in Italy unforgettable.

I met a group of 5 of my best friends from Argentina (where I grew up) for just one week of Italian. We had a wonderful experience in our classes with our teacher Savino, so much so that we wished we could have stayed longer. It's in my plans to return for a month or two the next time. Florence is beautiful and the school is in the middle of the city. We took coffee breaks at a cafe by the Duomo. Bet experience you could have!

I attended this school over 25 years ago, and I still go back, and I must say the professors are of the highest quality. Also all the staff that work at Michelangelo speak many different languages and are extremely friendly. I Especially like the Teachers Luca Ceccarelli and Claudio Manella. The truth is they also have so many new and exciting teachers as well, they are all amazing and so many of them go out of their way and even have events with their students after hours. I highly recommend one of the oldest language schools in Florence, Italy, Istituto Michelangelo! Domenico Cancellieri the Director of the school and Lapo Morgantini will greet you on your first day and you will feel very welcome. All the other staff memebers work as a team and serve the students requests.

Teachers and staff at the school are all very kind and helpful. They offer free guided tours around Florence as part of the history of art class, but anyone from the school can go. The students apartment was clean and well equipped. I've been there twice and can't wait to go back again!

The best school with a perfect atmosphere to learn, meet new friends and have fun while strolling along the narrow streets of beautiful and cosy city of Florence! I have been studying in this school for two summers and had a perfect experience every time I came there. Any problem I should have, has been solved in a moment and all the weekend-trips and weekday activities made our life at school incredibly rich and fun. The teachers would not only teach us the language but also give a sight into the culture and personality of Italy and Italians. We've been encouraged to speak the language from the first days what gave us an opportunity to immerse ourselves with the truly Italian culture while talking to locals. I'm extremely grateful to everybody at the school for giving us such a wonderful experience in Florence and I'm still happy to be contact with everybody cause when you find yourself at Michelangelo you find yourself in a big Italian family which is always happy to see you anytime! Viva Michelangelo! :)))

I would recommend anyone to come and have this AMAZING EXPERIENCE!! it’s one of the best schools in italy , I was there in summer and I returned back again now , I took Italian classes and they are so beneficial , the classes are very interesting as they are divided into two parts the first two hours they are focused more on the grammar and the second two hours are more conversational as we discuss different topics in Italian where we learn new vocabulary . Also they use many activities so we could learn through them. Teachers have very good experience and they are very friendly and helpful . Apart from what I mentioned above , you get opportunity to meet new people ,new culture … Also the school does really help you in anything , I mean they helped me through the residence permit process :) The school also provide different classes other than Italian e.g cooking, art history …… I had an outstanding experience that’s why I returned back again , I would recommend it to anyone.

The italian class was a mess, we didn’t practice conversation, the classes were useless and one of my teachers was very in professional, she corrected my posture, how i was writing, but not my italian. The cooking class was very good, the teacher was very good at explaining the every step of the of the making and also the history behind the dishes. I don’t recommend the school for beginners.

I spent two weeks at the beginning of this year taking an intensive Italian course, and I absolutely enjoyed my time there! The institute is excellent, with professional teachers who not only help you grasp the language but also understand Italian culture. We were grouped based on our level into smaller classes, which helped for more communication and practice in speaking. All materials were provided, making it very convenient. Additionally, there are study books available that you can buy to continue learning on your own after the course is over. The institute organized activities both during the week and on weekends - we got to see Siena and thanks to our lovely guide we understood more about the history of the city. The institute is truly authentic, situated in a great location, and provided me with the opportunity to make new friends from around the world. I would love to return someday to further enhance my language skills! Thank you Domenico and the whole team for having me and always being very helpful.