Franco Giannotti, Publisher of the Premier Regional Italian American Portal in the US
"Italy at St. Louis"  << http://www.italystl.com >> is as bubbly as Spumante, as he tells in his latest Newsletter, about the continuing successes of the Italian Language Program in the St. Louis area.

The program, which continues to be sponsored by the FIAO (Federation of Italian American Organizations) of St. Louis, is now up to 10 teachers, of whom 8 are Italian born, one of which Franco modestly neglects to mention is himself.

This semester, the Italian Language Program will be offering 9 evening classes, in 5 levels of proficiency, plus a conversational group for adults, and 2 Saturday morning classes for children.

That is impressive!!!!

But there is more. The classes in 2004 will not only be in a new bigger and better location, But in an absolutely NEW building.

Italian classes will now be held at the beautiful, spacious and properly equipped Missouri Botanical Garden Education Center on Shaw and Kingshighway.

You can admire the photos of the new location on the "Italy at St. Louis" web site,  << http://www.ItalySTL.com >> by selecting the  ".E Tu, Capisci L'Italiano? --- Pinocchio" like banner in theHIGHLIGHTS, fourth column, (as shown below), to go to the St. Louis Italian Language Program web site.

Another new addition to their program, those lucky devils in the St. Louis area can also now register on-line.!!!!!

AND, The Missouri Botanical Garden Education Center is one of the off-campus sites of the Forest Park Community College which is their new affiliation and which will give the Program the opportunity in the future to access the ENTIRE Community College system throughout the St. Louis metropolitan area.

An Open House reception and orientation session will be held on January 20, 2004, for students and prospective students who want to consult with teachers, make last minute registrations, purchase books and, yes, there will be plenty of refreshments by the acclaimed Lo Russo’s Cucina.

The Italian Language Classes will be starting up again for the winter semester at the new location on January 26, 2004.

In my estimation, it is NOT New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, or any other US City that is usually thought to have substantial Italian American residents that is the most "Vibrant" Italian American Community,... it is St.Louis !!!!

They have by FAR the Finest Community Communication system with their Internet Portal, and with their Italian Language Program!!!

So many other Italian American communities could do well to follow St. Louis' lead!!

I fully expect St. Louis to be the first to sponsor Italian American Culture classes in the near future.

So much of this Vibrancy and Progress can be attributed to one man. That is Franco Giannotti, a man not only of vision, and action, but success!!!

Franco, you have our admiration and thanks for leading the way, and Congratulations for your Portal nudging 150,000 "hits" a month, a REMARKABLE achievement.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THE ITALIAN LANGUAGE PROGRAM

All classes are taught in Italian right from the start.  Translations and English speaking are discouraged and not too much attention is given to grammar at first.  This "swim or sink" approach overwhelms some students who are new to the language, but after a few lessons they seem to adjust and become more at ease.

This "total immersion" method of teaching is recommended by many experts and the results far exceed conventional bilingual and more structured approaches, even for those students who elect to repeat the first class and therefore take two semesters to cover one class.  The advantage over conventional methods is even more apparent in the successive levels.

The classes for adults are held one evening a week (two hours) for 10 consecutive weeks.  The cost for all 10 weeks is a mere $55.00 for adults and $30.00 for children.  Text books for children cost $15.00 and for adults $60.00 (Text and Exercise books included). The text books are re-used throughout the levels making the overall cost even more reasonable.

Join the fun of learning Italian, the 4th most popular foreign language in the world. We will also appreciate your referring us to relatives and friends who may not be aware of our program, especially at the youth level.