Student Life

Life in San Giovanni

Tuscany is overrun with tourists, yet San Giovanni offers a 14 th century town centre where one can practice Italian without the competition of demanding tour groups. Il Sillabo institute chose San Giovanni because it is off the beaten path while still offering a setting rich with culture and history. San Giovanni is also easy to reach. San Giovanni is located on the Florence – Rome train line, 30 minutes from Florence, 30 minutes from Arezzo and 3 hours from Rome. Siena, Cortona, Orvieto, and other tourist cities are also close by.

While Florence and Rome crawl with tourists and language schools, little San Giovanni offers a place where students can experience a wealth of culture not found in the souvenir shops. It is an ideal location for a program where students can learn Italian Language and Culture and explore the art and culture that makes Italy so rich.

A Campus in the castle

The majority of Italian Institutions doesn’t offer campus like you can commonly find in USA. In the inside part of San Giovanni, an historical center partly surrounded by walls which originally were build in 1400 for military defense, we can virtually place the campus of those attending a study abroad program at il Sillabo. You will find libraries, internet cafés, book shops, caffetterie, gelaterie, wine bars, special food shops like the traditional Tuscan Bakery or the Butcher with Chianina steaks, the school wireless classrooms, a couple of museums but, overall, local people, Italians. Not just tourists wandering for shopping or queuing for a gallery.

Getting Around in Tuscany

You can live in a small, calm, safe town while being within easy reach of the most important cities in Tuscany and we genuinely want to make you feel at home and not in an anonymous place for tourists.

Also, by joining all our field trips, you will gradually get to know the whole of Tuscany and more, from the best known cities to other quaint little places.

Best let our students talk about our location

“The first weekend I was in San Giovanni Valdarno, I found myself packed in a crowd of Italians, waiting for a helping of Tuscan bread and wild boar stew. It was a beautiful day and the main piazza was filled with Sangiovannesi. People pushed through the crowds in all kinds of medieval costumes. The quiet piazza of the night before had been entirely transformed with small booths lining its perimeter, where people demonstrated ancient trades to passers-by. I had stumbled upon the fest of the Perdono, and though I combed the crowd for other tourists, I only found a handful of Il Sillabo students.

When I travel, I want an experience of real cultural immersion. For me, travel is about broadening my perspectives and absorbing the history, the art, and the politics of a place from the people who live there. I have participated in high-quality abroad programs such as Global Routes, Legacy International, Peacecamps, and School For International Training. While Il Sillabo is a small school, it provides programs and opportunities that brings students into the heart of Tuscany.

But not only that. One needs an entry point; one needs a guide. As an experienced teacher, I knew exactly what I wanted from a language school. Il Sillabo’s classes are of the highest quality; the teachers continually demonstrate their mastery, both from the standpoint of the content and the pedagogy.”