Hi everyone! I just finished the Italian in Florence program for this summer and wanted to share my experience since I know some people were curious about the Italian programs. Please feel free to ask questions in the comments!

I'll start with the academics. Not gonna lie, it was a lot more intensive than I thought it'd be. For the language program, we had classes Monday through Thursday from 8:30 - 1 pm. In total there were 4 quizzes, 2 oral presentations, 2 oral finals and 2 written finals. You really had to dedicate some time to the courses to do well in my opinion. All in all, you do learn quite a lot. The classes are super interactive and it's hard to not get close with all your peers since you're basically forced to talk to everybody.

If you really focus on your academics Monday through Thursday, I'd say you're fine to do some traveling over the weekends. I went to other cities almost every weekend. Transportation was super accessible, although a little expensive if you don't get your tickets early.

The thing is, we didn't get our syllabi or schedules at all until we arrived. So it was pretty difficult to plan trips ahead of time. Also, the apartments are distributed across the center of the city. I was lucky enough to get an apartment only a 10 minute walk to the academic center where my classes were. For others, it was a 30 minute walk, which I could imagine was very difficult in the summer heat. You're provided with some basics in the apartment, like pillows and bedsheets and some cleaning supplies. All the apartments are close to grocery stores and such, so you can get those easily and often.

Overall, I really enjoyed the experience. I feel like I learned a lot and was still able to have some fun at the same time.