Ci siamo trasferiti!
Ragazzi, you won't find us at 32 York Street any longer because we've moved to 280 Pitt Street - less than two minutes walk from Sydney Town Hall & the QVB -
where we do hope to see you soon!
where we do hope to see you soon!
Learn Italian in Sydney at Italia 500, Italian Centre for Language and Cultural Studies or learn Italian online with Italia 500. At Italia 500, located at 280 Pitt Street in the very heart of Sydney's CBD (find us on Google Maps), we've been offering Italian language courses for adults, ranging from Italian for beginners to advanced Italian throughout the year, since 1995! Our Italian lessons are conducted in a friendly, convivial, richly Italian environment that inspires and infuses the students, and the teachers too. If you want to learn Italian from A to Z, or you simply want to learn some Italian before heading to Italy, with like-minded fellow students whose contagious enthusiasm for all things Italian and zest for life turn each lesson into a gathering of friends rather than a formal class, then there's a learning experience waiting for you at Italia 500 (cin-que-cèn-to), Italian Centre for Language and Cultural Studies.
So, join our Italian classes in Sydney's CBD, or take advantage of our Italian lessons online, and be surprised at how much you will learn, and how much fun it is to learn and speak Italian! Scroll down to view our range of Italian language courses.
So, join our Italian classes in Sydney's CBD, or take advantage of our Italian lessons online, and be surprised at how much you will learn, and how much fun it is to learn and speak Italian! Scroll down to view our range of Italian language courses.
LIBRO: Italy Reborn: From Fascism to Democracy; Mark Gilbert We all know the phrase "may you live in interesting times" and, alas, Italy has indeed been through its fair share of these. One of its "interesting times" corresponds to the period following the defeat of fascist Italy in WW2 and the emergence of the Italian democratic state. The transition was all but smooth yet Mark Gilbert manages to take us on a ride through the twists and turns of this turbulent period with the flair of a true roller-coaster master! Come si dice "roller coaster" in italiano? Le montagne russe! Perché? Clicca qui! (Febbraio, 2025). 
MUSICA: Il corpo umano, Vol. 1; Jovanotti
Il grande Lorenzo Cherubini, in arte Jovanotti, rèduce di un brutto incidente in bici a Santo Domingo il 10 maggio 2024 che gli ha procurato la rottura di clavicola e femore, ha pubblicato un nuovo album, Il corpo umano, Vol. 1. Ne parleremo e ascolteremo una delle canzoni in classe - forse Un mondo a parte ! Intanto, troverete il disco sulle solite piattaforme di streaming musicale. In basso, eccolo intervistato su Fanpage.it. (Febbraio, 2025) 
LIBRO: Written in Water: The Ephemeral Life of the Classics in Art; Rochelle Gurstein
When in Rome, il Cimitero acattolico (Non-Catholic Cemetary), still often referred to as il Cimitero Protestante, or il Cimitero degli inglesi or, poetically, as il Cimitero degli artisti e dei poeti, is a truly wonderful place to visit. Located right beside la Piramide Cestia, it's un'oasi di pace amid the hustle and bustle of Rome, and houses the tombs, amongst the many, of Antonio Gramsci, Andrea Camilleri (author of the Commissario Montalbano crime novels), the poet Shelly, and of John Keats, whose tombstone bears the most beautiful of epigraphs: "Here lies one whose name was writ in water". Rochelle Gurstein, alluding to Keat's epigraph, explores how the concept of "classic" in art, seemingly immortal and undisputed, is, perhaps, everything but: Before the middle of the nineteenth century, Michelangelo's most acclaimed sculpture was not his endlessly reproduced David, but his now-neglected Moses in Rome. Equally disorienting, Leonardo was rarely mentioned by art writers, and Michelangelo's reputation waxed and waned. The most revered Renaissance artist was instead a painter for whom few people today feel anything at all, Raphael. And this stunning shuftling of reputations extended to entire schools as well: the early Italian Renaissance painters (Giotto, Masaccio, Sandro Botticelli, Piero della Francesca, Andrea Mantegna, to name a few), so adored by modern art lovers, had fallen into oblivion for centuries, only to be rediscovered and given a second life by ardent admirers in the nineteenth century. But nothing was more unnerving to me than to learn that an entire class of art - Greco-Roman sculpture - had, after close to four hundred years of the most passionate adulation, simply vanished from the modern imagination. To my great dismay, what I believed was written in stone was actually written in water. Gurstein's book promises to be utterly fascinating e non vediamo l'ora di leggerlo (we can't wait to read it)! Intanto, ascoltiamoci un'intervista con l'autrice, and, if you'd like to purchase the book, you'll find it in stock at Abbey's. (Febbraio, 2025)
Italia 500 reviews: Davide e Andrea Evviva!!!! We've received two lovely reviews from two lovely lovely lovely students called Davide e Andrea (which, despite the ending in "a", is a boy's name, as is Luca): "The small class size created a supportive and friendly environment and the chance to get to know each other." (Davide); "The group atmosphere was supportive, lively, and full of laughs, which made time fly." (Andrea)... [more] (Febbraio, 2025) 
MUSICA: The Summer Portraits; Ludovico Einaudi
Evviva!!! Dopo una lunghissssssssima attesa di tre anni, è uscito l'ultimo album di Einaudi. I soliti maligni diranno che è scontato, banale, ripetitivo, schematico ma non è affatto vero: è semplicemente bellissimo! (Basta ascoltare la parte finale di Sequence , che è degno di Bach, per capire che sono un branco di invidiosi!!! - anche se, bisogna ammettere, il brano ricorda molto Where the Wild Roses Grow ). Troverete il disco sulle solite piattaforme di streaming musicale. In basso, Einaudi ci spiega da dove ha tratto l'ispirazione per l'album, tra i cui brani ce n'è uno dedicato a Rose Bay, qui a Sydney. (Febbraio, 2025) |
OGGETTI: TAZZINE ILLY: It may not be scientifically proven - yet! - but we know that a lovely coffee cup, in the sense of a beautifully designed one, perhaps even beautifully decorated, not only enhances the pleasure of the physical act of having a coffee, but it enhances the actual flavour of the coffee! In 1990, someone from Illy, a certain Francesco, asked an industrial designer, a certain Matteo, to design a new espresso coffee cup. Why? We don't know, but we are very glad he did because Matteo came up with the iconic Illy coffee cup! Soon after, a certain Pippo, had the wonderful idea of inviting established and emerging artists to decorate the cups, and thus, the Illy Art Collection was born. Pippo's identity is entirely fictional but if you'd like to own your very own set of Illy Art Collection cups, now is the time to do so as Illy Australia is offering a 20% discount on all its offerings, including the cups, until the 14th of February! Evviva!!! Che significa "evviva"? Per saperlo, clicca qui! Pippo, dove sei? (Febbraio, 2025) 
LIBRO: Iconophages: A History of Ingesting Images; Jérémie Koering Have you ever had the urge to eat an image? Hopefully not but it musn't have been that uncommon a practice for Jérémie Koering to actually write a book about the history of ingesting images! (The fact that Italians often seem to make an appearance, is quite disturbing!) Published by Zone Books, not only does the topic promise to be fascinating, but the simple pleasure of turning the pages and feeling the paper, looking at the beautiful black and white reproductions, and admiring the cover of a Zone book, let alone ingesting some of the pages, if you are thus inclined, make it a truly worthwhile addition to any library, and perhaps... table? (Febbraio, 2025) 
Italia 500 review: Eva Evviva!!!! We've received a lovely review from a lovely student called Eva: "Great entry level course for any beginner wanting to learn some good basics of Italian." Europeans and South Americans, by the time they turn 18, are very likely to have been learning formally a second language for 13 years. In many... [more] (Febbraio, 2025) 
OGGETTO: Moka Bialetti Dolce e Gabbana
If the Dolce e Gabbana Moka Bialetti has been on your wish list for some time, now is perhaps the time to grab one as Victoria Basement has them on sale at 32% off the normal retail price ($109 per la moka da 3 tazzine; $139 per quella da sei). We are so in need of more roba (stuff) at the school that we just had to buy one! And, if you have a spare $5,500 - ripeto: cinquemila cinquecento dollari - you can purchase the 50 cup Dolce e Gabbana Moka Bialetti which, alas, seems to be designed solely for display purposes. 
A few years ago, Bialetti, the company, began producing its own brand of roasted coffee and coffee pods (le capsule di caffè). Here is an ad (uno "spot" in Italiano) which features the actor Luca Argentero which set many a heart aflutter when we showed it back in 1785! (Febbraio, 2025)
RIVISTA: Bell'Italia, febbraio:
Ci è arrivato, puntuale come un orologio svizzero, l'ultimo numero di Bell'Italia. In questo numero, quello di febbraio, si va a Milano in visita al bellissimo Museo Poldi Pezzoli; a San Gimignano per girare tra le sale dei Musei Civici; a Roma per scoprire la Serra Moresca di villa Torlonia; si visita la meravigliosa val d'Ultimo in provincia di Bolzano e La Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta a Ruvo di Puglia, in provincia di Bari. Infine, si va in Sardegna, per scoprire le tradizioni ancestrali del Carnevale dei piccoli centri della Barbagia. Per abbonarti a Bell'Italia, clicca qui! (Febbraio, 2025) 
Italia 500 reviews: Harry e Natasha Evviva!!!! We've received two wonderful reviews from two wonderful wonderful wonderful students called Harry e Natasha. We put a lot of effort into explaining the grammar simply and we're very happy that both Harry and Natasha have noticed and appreciate our effort... [more] |
For more quisquilie, bazzecole, pinzillacchere, sciocchezzuole e...novità!, click here.
We share premises with our sister school, French Centre for Language & Cultural Studies, so, if you would also like to learn French in Sydney or you know someone who would, visit the French Centre! They are "almost" as good as we are! :-)
