We have had an Italian Learners' group for several years, now. Most of the members have, in that time, learnt enough to join the, more advanced, Italian Conversation group.

In principle, that leaves a gap for a true Italian Beginners' group. We are planning to start a new group at the beginning of 2026, learning Italian from the basics. We will follow the BBC Talk Italian course, that stays close to the spoken language and makes extensive use of recordings, from CDs. If you are interested in learning Italian, why not contact the Group Leader via the link above.

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2026 ANNUAL REPORT   

Italian Group
I was asked to provide an annual report for both the Italian Conversation and Italian Beginners groups. It makes sense to combine them. You could view these as one group with two different types of meeting. However, one of these is based around conversation, which requires some knowledge of the language and, also, some confidence in using what you do know. The other one follows a formal course. That is more useful in the early stages. It also requires most of the group to be at a similar stage, in learning the language. Otherwise, some will get bored and some will get left behind. As a result, the membership of the two groups is fairly distinct. It only makes sense to attend both, when the learning group is already quite advanced.
Italian Beginners
At the beginning of 2026, we reconstituted the learners’ group again, as a real beginner’s group, starting from scratch. We canvassed for new beginners from before Christmas and at the January, Meet the Groups meeting. We had a good response, and we were able to start in the second half of February, with a group of 25 members. This was such an expansion that we had to arrange a new venue. We now meet at The Centre @ Mary’s Place, on Burton Road. This used to be called The Samworth Centre. The cost is £24 for a 2hr minimum booking. We meet on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday mornings between 10am and 11:30. We are following the BBC Talk Italian course. This is largely structured around recordings and dialogues, which makes it a good start, if you want to learn Italian for tourist activities. This has been used quite successfully in the past. You are welcome to join us but be aware that the beginners’ group has almost completed their first course book, so they are not so much beginners, as early-stage learners now.

C. J. Rupp, Group Leader for Italian: italian@u3ameltonmowbray.org.uk