From the warm greeting at the station to the cup of espresso before departure, staying with Sira is like being invited into the home of a good friend.

Sira is a warm, open person and perceptive teacher. You join her life as she lives it so that the learning becomes integrated with daily activities. The immersive experience begins immediately at a pace designed to ensure sufficient comprehension, adjusted over time according to capability.  The day begins with a lesson determined by Sira’s assessment of the prior day’s conversations. Each is tailored to identified needs and to expansion of capabilities. Visits to small, colorful villages and sites of interest, dining with friends, discussion of everyday topics and of the world, all seem natural and quotidian, but serve the larger purpose of encouraging the student to become more familiar with understanding and using the Italian language. Sira is responsive to those capabilities the student identifies as wanting to develop and will construct a lesson plan tailored to help them achieve their goals. Sira did all of these things for me during my week with her, and celebrated my small successes with me. On a free afternoon, I had a cup of coffee at a bar in Sarzana and challenged myself to engage in conversation with the regulars who surely are there every day. When I later recounted the conversations to Sira, she was thrilled for me. Sira treats you as a friend from the first moment; you surely leave as one.
Gary W – San Francisco – (June 2024)