SA Summer Program Gives Students Taste of Italian Culture Without Leaving Campus

By: Emily Resler

Mondo Italiano, a premier Pittsburgh school for Italian language and culture, partnered with Sewickley Academy this summer to offer a language and cultural program for first through fourth-graders.

Mondo Italiano is affiliated with the Universita per Stranieri in Siena, Italy, and has been offering classes in the Pittsburgh area since 2003. Viviana Altieri, the Director of Mundo Italiano, is teaching the Sewickley Academy program in the Lower School building this summer.
 
The program focuses on exploring the basics in Italian language and culture. Students learn about Italian food, music, and how to cultivate an Italian vegetable garden. They are taught to speak, cook, sing, and play in Italian. The focus of the program teaches students introductory phrases, the alphabet, popular Italian children songs and games, as well as basic vocabulary such as the weather, seasons, and hobbies.
 
The first session was offered July 27th through the 31st, and the second session runs August 10th through the 14th. Each class is from 9 a.m. until noon, and has no more than 15 students. 
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