Italian Club
Thursday mornings in term time, St Ives Methodist Church
Joint leaders: Joy Cooper and Jennifer Clarke
This group started as a beginner group several years ago and is now suitable for people of an intermediate level. However, we are no longer following a specific course or working towards a particular level, and for this reason, we decided the name Italian Club is more appropriate for the wide range of activities we cover. During our sessions, we use a variety of materials to share and extend our experience of the Italian language, relating it to topics such as places, culture, history, food, art, literature etc. and occasionally a grammar topic. We access the significant Italian learning facilities that are available online, for instance news items available in Italian, easy reader texts, video clips etc. Sometimes we use a teaching resource called "I Come Italia" which covers a number of topics in a lively and interesting format. Individual members of the group also contribute items of particular interest from time to time.
We are reading a book where a mystery story unfolds through 101 conversations, and we take it in turns to read the part of the various characters featured. In addition, in order to build our confidence in Italian conversation, we try to meet once a month in a local cafe with an Italian speaker from St Ives.
During the pandemic we met on zoom every week, but now meet face to face in the upstairs room at the Methodist Church from 10.30am - 12.30pm on Thursday mornings. We take a coffee break during the session in the cafe downstairs in the church. Members pay a subscription each term to cover the cost of room hire and occasional materials purchased. This is usually between £25 and £35 per term.
If you are interested in joining this group, or would like more information, please contact Joy via the link on this page, and when emailing her, please ensure you mention that it is u3a Italian Club you are interested in.
There are also two other Italian groups in St Ives u3a, and they have separate web pages where you can find more information.
Dates for 2024
Thursday mornings at 10.30 in the Upstairs Meeting Room at the Methodist Church on The Waits, St Ives (zoom link also available). First session in 2024 is 11 January.
January 11, 18 and 25
February 1, 8, 15, 29 (no session on 22nd - half-term)
March 7, 14, 21, 28
Easter break - no sessions 4 & 11 April
April 18, 25
May 2, 9, 16, 23 (no session on 30th - half-term)
June 6, 13, 20, 27
July 4, 11, 18
Summer holiday - no session on 25 July
August – no sessions
September 5, 12, 19, 26
October 3, 10, 17, 24 (no session on 31st - half-term)
Nov 7, 14, 21, 28
Dec 5, 12, 19 (no session 26th)
You can download a copy of the Easy Reader story we studied on Garibaldi, by clicking the file shown under Links top right.