Learn to Live, Speak 'La Dolce Vita' with Communiversity

Italian-American Communiversity instructor Antonio Iemmola says the Italian way of life is made up of simple things, like eating gelato and admiring Rome's Colosseum.

"The Italian style of living is that you live for today," he said. "A famous Italian poet said that we think about our past or our future, but our past will never come back and our future is not certain. So, today is what we should live for since we can make changes."

Iemmola lives in the today, bringing the culture of Italy into his beginning Italian course. The course allows students to discover why Italy is one of the most-visited countries in the world and learn about its great history, cuisine and unbelievable cities and small towns. "It will be like being in a time machine and going back to many centuries ago," he said.

This spring, Iemmola will teach Italian for Beginners. In this course, students will acquire the basics of pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and sentence structure as they begin to develop their conversational skills. The class places emphasis on speaking and pronunciation as well as special expressions for travelers. Italian for Beginners also includes tips on traveling, sightseeing and enjoying the culture of Italy.

The class takes place 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Mondays for seven weeks from April 9 to May 21 on UC's Victory Parkway campus.

Iemmola is from the city of Mazara del Vallo on the island of Sicily. He has been teaching Italian language classes since he moved to Cincinnati in 1987. Aside from teaching Communiversity courses for 25 years, he also has taught classes at Berlitz Cincinnati Learning Center and Northern Kentucky University. He has also worked as an Italian translator and interpreter for local companies.

"The reason I started to teach Italian was to teach one of the most beautiful languages in the world," Iemmola said. "In fact, Italian is a very musical language and when you speak Italian you may think you are singing-it is like singing Opera. Communiversity is a great place to teach and to learn a language."

Iemmola still travels to Italy often not only to visit old friends and relatives in Sicily, but also so he can offer the best advice on how to travel throughout Italy to cities such as Rome, Florence and Venice and the small towns near them.

"Italy is the most relaxing country. No one is rushing. Nobody asks if it is Friday yet," Iemmola said. "Every day in Italy is Friday. I like to sit at an outdoor cafe and just relax and enjoy a gelato or espresso. I tell students that when you go to Italy your money is well spent, because you have great weather, cuisine and history in the country of La Dolce Vita, or the sweet life."

Communiversity offers fun and innovative continuing education courses to enrich the lives of those around Cincinnati and beyond. With locations both on UC Victory Parkway Campus and around Cincinnati, Communiversity makes it easy for working professionals, retirees and other lifelong learners to develop new skills and hobbies.

To register for Italian for Beginners, visit our website or call (513) 556-6932 and press 2.