Loving Dublin: Why group leaders love this city & ISI

As our 2016 group season draws to a close we chatted with the leaders of Divini Group; Antonella Pallucchini, Gabriella Gentili and Roberta Pignataro and asked them to share their thoughts about their experience in Dublin and ISI.

This is Antonella’s second time coming to ISI, so we asked why she decided to return; “We like Ireland and last year we had our first group of students in ISI Dublin. We liked the school and didn’t have any problems therefore we decided to come back.”

In comparison to other English language study destinations Dublin has many advantages, the leaders pointed out that “Dublin has a very welcoming atmosphere, Irish people are extremely friendly and the city itself is smaller, easier to navigate and much safer for our younger students”.

Naturally, the quality of their lessons was vital to the success of the programme and thankfully the students liked their teachers and enjoyed their classes. Before arrival the group leaders had reservations about some of their student’s current level and their ability to fully participate in classroom activities abroad. They were reassured soon after arrival. “We had one particular student who was very worried, but after classes started he told us that he felt very involved and not shy to speak” explained Gabriella.

“There was a lot of conversation exercises during classes which is very good. We could see students improving every day” added Roberta.

When the group weren’t in the classroom they enjoyed an action packed social programme with our ISI activity leaders. ‘Activity leader Aislinn was amazing, she knows so much about the city”. Students liked the Scavenger Hunt in Temple bar and the Kilkenny and Glendalough tour was a huge success. “The bus driver was very funny, he gave us a lot of interesting information in a very nice and funny manner” said Gabriella.

The group’s accommodation was also very important. The leaders assured us that students were very happy with the host families. “The families made students feel very welcome, they met the students on arrival, gave them information about the transportation, bus time tables and even picked them from their bus tour. We think it’s very important for the students to feel welcome, as they are a bit scared at the beginning” all three agreed.

Finally, we asked the group leaders if they would recommend ISI to other teachers considering Dublin as a destination for their next mini stay and they unanimously agreed – yes, definitely.

Learn more about School Groups at ISI
Watch: Group leaders Samatha & Daniela speak to ISI about their experiences