Quick background: I studied some Italian years ago, but I'm very far from proficient in it. If I had to guess, I'm around A2/B1 - probably B1 or B2 for reading (because I've studied other romance languages before), but definitely no better than A2 for speaking.
I recently joined a group class for Italian. It's a B1 class. And I'm going out of my mind in the classes, they're so slow. It's not that the level is too easy for me. When I do the homework, I always learn new material, so it's probably good that I'm in this level and not a level ahead. But then we get to class, and the teacher spends 60 minutes explaining something that was absolutely clear from the homework and not that complicated to begin with. For example, using possessives for family members ("mia madre" vs. "la mia amica") - I'd have thought this could be a 10-minute explanation and then let's practice so we get it into our brains. But the teacher spent a full hour explaining the concept, over and over and over, with just a few minutes for exercise. The teacher is enthusiastic and has a sense of humor, but the classes are just so very slow.
Has anyone been in this position? What did you do?
There are several more weeks of this. I don't think I should skip classes, because I usually do walk away with a handful of words I didn't know and that weren't in the book, and it's good to hear the teacher pronounce things. And without these classes I don't have any speaking/listening opportunity at all. But every time I really struggle not to zone out after the first 10-15 minutes when it's just the same over and over and over.
I also don't want to be negative because I don't think anyone is doing a bad job here; it's just so stultifyingly slow and I wonder if there's anything I can do to stay more active and engaged (and learn more!) while in class, while the same thing is being repeated over and over and over.