Scuola Per Me!

 A few people have asked if I have started studying Italian here yet, read on to learn more!

We arrived in Italy on August 27, and since Sept 3 I have been a full-time student (with a little time off to do a fun project I will share more about later).  Being full-time here means 20 hours or more per week.

Every weekday I arrive at school around 9am and have a two-hour grammar lesson with a small group of other people (non-Italians, mostly from Australia, Japan, Germany, and Holland- often I have one other American with me in class).  We have a native-speaker Italian for a teacher.  The grammar we practice is both real-life applicable and tied to an official 'Italian as a Second Language' curriculum and ultimate credential we can achieve.

This is a photo of the narrow vicolo where our school is located.  The little green archway behind me is at the front door to the school (ARCA Bologna), it's a 16th century building.

At 11am we all head to the bar, where we get a coffee or a capuccino and maybe a cornetto and chat.  You coffee comes with a little shot glass of sparkling water to rinse it down.

Here's a photo of our capuccini, and sparkling water chasers, my cappucino is soy.  When I walk in, I smile and say Ciao and the barista already knows my order.

Then, from 11:30-1pm we have the conversation section of class.  This is held in the same room, and with most or all of the same people, except that we have a different native-speaker teacher.  We talk about all kinds of things, including Italian and Bolognese history, culture, current events, as well as experiences we each bring to class.  I love learning from and with my classmates and teachers.

This photo is from Friday- three Australians were having their last day with us.  Every Monday new students arrive and most Fridays someone leaves.  We have to check on Monday mornings for our level, class configuration, location and teachers.  I started in B1 (intermediate) and then moved up to B2.  Then, last week they combined B2 and C levels.  Annalisa (the one in the front) was our grammar teacher this week.

On Mondays there are little afternoon opportunities to go for a walk and learn more about local food, history, or culture from one of our talented teachers.  Every week is a new theme and host. Last week we had a food tour of the center (pictured below)  On Thursdays there's another fun cultural activity, like eating out together or going for an aperitivo (pictured at the end).  This past week, the Thursday activity was a gelato-making field trip with a local master.  I missed that one.

I am in awe of my classmates who are motivated to add deep language and culture learning into their travel plans, and then who teach us all kinds of things from their home cultures.  I highly recommend my school, check out the ARCA Bologna website if you're interested.  I love getting to be a learner!  I'm also picking up lots of new tips for teaching a second language from my teachers.