I
completed Level 3 at Istituto Michelangelo at the end of
January. In Level 3, you finish learning all the Italian grammar that there is
to learn. The congiuntivo (4 tenses),
the imperativo, the ipotetico, the passiva, the impersonale,
the gerundio, the infinito, and the participio. It was 5 weeks
of very intensive study and towards the end, my brain was shutting down. Too
much of a good thing, I think, plus it was really starting to feel like “work”
and I was not having a good time. While
school got me up every morning at 7:15 and out the door, it was not the
experience I had hoped for. Now I’m turning
my attention to reviewing what I’ve learned and applying it in everyday
situations. Sounds like it should be easy, but I think it will be more
difficult than attending school. But
that is the challenge ahead of me and today I embrace it with open arms.
There
was a big up-side to going to school: it gave me some structure, a network of
new friends from around the world, and more insight into the Italian psyche
than I could have imagined. My last bit
of homework was to make a brief presentation to class about my experience at
school. My teacher, Luca, was looking
for thoughts and impressions of class, but he would have been disappointed with
what I would have said. Instead, I sat
back and thought more holistically about what I had really learned. This is what
I said:
“Quello che ho imparato all’Istituto”
Dopo aver fatto dieci
settimani alla scuola, ho imparato la sequente:
1. Ora,
mi accorgo che imparare l’italiano è piu difficile di quanto
sembra, sopratutto per un inglese.
2. Ho
imparato che tutti nel mondo è simile e tutti vogliono le stesse cose: un buon lavoro, una bella
casa, il cibo sul tavola, la sicurezza, niente paura, di fronte un a mondo che
cambia.
3. No
imparato molto sul il modo di vita italiano, il bene e il male,
che rende l’Italia come un paese interessante.
4. Avendo
avuto quattro classe, tre insegnanti, e sedici studenti diversi, ho imparato di
accettare il cambiamento.
5. Avendo
avuto freddo la prima volta, ho imparato da indossare i vestiti caldo.
6. Ho
imparato molto su tanti paesi diversi, sopratutto Brasile, Messico, Spagna,
Russie, Irlande, è Polonia.
7. Ho
incontrato tante persone meravigliose da quando 14 novembre, quando ho iniziato
la scuola qui. In totale, ho avuto
seidici compagni di classe diversa.
8. Ho
imparato quanto sia fortunato sono io di essere Canadesi, e vivere in
un paese tollerente e generoso.
9.
Mi sento come se fossi appena
iniziato il mio viaggio per
imparare l'italiano, e la scuola mi
ha dato una solida base per
continuare.
10. Io
ho imparato che è molto importante per celebrare la partenze di qualcuno,
e io sono felice di festiggare il mio oggi.
Sono triste di lasciare oggi,
ma sono felice che sarò di fare cose diverse in futuro. Ci vediamo un’altra volta, e
buon divertimento sul cammino della vita. Zak
ENGLISH TRANSLATION:
What
I Learned at the Institute
After having had
ten weeks at school, I’ve learned the following:
1. Now,
I realize that learning Italian is harder than it seems, especially for an
English-speaking person.
2. I
have learned that everyone in the world is the same and we all want the same
things: a good job, a nice house, security, food on the table, in the face of a
changing world.
3. I
learned a lot about the Italian way of life, the good and the bad, that makes
Italy such an interesting country.
4. After
having had 4 different classes, 3 teachers, and 16 different classmates, I’ve
learned how to accept/embrace change.
5. After
having been cold the first time, I’ve learned how to dress warmly.
6. I
have learned a lot about many different countries, especially Brazil, Mexico,
Spain, Russia, Ireland and Poland.
7. I
have met some wonderful people since November 14 when I started school here. In
total, I’ve had 16 different classmates.
8. I
have learned how fortunate I am to be Canadian, and to live in a tolerant and
generous country.
9. I
feel like I am just starting my journey to learn Italian, and school has given
me a solid base to continue.
10. I
have learned that it is very important to celebrate the departure of someone,
and I am happy to be celebrating mine today.
I am sad to be
leaving today, but happy to be doing different things in the future. See you
another time and have fun on life’s journey. Zak
 |
| Me, Carlos, Luca (teacher), John, Annette, Michelangelo, Anna - the final class. |
I
was not the only one leaving that day. Anna from Poland and Annette from
Ireland were also leaving – Anna to go back to work; Annette was moving her
family from Siena back to Berlin. So we
continued the tradition I had started when someone leaves class: we had 2
bottles of Prosecco, one bottle of Fragolino (a sweet, strawberry sparkling
wine – very yummy), a cake, and a tray of sweets! It was a great party and the
best way to end school.
