Getting to grips with the lingua italiana

There is an Italian saying which goes that 'sbagliando si impara' (we learn by our mistakes), which I believe captures pretty well how best to approach learning a foreign language. It is all too easy, especially when learning about alien grammatical concepts, to shy away from speaking a language and stick to the basics. For English speakers, Italian can present many such problems, but it is important to take risks and make those inevitable mistakes in order to improve. I may have studied some Italian at university, but the language teaching at the British Institute really embraces this idea of learning through immersion and through improving your confidence, which I believe is essential.

During our lessons, every time one of us lapses into English we are (quite rightly) greeted with passionate entreaties: 'Ragazzi! Parlate in italiano!' 'Nessun inglese in questa classe!'  (Talk in Italian! No English in the lesson!) At first I found this a bit irritating: why can't I just say the English word so I can be told the Italian? Now I realise that it is far better to explain in basic Italian what we mean, so that we can then learn the appropriate word, rather than giving in to the instant gratification of the dictionary. Especially by collaborating with my classmates, we have a great pool of knowledge and can help each other to keep the language flowing. One of our teachers, Catia, stresses that much of our language learning is inconscio (on a subconscious level) - we may not be aware of it, but just listening to, and being surrounded by, the language helps us get used to the sounds and words.

Our range of activities during the lessons is extremely varied, such that it's impossible to know what the next lesson will be like! The other day, for example, we ended the lesson by listening to an interview with the legendary film director Pier Paolo Pasolini on the Italian language, yesterday we watched a documentary about Venice. But whatever the activity, we are always encouraged to talk about the topics we encounter: 'cosa ne pensate?' (what do you think?). Some attend the courses for more weeks than others, but there are on average six or seven of us in our class, and there's a great variety of age group and background: we've had a retired teacher from Bermuda, a graduate from the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, and a lawyer from Miami among others! We are all, however, united in our love for Florence and the desire/need to improve our italiano. There are three Italian classes: beginner, intermediate and advanced, the latter of which I fall into, but there is ample movement between classes so people's individual abilities and progress make the classes more tailor-made. As well as the classes there are extra sessions such as caffè e giornale and aiuto, which I'll write more about another time.

Good old-fashioned classroom learning!

Of course, as my teachers say, much of the real learning happens outside the classroom, and so, timid though I may be, I've tried using my language at markets and in the many caffè. Even writing my blog now I'm listening to RAI Radio 3 and, since too many regular trips to the caffè can be potentially bankrupting, I've been making ample use of the typically Italian stove-top coffee maker - moca - at home, which is a step forward in my cultural assimilation! Learning Italian has its challenges, but, for me, it is a labour of love.

Even writing my blog I can have Italian radio on and sip my caffè!