Today is the end of week 5 of my course. I am now half way through. So how is it all going?
Before I answer that question I want to introduce you to the people at the Scuolo di Italiano per Stranieri at the University of Salento that I have most contact with.
Anna is the main contact person for the Italiano per Stranieri program. She also teaches the advanced class. Valentina is my grammar teacher, while Laura takes us for conversation.
The lessons are only in Italian which is as it should be. In any case it is effectively our common language because besides me there is an American woman, a German woman and a Chinese man. Valentina and Laura are very good teachers and very patient.
One of the big advantages of coming in the northern hemisphere winter is the low number of students. There are only four in my classes. The maximum is 15. No complaints about individual attention.
So how am I going? I only really set myself one goal before I came. I wanted to dream in Italian. It seems to me that dreaming in the language you are learning is a very significant milestone in language acquisition. That hasn’t happened yet. I’ll let you know when it does.
Grammar is still a bit of a struggle, but my comprehension of spoken and written Italian is now much better. I now understand much more than just the gist what is being said and can make myself understood much better than I did before. I feel like I am learning a lot.
Will I be fluent at the end of 10 weeks? I will let you know then. If not I will just have to come back.
Anna is the main contact person for the Italiano per Stranieri program. She also teaches the advanced class. Valentina is my grammar teacher, while Laura takes us for conversation.
The lessons are only in Italian which is as it should be. In any case it is effectively our common language because besides me there is an American woman, a German woman and a Chinese man. Valentina and Laura are very good teachers and very patient.
One of the big advantages of coming in the northern hemisphere winter is the low number of students. There are only four in my classes. The maximum is 15. No complaints about individual attention.
So how am I going? I only really set myself one goal before I came. I wanted to dream in Italian. It seems to me that dreaming in the language you are learning is a very significant milestone in language acquisition. That hasn’t happened yet. I’ll let you know when it does.
Grammar is still a bit of a struggle, but my comprehension of spoken and written Italian is now much better. I now understand much more than just the gist what is being said and can make myself understood much better than I did before. I feel like I am learning a lot.
Will I be fluent at the end of 10 weeks? I will let you know then. If not I will just have to come back.
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