Delfico, Daniel

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Name: Daniel Delfico

E-mail: ddelfico@nd.edu

Language:  Italian

Location of Study:  Sorrento, Italy

Program of Study: Sant’Anna Institute

Sponsors: Center for the Study of Languages and Cultures and Albert J. and Helen M. Ravarino Family International Scholars in Italy Program

Blog URL: http://sites.nd.edu/sla2017/author/ddelficond-edu/

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A brief personal bio:

I’m from Ridgewood, New Jersey, and I am currently a first year student intending to major in Finance and ACMS with a minor in Italian. I’m on the Men’s Club Lacrosse team and I’m involved in a variety of extracurricular activities on campus from the fishing club to SIBC. I really enjoy traveling and learning about different countries and cultures.

Why this summer language abroad opportunity is important to me:

My SLA Grant is important to me for a variety of reasons. First, learning the Italian language has been a part of my education since freshman year of high school, so I really hope to achieve fluency at some point in the next few years of my education. Additionally, I hope to incorporate some international aspect into my career in the future and a strong knowledge of the Italian language will definitely help me achieve this goal. Half of my family comes from Italy, and I believe that understanding the language and culture will definitely help me gain a better understanding of my ancestry.

What I hope to achieve as a result of this summer study abroad experience:

During my summer study abroad experience, I hope to greatly improve upon my conversational skills in the Italian language. While I believe that I currently have a strong base in the language, I definitely think that my speaking skills could use a lot of improvement. I hope to get to the point where I can confidently hold lengthy conversations with native speakers. I also hope to improve my writing and reading skills to the point where I can read a majority of written works without having to stop every few sentences to translate certain advanced words or phrases.

My specific learning goals for language and intercultural learning this summer:

1. At the end of the summer, I will be able to hold conversations with native speakers without having to pause every few sentences to think about how to say what I want.

2. At the end of the summer, I will be able to speak about a topic at length without hesitating while I am mentally translating what I am trying to say.

3. At the end of the summer, I will be able to read most written works without having to stop to translate certain words or phrases every few sentences.

4. At the end of the summer, I will have developed strong relationships with my host family and the other students in the program to the point where I will continue to keep in touch with them after the program ends.

My plan for maximizing my international language learning experience: