I personally haven’t noticed a great difference in my language skills between week 2 and week 3 but everyone around me confirms that I have made major improvements. During class I am no longer nervous to speak out or voice my opinion during conversation. I love the program I am enrolled in because it really forces you to step out of your comfort zone. In class we converse about real issues that are interesting and thought provoking and sometimes a little difficult to talk about or translate clearly. Common topics include: politics, religion, and sexuality. These exercises have been so vital to my language learning process because no matter how hard you try there is no simple way to explain why you think “religion should or should not be taught in school”. It really forces you to articulate yourself. Sometimes it’s frustrating because I don’t know how to accurately translate my feelings but it’s also fun because it challenges me to rethink my message and phrase it in a way that I can explain. It’s been a really eye-opening experience because not only am I rephrasing my opinion grammatically but in a way I’m also challenging myself to view that topic from a different perspective.
This week I was able to expand my knowledge of the Italian film industry at school. We watched “Bevenuti al Sud” and it was the cutest movie I’d ever seen. It was interesting to see the exaggerated stereotypes of Southern Italy. I’ve been to Sicily a few times and I never thought it was that much different from the rest of Italy, but man was I wrong. Then again, as far as I’ve seen, each region of Italy seems to be entirely different. From different foods typical to that region, to different dialects and accents. I can’t register different dialects or accents yet. I just assume when someone is speaking and I don’t understand what they are saying it’s because I wasn’t paying attention or am unfamiliar with the specific vocabulary but in reality that person is speaking in a dialect which is comparable to entirely different language in itself.
I purchased and began reading my first Italian book and I am excited to say I have only 10 pages left to go! The book is for “young adults” but I am so happy because aside from a few words here and there that I need to translate, I understand the storyline. I am planning to purchase another one soon! I would love to stock up on Italian books to bring to America.
Outside of the class room I did some more exploring around the city and surrounding areas. I discovered Siena’s botanical gardens and I had planned to do some work there, but sadly it started to rain soon and my stay was cut short. Either way it was remarkable. The garden stretched over the side of a large hill and had everything from tropical to desert plants. My favorite part was a small little pond at the bottom of the hill filled with water lilies and little frogs.
Saturday I visited Pisa for the first time and it was incredible! The tower was miraculous as well as “Il Duomo”. It was beautiful in an inexplicable way. I was just so lucky this weekend because Pisa was celebrating one of its Patron Saints with the “Luminara di San Ranieri”. Around 11pm all the lights surrounding the Arno River were turned off and the city was illuminated by thousands of candles that surrounded windows and doors of the buildings and edifices along the river. It was spectacular. Around 11:30pm the fire work show on the river began and it was truly a once in a life time experience.
For my community interaction task last week, I decided to ask native Italians their feelings about the United States of America. The general consensus seemed to be the following. Everyone I consulted with agreed America is a country they would very much like to visit. The United States is home to all environments from hot, cold, mountainous, beaches, lakes, deserts, big cities and more. There is something for everyone in the United States. America is unique because there is a great sense of patriotism that is not custom to other countries. Americans are usually proud of where they come from and hold a very strong national identity. Italians think it is beautiful how richly diverse America is. There is no foundational tradition or no real “American Culture” more so the “America Culture” is a melting pot of all cultures. One thing that seemed to be a big problem for most people I spoke with was the air of hypocrisy of Americans. Americans pride themselves on the idea of freedom yet the Country was founded on manipulation of people and forced labor. They are very keen on American news and see that racism is STILL a large issue that America is dealing with. No country is perfect and everyone I spoke with is very aware of that and so despite America’s flaws they still really enjoy the America tradition and would someday like to experience it themselves.