Mamma Mia — My First Day Learning Italian at Rome’s Scuola Leonardo Da Vinci
It’s the big day: I’ve started intensive Italian language lessons at Rome’s Scuola Leonardo Da Vinci and — spoiler alert — it was molto buono!
Finding My Way…In Italian!
I’d already walked to the scuola on Sunday when it was closed, just so I’d know where I was going on Monday. But when I arrived on Monday ahead of my 2:00 p.m. class, I realized I didn’t know where to go within the building. Turns out the location is also the site of the Embassy of Belize to the Holy See. (There are plenty of embassies in Rome because some countries provide double: one embassy to Italy and another to the Holy See.)
Thankfully, I saw other students coming and going, so I followed along and asked one of the girls if she was starting the Italian language program. She was! “The beginner course is in the room at the end,” she told me. Being a beginner myself, I tailed her straight into the classroom. (Her name is Valentina, by the way. She’s English and Russian, and now I sit behind her in class!)
More Bella Chaos in Roma?
Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who didn’t know where to go. After I was all seated and ready to learn, more and more apprehensive faces kept appearing, students tentatively popping their heads in, not sure if they were in the right spot. Then, a group of four or five got up and left. (Those were more advanced students, I’m guessing!) Altogether, there were thirteen of us language learners all settled in the classroom once our teacher, Marta, took the reins.
Language Learning — Like Charades, In Italian
So far Marta is great! She is very animated, and the entire class is held in Italian. As you can imagine, teaching a beginner-level language class requires a lot of animation on the part of the teacher. It’s like a game of charades, where everything is in a foreign tongue — and students must decipher the meaning! I’m so glad I already started practicing Italian months ahead of the program. Using the Pimsleur language app helped me understand the basics so that I wasn’t feeling overwhelmed. But honestly, I’ve been WAY too excited about immersing myself in the beautiful, musical Italian language to let apprehension get the better of me.
Scuola Leonardo Da Vinci — Meet My Class!
To start with, Marta taught us introductory phrases. We learned to ask Come ti chiami?, Di dove sei?, and Da dove vieni? (“What’s your name?” “Where are you from?” and “Where do you come from?”) — among plenty of other things. And we all took turns introducing ourselves in Italian. Based on that introduction, I’m happy to say that a nice number of countries are represented in our class!
Lots of Nationalities!
OK, if I’ve got this right, there’s one English-Russian classmate. Then there’s one classmate each from the following places: Spain; Beirut, Lebanon; Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Cologne, Germany; and Kerry, Ireland. Two classmates are from Dublin Ireland; plus — hallelujah! — we have two nuns in our class. They’re from the Philippines (both from Manila, I believe). And then there are also two Americans: myself and a musical director named Christophe who lives in LA. Oh, and there’s also a guy named Maximilian, but I didn’t catch where the heck he’s from! Ha, maybe I’ll figure that out later this week!
I’m so stoked about this amazing opportunity. I’m excited to get to know the group (including our teacher, Marta!), to learn lots of Italian, and to see what progress I’m able to make over the next four weeks! Before saying arrivederci to you for tonight, I’ll share more photos from my lovely walk to and from class. (It’s about a twenty-minute walk from where I am near Piazza San Pietro, to the Scuola Leonardo da Vinci, which is across the Tiber in the direction of Piazza Navone.)
More Shots of Beautiful Roma!
More Roman Roamin’
I’ve been blogging daily since I got to Rome! For more adventures through the Eternal City, including a good dose of “bella chaos,” check out “Kicking Off a Month of Roman Roamin’” and “Waking Up In Rome” (’cause it’s easy to do)!
Thanks so much for joining me on my first day of scuola! Have you ever spent time participating in language learning or study abroad programs in another country? Where would you go if you had the opportunity? Let me know in the comments — and stay tuned for more Roman Roamin’ coming soon! Ciao!
