In this post, we hear from Darcey, a BSc Finance and Management student who took IWLP Italian Stage 1 in her first year before she did a year abroad at a university in Venice. Darcey did the English language curriculum at Ca’ Foscari University but, as she explains, learning Italian before she went really helped her make the most of living there – just like Yagmur, who has also written about her experience.

My course is a joint degree with Ca’ Foscari University and I decided to learn Italian as I thought it was important to have a basic understanding of the language before I went to Venice. Although my first year at university was very disrupted by the pandemic, my only in-person class was Italian with Ugo. It was great to be able to interact with people, and I felt this is a crucial part of learning a new language: being able to speak and practice.

The module layout was unlike any other I have taken whilst at university. We had weekly lessons with recommended exercises to do before the next session, but alongside this we had a portfolio. The portfolio not only allowed us to get familiar and confident with the fundamentals, but also gave us a chance to explore areas that interested us, for example discovering Italian music, media and culture. It also gave opportunity for self-reflection and evaluating and improving our own work as we improved our skills. I think getting advice from others and correcting my own mistakes significantly lowered the amount of errors I made in the future speaking to Italians. In my portfolio I mainly focused on scenarios I would come across in Venice, e.g. conversations in restaurants, supermarkets and so on.

I joined the course a few weeks late, so my initial reservations were around the skills of my peers. I haven’t been a beginner in a language since I was 14, and it really throws you back into the school-like experience, where you have no knowledge on the subject before you start. As I knew that I would be using what I learnt in my 2nd year in Venice for I was also nervous about the transition between class-learning to real life situations. Luckily I lived with an Italian in 1st year so I was able to talk to them, practicing in an informal setting really grew my confidence. Along with this, we had lots of chances to do speaking tasks with other students too.

I was able to use Italian a lot in Venice. As I got familiar with my surroundings, I found my favourite cafes and bars to go to and built relationships with locals, and they really encouraged me to speak Italian. I also had Italian friends who would test my skills and try to get me to communicate with them in Italian as much as possible, only correcting me when dramatically wrong, which really helped me build on what I had learnt in the course and gain confidence.

If you have the opportunity to take an IWLP module, do it. Even if you don’t think you will use the language day-to-day, breaking up your learning with someone more creative made my first year much more interesting and less repetitive. Also being able to communicate with others in a different language is cool and the best way to integrate yourself into a culture, even if it is just for holidays!