22. Lingua-It: (3) Orientation and Testing
Orientation
On the first day at Lingua-It, all new students gathered in a classroom where Christian and fellow teachers welcomed us, something Scuola Leonardo also did. On the other hand, the Università per Stranieri, Perugia, had no such reception or orientation meeting.
We were supplied with a list of restaurants, bars, cafes, and other useful information. While I applaud them for their thoughtfulness, I must also add that good intention surpassed practicality. The list contained too many restaurants that were way beyond the budget of most students. Nor was the list kept up to date. I ended up finding my own favourite and reasonably priced restaurants. Also, one Internet centre on the list no longer existed, while I found by chance two others not on the list. Still, all in all, the list was useful, but could have been even more useful if efforts had been made to keep it up to date. I would like to point out that in Perugia, the university issued Student Card could be used at Internet Centres to achieve a discount. On the other hand, the Lingua-It, issued card was not recognised at the Internet Centre that I used in Verona, even though it was the same Internet company. Internet rates at Verona are, in my opinion, expensive.
Testing and Placing
As they did at Scuola Leonardo, each new student took a written test and had an interview in which the ability to speak the language was gauged. Nothing hectic, just a pleasant conversation, at the end of which the school placed the students. [Note that at the Università per Stranieri, Perugia, there was no interview, just multiple choice questions with the subsequent fiasco in placing students.] Whoever did the placing at Lingua-It deserves full credit. As the school claims, “always grouped with others of a similar skill level, students need not be fearful of class participation.” Once I overcame my initial hesitation, I certainly did not feel out-of-place in my group, and what is even more important, whenever new students joined the class, there was never any need to stop the lesson and try bringing them up to speed. Unlike my experience at Leonardo, where the class lost almost an entire week while the new students played catch-up, at the class just continued to roll on. The first day ended with a social gathering over wine and pop.
On the first day at Lingua-It, all new students gathered in a classroom where Christian and fellow teachers welcomed us, something Scuola Leonardo also did. On the other hand, the Università per Stranieri, Perugia, had no such reception or orientation meeting.
We were supplied with a list of restaurants, bars, cafes, and other useful information. While I applaud them for their thoughtfulness, I must also add that good intention surpassed practicality. The list contained too many restaurants that were way beyond the budget of most students. Nor was the list kept up to date. I ended up finding my own favourite and reasonably priced restaurants. Also, one Internet centre on the list no longer existed, while I found by chance two others not on the list. Still, all in all, the list was useful, but could have been even more useful if efforts had been made to keep it up to date. I would like to point out that in Perugia, the university issued Student Card could be used at Internet Centres to achieve a discount. On the other hand, the Lingua-It, issued card was not recognised at the Internet Centre that I used in Verona, even though it was the same Internet company. Internet rates at Verona are, in my opinion, expensive.
Testing and Placing
As they did at Scuola Leonardo, each new student took a written test and had an interview in which the ability to speak the language was gauged. Nothing hectic, just a pleasant conversation, at the end of which the school placed the students. [Note that at the Università per Stranieri, Perugia, there was no interview, just multiple choice questions with the subsequent fiasco in placing students.] Whoever did the placing at Lingua-It deserves full credit. As the school claims, “always grouped with others of a similar skill level, students need not be fearful of class participation.” Once I overcame my initial hesitation, I certainly did not feel out-of-place in my group, and what is even more important, whenever new students joined the class, there was never any need to stop the lesson and try bringing them up to speed. Unlike my experience at Leonardo, where the class lost almost an entire week while the new students played catch-up, at the class just continued to roll on. The first day ended with a social gathering over wine and pop.
posted by Toby1939 at 3:04 PM
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