35. Scudit's Method
The typical night-school courses in Italian, and perhaps even intermediate Italian at a university, would consist mainly of grammar drills. For example, when I started learning Italian in Vancouver, in my first three courses --Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced (really a hyperbole)-- we did nothing but exercises and dictation ad nauseam. Students who have suffered through this style of language learning would certainly benefit from Scudit’s approach. What Scudit did well was to extract from these standard language courses what is essential. At the end of four weeks I had a good bird’s eye view of the tenses, and this was fleshed out with knowledge of certain word usage and phrases.
Like Scuola Leonardo da Vinci [Siena], the ambience at Scudit was professional in that communication was strictly in Italian. At no time did any instructor (as far as I know) break into another language. This was laudable, for after all, we attend the school in Italy in order to learn and practice Italian. In this respect, I think Linguait could learn from Leonardo and Scudit.
An interesting practice was to “forbid” the use of dictionaries. The instructors would protest loudly but humorously if a dictionary were produced. Their reasoning was that if the student did not know the word there were other words and ways to express oneself. And if really stuck, one could ask the instructor. Not allowing the use of a dictionary was an excellent and refreshing practice because verbally we had to stand on our two feet rather than rely on the dictionary as our mental crutch. And surprisingly, I soon discovered I didn’t need it. In fact, I even stopped carrying my dictionary when I went for walks in Rome – although I should hasten to add -- I hardly spoke Italian in the city. Still, a certain confidence comes with not having to fall back constantly on a dictionary. And confidence is what we need to speak a foreign language.
The teaching that I received was of a high level, for my instructor knew her material and also demonstrated a high level of energy. So if content and delivery were excellent, why would one not attend Scudit? If these are your only criteria, then by all means go there. However, I would imagine that many other language schools in Italy could also serve your purpose to develop both a good grounding in Italian grammar and the ability to speak. For example, Leonardo da Vinci has a well-established programme with its own set of textbooks for each level. You also receive a certain time of the morning devoted to conversation – all this and a lot more (see blog 8). On the other hand, if you want to base your studies more on the everyday language of the street, you can go to Linguait (See Blog 21). From my perspective, other criteria also come into consideration such as stability of the class and extra-curriculum activities. Finally, choice of location may play a role, but this has less to do with the school.
Like Scuola Leonardo da Vinci [Siena], the ambience at Scudit was professional in that communication was strictly in Italian. At no time did any instructor (as far as I know) break into another language. This was laudable, for after all, we attend the school in Italy in order to learn and practice Italian. In this respect, I think Linguait could learn from Leonardo and Scudit.
An interesting practice was to “forbid” the use of dictionaries. The instructors would protest loudly but humorously if a dictionary were produced. Their reasoning was that if the student did not know the word there were other words and ways to express oneself. And if really stuck, one could ask the instructor. Not allowing the use of a dictionary was an excellent and refreshing practice because verbally we had to stand on our two feet rather than rely on the dictionary as our mental crutch. And surprisingly, I soon discovered I didn’t need it. In fact, I even stopped carrying my dictionary when I went for walks in Rome – although I should hasten to add -- I hardly spoke Italian in the city. Still, a certain confidence comes with not having to fall back constantly on a dictionary. And confidence is what we need to speak a foreign language.
The teaching that I received was of a high level, for my instructor knew her material and also demonstrated a high level of energy. So if content and delivery were excellent, why would one not attend Scudit? If these are your only criteria, then by all means go there. However, I would imagine that many other language schools in Italy could also serve your purpose to develop both a good grounding in Italian grammar and the ability to speak. For example, Leonardo da Vinci has a well-established programme with its own set of textbooks for each level. You also receive a certain time of the morning devoted to conversation – all this and a lot more (see blog 8). On the other hand, if you want to base your studies more on the everyday language of the street, you can go to Linguait (See Blog 21). From my perspective, other criteria also come into consideration such as stability of the class and extra-curriculum activities. Finally, choice of location may play a role, but this has less to do with the school.
posted by Reynold Harrs at 10:49 AM
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