74. UPDATING MY COMMENTS ON THE SCHOOLS

I started this blog in 2006 after attending the University per Stranieri at Perugia because I was incensed by the poor treatment I and the other students in my class had received. Comments sent to me by people who had also attended the university in their career reinforced my criticism. I doubt if much has changed, and might even have deteriorated given the current economic conditions in Italy and institutional inertia. So if you attend there after reading my blog on the University of Perugia you have been forewarned. There is another university for foreigners, this one in Siena. But I know nothing about it.

Looking back on my reviews of the private schools I think I can generalise and say that all the private schools follow the same approach: grammar and some “discussion” often through games or debates. For a “beginner” or someone studying for an exam, this approach may be acceptable. On the other hand, if you are already beyond the beginner’s stage and want to improve your conversational skills you are more likely to be frustrated by such an approach.

You will be frustrated because you will be studying grammar detached from conversation, and when you do enter into conversation you will be conversing with other foreign students, not native speakers. So my question was and is, why spend all that money to study in Italy when you can do as well in your native city [assuming there are courses in Italian]. In Vancouver, for example, we have the universities, colleges, community centres, and the Consulate which all offer classes. If you think you will be conversing with native speakers outside of the class-room, think again. You will hardly meet any Italian [other than clerks at shops or waiters] unless you haunt the bars or are gregarious. Of course, if you are young and beautiful/handsome, this route might work for you!

Finding a school that breaks the traditional mould is difficult to find. Scudit in Rome made all kinds of promises in their publicity and what they told me in person, [and not just me] but proved as frustratingly narrow in their approach. For one week out of four I had a class of conversation, but because of the lack of numbers the class was combined with your typical traditional class. And this, of course, is one of the dangers of attending a private school: you can end up playing “musical classes” if attendance is down, and even though the class is not what you sought you will be stuck in it. I definitely DO NOT RECOMMEND SCUDIT.

Lingua-it when I attended was not bad, if again traditional, with some instructors less than professional in their behaviour. But the classes were well organised. Furthermore, someone I met attended Linguat-it recently and was very pleased. However, if you really want the traditional approach –lots of grammar, lots of drills, limited conversation, but no real communication beyond the classroom, I recommend Leonardo da Vinci in Siena. It has their own well organised approach with their own books, and I doubt if they would have changed. They also offer great visits, and I hope they still offer their class on pronunciation. My one complaint was that the school lacked a place for students to meet after class for informal conversation. Perhaps they have addressed this lack.

If you are an intermediate student, that is, you have already studied some grammar but want to hone your conversational skills, – really, break the linguistic “freeze| -- you know the words but when you want to speak you go blank - - then I recommend ARCA in Bologna. It came nearest to giving me what I was looking for. Its very relaxed approach helped to break the speaker’s block caused by nervous tension.

But even here ARCA promised more than it delivered. I wasted the first week in a traditional class of grammar because my instructor was still away on holiday. When she returned I found what I was looking for and I credit her and the school with releasing my speaker’s block. My instructor, and indeed all the instructors were relaxed, and every morning we had an hour long coffee break at a local cafe where we sat around and chatted. The relaxed atmosphere worked wonders, and if someone was not speaking an instructor would go over and start a conversation. The danger in this method is that it can easily slip into slackness or perceived slackness by students who want a more formal approach. But it worked for me.

ARCA also promised that they would connect me to Italians for conversation, but it was only in my fourth week that they found someone. Their excuse was that the academic year was out. I often wondered why it had to be a student and could not have been someone retired. Finally, in their favour, they housed me with a lady who was wonderful in that she conversed with me every day, and though not an educated person, spoke correctly with me and at a pace that I could understand. Four weeks of wonderful conversation did wonders for my conversational skills.

I have recommended ARCA to several people and each has returned very happy [with the one exception mentioned above]. Moreover, I recently met someone who attended ARCA this year [2017] and he was full of praise for the school. I hope the school continues to promote communication through conversation.