51 ARCA: Beyond the Classroom – Instructional Activities

For most of us the reason for going to Italy to study the language is the belief that we will be able to practise it outside the classroom. In Bologna I found that people [but not waiters or the young] would reply to your queries in Italian. And here ARCA offers something that I had not found at the other schools: the possibility of connecting with an Italian student to exchange English for Italian.

Since the school also teaches English to Italians, it has, or could have, a wonderful resource to help us. Unfortunately, it wasn’t until my last two days that they found someone for me, because the university was only just starting in September. As it stands, the student attending ARCA has to make a proactive effort in order to link up with an Italian from the school. I firmly believe that if ARCA were to have a bank of past and present students who would like to practise their English in exchange for Italian, it would strongly enhance its attraction as a school to attend.

What I did have was an excellent landlady with whom I had long conversations. Four out of my five times in Italy I have rented a room with a family, and my stay at Bologna was by far the most rewarding. ARCA did a wonderful job by placing me within walking distance of the school as I had requested. Aware that my grasp of Italian was limited, my landlady spoke at a measured pace with me, and we had interesting, long conversations. I couldn’t have asked for more even if I had signed up for private conversational classes! But generosity was not limited to her time and patience. She also taught me to cook, made me coffee in the morning, and invited me to dine with her on more than one occasion. As there were also two Italian tenants, I certainly found opportunities to converse. Thank you, Cristina.

Speaking well means pronouncing correctly. Unfortunately, a surprising gap in ARCA’s armoury of pedagogical tools is its neglect of pronunciation. It seems to be a common neglect, because of the five schools I attended, Leonardo at Siena was the only school to work on our pronunciation. It sponsored an hour-long extra-curricular class in the afternoon where a drama teacher ran us through a set of pronunciation exercises. It was a hilarious hour, lots of fun, and educational. I would like to see something equivalent featured at ARCA since it is a school that emphasises communication. Combine this feature with accessibility to Italians for an exchange of language practise, and ARCA could boast a really unbeatable programme.

In my next blog I will discuss the extra- curricular activities I found at ARCA.