Wow, this semester flew by. Looking back on it I now realize that I learned a lot of new material and gained a great amount of confidence from the beginner to intermediate level. But this step from beginner to intermediate was a lot more than I expected but I was more prepared to learn Italian than at the beginning. This semester I found a certain love for the language. But this love also comes with frustration and hate. Learning this language has been a massive learning curve for me. However, this learning curve has made it one of the most rewarding classes I have taken at Georgetown. I know I’m not the best student in this class but this language has created some meaningful moments. Looking back one of the most proud moments I have had is after my last oral exam of the semester. I felt disappointed with myself as I felt like I could’ve done better. But looking back to my first oral exam this semester to this second one shows a world of difference. This second oral exam proved to me that I could learn this language and actually feel confident speaking it. This made me so proud of myself as during my 3 years of Spanish I learned half of what I learned in these last two semesters of Italian. This is important to me as it shows I can conquer a language that I previously thought would have never been possible. One thing that surprised me about learning Italian was that Duolingo wasn’t as helpful as I expected and in some case, I feel made it harder to learn as the interface was not anything like using the language in reality and overall made me a more lazy language learner.
Now when looking back at the course goals and objectives of the course I feel I was able to understand what people say and also can respond. I think I proved this by feeling confident to be able to speak with others in class on a given topic that I previously wasn’t able to do in the first semester. Secondly reading “In Altre Parole ” I initially thought I wasn’t going to be able to understand this book. As in this book, there was an extreme amount of new information through new phrases and words. But during the reading of this book, I looked at the English translation much less than anticipated and was able to interpret these new verbs and phrases. This made the book very interesting to read as I have never read such a dense story in another language. This makes me want to possibly read more books in Italian in the future. Even though it might take me twice as long to read, given a couple of books I would know Italian at such a higher level than previously possible. I believe that I surpassed intermediate expectations and my abilities. But I think when I communicate my thoughts through multiple sentences. I can get tripped up when communicating, as sometimes I get caught up on small words which then halts me in my communication. This I feel is a common pitfall of many new language learners but I believe more improvement is key.
When I first started learning Italian I thought I knew the culture pretty well, since I spent 3 weeks in Varese, Italy for the U23 World Rowing Championships. But as I learned more about the course, especially through my first semester, hearing about the experiences of Professor Mellucci was an eye-opening experience to see how Italians live their lives in a completely different way. I think one of the things I appreciate the most about Italian culture is the laid-back approach to work while in the U.S, we all believe we have to “work” as hard as possible and constantly be doing things. But in Italy they appreciate the little things in life, enjoying their meals, and taking time for family in the morning and evening. Here in the U.S. a lot of the time eating meals can be seen as a chore and it’s a luxury to eat a meal with people you love but in Italy, they make this a priority. Now even with their more laid-back culture Italy has one of the most economically wealthy countries in the world.
Overall when I look at this course it has taught me a lot about learning in general. Teaching me what I need to succeed in college. In general, I am very proud of my portfolio as it represents my journey through the Italian language and also a glimpse into my first year at college.
One of my favorite pictures of the Almafi Coast
