Oh no, not another grammar lesson! Learning italian in Venice - a TR.
Feb 16th, 2015, 01:12 PM
#22
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Buona sera Annhig, I have just caught up with you. It's great to read of someone else's language learning exploits. Though I have never done Italian language course, I have done 3 Spanish courses in Central America. Oh, and a disastrous one in Malaga!! I would add to the list of requirements for a language school/homestay that the teachers/hosts do not speak English. Less easy in Europe than in Central America I fear. And there is of course the temptation to speak English with your fellow students...a temptation I can never resist.
Like you, I like to find a school that includes activities and sightseeing trips so that the whole experience becomes a language-focused holiday. Not to mention the food and drink. And I too never travel without teabags
Like you, I like to find a school that includes activities and sightseeing trips so that the whole experience becomes a language-focused holiday. Not to mention the food and drink. And I too never travel without teabags
Feb 16th, 2015, 01:19 PM
#23
nice to have your input, gertie. good point about being with non-english speakers. [un]fortunately my travelling companions were all brits so when we were socialising after school it was difficult not to revert to english. but at "home" and with other students during our midmorning break and if we were together during lunch, i did my best to stick to italian.
Feb 16th, 2015, 01:41 PM
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Did you get in touch with Caroline Venezia and her husband Philip who wrote that very entertaining book The Venice Project? I would love to meet up with them and hear about their activities firsthand!
Feb 16th, 2015, 03:15 PM
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Hi Ann, I am enjoying your report so much. Makes me feel at home, sort of. Must try the Sportivo next time.
Phil is still blogging away, the Venice Project now accomplished. (Caro & Phil now have a cat, marking them as real Venetians)
Phil is still blogging away, the Venice Project now accomplished. (Caro & Phil now have a cat, marking them as real Venetians)
Feb 16th, 2015, 03:42 PM
#26
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Enjoying this, annhig.
I can't believe the lady in Cannareggio didn't get a v. pass. Were there any preparations made as a group? Did she know where she was going?
One year, DH and I stayed deep in Cannareggio, not too far from the Fondamente Nove vaporetto stop, and I was a little frightened by the walk in the dark. I had clients staying in San Marco and we walked home from there, most evenings, and I can say that I didn't love that walk.
Looking forward to lots more.
I can't believe the lady in Cannareggio didn't get a v. pass. Were there any preparations made as a group? Did she know where she was going?
One year, DH and I stayed deep in Cannareggio, not too far from the Fondamente Nove vaporetto stop, and I was a little frightened by the walk in the dark. I had clients staying in San Marco and we walked home from there, most evenings, and I can say that I didn't love that walk.
Looking forward to lots more.
Feb 16th, 2015, 04:04 PM
#27
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Cannareggio is my absolute favourite bit of Venice. Far from the madding crowd of San Marco and Rialto, full of interesting back street restaurants and bars, off the tourist beat. I always prefer to stay there. It's even possible to speak Italian with the locals.
Feb 17th, 2015, 12:31 AM
#31
Ciao, tutti! Thanks for joining in.
To answer your questions about how the accommodation was arranged and the lady who was staying in Cannaregio, we were given details of who we would be staying with about 2 weeks before we left, so she would have had the opportunity, like I did, to work out routes to the school, how far it would be, and how she was going to get there. I have to say that [apart from my 71 stairs up to the apartment!] I think of everyone, I had the easiest option - it was really just "due passi" to the Vaporetto stop, then a quick hop across the Grand canal and a short walk to the school.
however, I agree that had I been staying in Cannaregio, I would have got a pass; her accommodation was not that far from Ca'D'Oro, so she could have got a boat from there, either to P. Roma, [from where the school was about a 15 minute walk] or round the other way to Ca' Rezzonico which was the stop where I got off. OK that might have taken a while but as it was taking her 45 mins to walk to the school every morning, i don't think that it would have made a lot of difference. We didn't have a meeting beforehand but she was/is a very intelligent person and well able to do some research herself.
regarding Caroline and Phil - keep reading!
To answer your questions about how the accommodation was arranged and the lady who was staying in Cannaregio, we were given details of who we would be staying with about 2 weeks before we left, so she would have had the opportunity, like I did, to work out routes to the school, how far it would be, and how she was going to get there. I have to say that [apart from my 71 stairs up to the apartment!] I think of everyone, I had the easiest option - it was really just "due passi" to the Vaporetto stop, then a quick hop across the Grand canal and a short walk to the school.
however, I agree that had I been staying in Cannaregio, I would have got a pass; her accommodation was not that far from Ca'D'Oro, so she could have got a boat from there, either to P. Roma, [from where the school was about a 15 minute walk] or round the other way to Ca' Rezzonico which was the stop where I got off. OK that might have taken a while but as it was taking her 45 mins to walk to the school every morning, i don't think that it would have made a lot of difference. We didn't have a meeting beforehand but she was/is a very intelligent person and well able to do some research herself.
regarding Caroline and Phil - keep reading!
Feb 17th, 2015, 05:08 AM
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Hi ANNHIG,
You mentioned about your first night dinner, "...Along with drinks [wine for the non-teacher adults, water for the rest]..." That's why I never chaperoned an over-night trip with students in my teaching days. No wine!
Also regarding your accommodation, did the owner rent out one room on a regular basis? Something like an air b&b? I am glad you were satisfied with the arrangement.
Will continue to follow along...
You mentioned about your first night dinner, "...Along with drinks [wine for the non-teacher adults, water for the rest]..." That's why I never chaperoned an over-night trip with students in my teaching days. No wine!
Also regarding your accommodation, did the owner rent out one room on a regular basis? Something like an air b&b? I am glad you were satisfied with the arrangement.
Will continue to follow along...
Feb 17th, 2015, 06:02 AM
#35
thanks, Adelaiden - that's kind. as for courage, going with a group is really very easy - if you want to, you can just sit back and let someone else do all the work. I tend to get a bit more involved, because that's just me.
Lateday - yes it is hard on the teachers, and they were very good about not drinking. The worry is always there that if something happened, and they had had a drink, even just one, they could be criticised. but OTOH they do get a free trip, so it's not all bad.
Yes the owner did rent out her room [actually two rooms, I had the larger of the two] on a sort of B&B basis, either through the language school or privately. It was by no means luxurious [the shower was an over-bath job which took ages to heat up and had very little water pressure] but it was warm, and the bed was soft enough [ unlike the one in Sorrento last year!]. Best of all it was very quiet and extremely convenient. If I had been able to stay the extra week, I'd have been happy enough to stay there.
Lateday - yes it is hard on the teachers, and they were very good about not drinking. The worry is always there that if something happened, and they had had a drink, even just one, they could be criticised. but OTOH they do get a free trip, so it's not all bad.
Yes the owner did rent out her room [actually two rooms, I had the larger of the two] on a sort of B&B basis, either through the language school or privately. It was by no means luxurious [the shower was an over-bath job which took ages to heat up and had very little water pressure] but it was warm, and the bed was soft enough [ unlike the one in Sorrento last year!]. Best of all it was very quiet and extremely convenient. If I had been able to stay the extra week, I'd have been happy enough to stay there.
Feb 17th, 2015, 08:33 AM
#36
Day 2 - let the fun commence.
Although I had thought that I would be the only guest in the accommodation I’d booked [I’d been asked to pay extra for the privilege, albeit only £40 for the week] overnight another guest arrived to stay in the other room that Roberta regularly lets out. The new guest turned out to be a german lady a little older than me who was also attending the language school, and in fact had already done several weeks there. This was lucky, as she very kindly offered to show me the way to the school, and a good place to have breakfast on the way [it wasn't included in the price of the room].
Normally lessons start at 9am, but we had been asked to get there early to do a short test to see which group/s we should join so we left the apartment at about 8am, and by 8.15 we were having breakfast in the Bar Al Artisti, just along the street that leads into the Campo San Barnaba from the Ca’ Rezzonico vaporetto stop. For those who aren’t familiar with the way in which such establishments work, the usual form is that customers drink their coffee standing up at the bar - if you sit at a table, often you are charged extra. So in true local fashion, we drank our coffees standing by the bar. They had a nice selection of “cornetti” [locally called brioches for some reason] and I chose almond which was lovely with the “spremuta di arancia” [freshly squeezed orange juice]. All in all a very good breakfast for €5.40.
Having paid, we made our way to the school and after signing in at the desk, I was asked to accompany one of the teachers into a room where she proceeded to ask me some questions about how long I’d been learning Italian, how many times I’d been to Venice, my family, home etc, all with the obvious intention of gauging the level of my Italian. After a very short time she seemed to be satisfied and told me that I would be in Level 4 and showed me to the classroom where I’d be spending the next 5 mornings. The classroom quickly filled up with my fellow students followed by our teacher for the first session, Sylvie.
She started by going round the class asking us all to introduce ourselves; there were 9 of us in all of a variety of nationalities, and by chance, all women. We ranged from those like me who have been studying Italian for pleasure for a number of years to others who had just started to learn a few months ago and/or were studying for work or other reasons. It was an interesting group with quite a range of ages and backgrounds, some of whom had been at the school for a number of weeks [and in a couple of cases, months]; others like me were just dipping in for a week or two.
I won’t bore you with the details of the lesson itself - I was relieved to find that we were covering subjects that I had done before, although perhaps in a different way, and this continued in our second lesson where we tackled the exciting topic of combination pronouns [well, you did ask!]. In between we had a 20 minute break where most of the students repaired to the nearby bar where for €1 you could get an expresso, though other coffees and drinks were available, all at a small discount for students of the language school.
The first morning went past in a flash and when we broke for lunch at 1pm, I was pretty tired. I therefore decided to duck out of the proposed group trip to San Marco [which I anticipated would be very busy with carnival revellers] and to join instead the school’s afternoon workshop on photography, which sounded interesting and less strenuous.
I’d arranged to meet the other 3 “old women” for lunch and over a restorative glass of wine and a couple of tramezzini, [triangular sandwiches that often have interesting fillings such as the delicious ham and artichoke mayonnaise one I had somewhere] we discussed our morning’s experiences. They too had had the same sort of test and had been put in different groups - one in the beginners, and the other 2 in level 2 - which again seemed to be about right for them, so far as I could tell.
The afternoon workshop, which was open to all the students, turned out to be both practical and fun. We started in pairs taking portraits of each other in various poses, and gradually mixed round, experimenting with the different types of portraits that we were learning the words for. Another option, which I might have gone for had I not been with the group, was to do a daily cookery class in the late afternoons and evenings - which would be followed by a dinner eating what you had cooked.
After going back to the apartment to have a rest and do my homework, I had agreed to meet up again with the gang at Campo Santa Margaherita for supper. This was no so much because we wanted to eat there, but because it was the only place that we all knew how to get to! First of all we went to a bar and tried a spritz [white wine, a splash of mineral water and campari or aperol] and then found a table at a restaurant we liked the look of called the Osteria Alla Bifora [no website] in the corner of the Campo opposite where the fish stalls are usually set up during the day. With wooden beams and long trestle tables, it is somewhat different to the average venetian restaurant, and specialises in platters of food to share - we had an assortment of fishy appetisers such as insalata del mare and baccalà, followed by a very generous plate of salumi [prosciutto, salami, lardo, speck] all washed down with a litre or so of red wine. [I think that white would have been better but I was outvoted]. Again all for a very reasonable €20 each [no cards and no coffee here so it was strictly cash].
I confess to have been very pleased that it was only going to take me a matter of minutes to get back to the apartment and even allowing for waiting for the vaporetto, and having to climb those stairs, in double quick time I was in bed and asleep.
Next - Day 3 - what is THAT doing there?
Although I had thought that I would be the only guest in the accommodation I’d booked [I’d been asked to pay extra for the privilege, albeit only £40 for the week] overnight another guest arrived to stay in the other room that Roberta regularly lets out. The new guest turned out to be a german lady a little older than me who was also attending the language school, and in fact had already done several weeks there. This was lucky, as she very kindly offered to show me the way to the school, and a good place to have breakfast on the way [it wasn't included in the price of the room].
Normally lessons start at 9am, but we had been asked to get there early to do a short test to see which group/s we should join so we left the apartment at about 8am, and by 8.15 we were having breakfast in the Bar Al Artisti, just along the street that leads into the Campo San Barnaba from the Ca’ Rezzonico vaporetto stop. For those who aren’t familiar with the way in which such establishments work, the usual form is that customers drink their coffee standing up at the bar - if you sit at a table, often you are charged extra. So in true local fashion, we drank our coffees standing by the bar. They had a nice selection of “cornetti” [locally called brioches for some reason] and I chose almond which was lovely with the “spremuta di arancia” [freshly squeezed orange juice]. All in all a very good breakfast for €5.40.
Having paid, we made our way to the school and after signing in at the desk, I was asked to accompany one of the teachers into a room where she proceeded to ask me some questions about how long I’d been learning Italian, how many times I’d been to Venice, my family, home etc, all with the obvious intention of gauging the level of my Italian. After a very short time she seemed to be satisfied and told me that I would be in Level 4 and showed me to the classroom where I’d be spending the next 5 mornings. The classroom quickly filled up with my fellow students followed by our teacher for the first session, Sylvie.
She started by going round the class asking us all to introduce ourselves; there were 9 of us in all of a variety of nationalities, and by chance, all women. We ranged from those like me who have been studying Italian for pleasure for a number of years to others who had just started to learn a few months ago and/or were studying for work or other reasons. It was an interesting group with quite a range of ages and backgrounds, some of whom had been at the school for a number of weeks [and in a couple of cases, months]; others like me were just dipping in for a week or two.
I won’t bore you with the details of the lesson itself - I was relieved to find that we were covering subjects that I had done before, although perhaps in a different way, and this continued in our second lesson where we tackled the exciting topic of combination pronouns [well, you did ask!]. In between we had a 20 minute break where most of the students repaired to the nearby bar where for €1 you could get an expresso, though other coffees and drinks were available, all at a small discount for students of the language school.
The first morning went past in a flash and when we broke for lunch at 1pm, I was pretty tired. I therefore decided to duck out of the proposed group trip to San Marco [which I anticipated would be very busy with carnival revellers] and to join instead the school’s afternoon workshop on photography, which sounded interesting and less strenuous.
I’d arranged to meet the other 3 “old women” for lunch and over a restorative glass of wine and a couple of tramezzini, [triangular sandwiches that often have interesting fillings such as the delicious ham and artichoke mayonnaise one I had somewhere] we discussed our morning’s experiences. They too had had the same sort of test and had been put in different groups - one in the beginners, and the other 2 in level 2 - which again seemed to be about right for them, so far as I could tell.
The afternoon workshop, which was open to all the students, turned out to be both practical and fun. We started in pairs taking portraits of each other in various poses, and gradually mixed round, experimenting with the different types of portraits that we were learning the words for. Another option, which I might have gone for had I not been with the group, was to do a daily cookery class in the late afternoons and evenings - which would be followed by a dinner eating what you had cooked.
After going back to the apartment to have a rest and do my homework, I had agreed to meet up again with the gang at Campo Santa Margaherita for supper. This was no so much because we wanted to eat there, but because it was the only place that we all knew how to get to! First of all we went to a bar and tried a spritz [white wine, a splash of mineral water and campari or aperol] and then found a table at a restaurant we liked the look of called the Osteria Alla Bifora [no website] in the corner of the Campo opposite where the fish stalls are usually set up during the day. With wooden beams and long trestle tables, it is somewhat different to the average venetian restaurant, and specialises in platters of food to share - we had an assortment of fishy appetisers such as insalata del mare and baccalà, followed by a very generous plate of salumi [prosciutto, salami, lardo, speck] all washed down with a litre or so of red wine. [I think that white would have been better but I was outvoted]. Again all for a very reasonable €20 each [no cards and no coffee here so it was strictly cash].
I confess to have been very pleased that it was only going to take me a matter of minutes to get back to the apartment and even allowing for waiting for the vaporetto, and having to climb those stairs, in double quick time I was in bed and asleep.
Next - Day 3 - what is THAT doing there?
Feb 17th, 2015, 11:02 AM
#38
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Interesting to hear about your class. One thing that upset me about my Spanish group language class in Malaga was that I was the oldest person there by about 50 years. I was very intimidated by the youth and linguistic agility of the others and felt like a dinosaur. After that I decided to stay with the one-to-one lessons offered by most central American language schools. Sounds like you have found a great school there in Venice. The cookery and photography options must be fun too. All in Italian I suppose?
Very envious of hanging round Campo Santa Margherita and its vast quantity of watering-holes!
Very envious of hanging round Campo Santa Margherita and its vast quantity of watering-holes!
Feb 17th, 2015, 11:14 AM
#39
gertie - we were a disparate group, at least so far as age was concerned. The youngest probably the Viennese student on a gap year, the oldest an american whose husband is in Venice doing research into the 50s beat poets. Another middle aged Austrian lady was there because of her love of opera and singing, and a young swiss girl who wants to be an air hostess. it was nice being neither the youngest not the oldest in the class.
yes, everything in Italian, both while we were at the school and on school activities, even when we were having lunch or in the bar. My german friend and I also spoke Italian in the apartment and en route to the school; as I spoke german and she spoke english, it seemed fairer!
We didn't hang around the Campo St. Margherita all the time Gertie, it just reads that way! [and there were some nice bars there, it must be said.]
yes, everything in Italian, both while we were at the school and on school activities, even when we were having lunch or in the bar. My german friend and I also spoke Italian in the apartment and en route to the school; as I spoke german and she spoke english, it seemed fairer!
We didn't hang around the Campo St. Margherita all the time Gertie, it just reads that way! [and there were some nice bars there, it must be said.]
Feb 17th, 2015, 12:48 PM
#40
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I am following along, Ann. I sure would love to take an Italian class in Italy! I went to the website of the school that you posted, and took the test they offered and they already got back to me with their assessment. What a great experience it would be. Looking forward to more tales of your adventure...
