Attending school in Italy is required from age 6 through age 16. There are five stages in the Italian educational system: Kindergarten, scuola dell’infanzia; primary/elementary school, scuola primaria or scuola elementare; lower secondary/middle school, scuola media; upper secondary/high school, liceo; and university, università.
In the hallway
I was able to organize an interview with a class of scuola media students, where the teacher invited me into the classroom to conduct the interview for the entire class, as part of her lesson on the English language, so we conducted the interview almost entirely in English! The school was a regular public middle school, and the class I attended was the class of the son of one of my study abroad program advisors here in Rome.
In the classroom
It was a really small class, with eight students: Sarah, Frederica, Samuel, Nicola, Fabrizio, Marietta, Pedro, and David. Three of the students were deaf, so they communicated through Italian Sign Language and had their assistant translate for me. They were really shy about having photos taken as well as answering questions, but they were excited to meet me and hear about America! Here’s the transcription of the interview:
Q: What is your favorite thing about living in Italy?
A: “The food, the pasta” – Sarah
Q: What are your favorite meals and desserts?
A: “Pizza, pasta carbonara, and gelato” – Pedro
Q: What is your favorite flavor of gelato?
A: “Chocolate” – Pedro
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: “Be with friends, play football, or play video games” – Fabrizio
“Fortnite” – Nicola
(here the assistant teacher asked, “so you don’t study?” and the teacher said “all the students like to study!”)
Q: Who are your favorite music artists?
A: “Mina” – Marietta
Q: Do you enjoy going to school? Why or why not?
A: “I enjoy going to school to see my friends” – Sarah
Q: What are your favorite subjects to learn about?
A: “History” – Samuel
“Math” – Frederica
“Physical Education” – Pedro
Q: What do you want to do when you grow up?
A: “To write” – Samuel
“I don’t know” – David
Q: Are there any after school activities at your school?
A: “We go to the Villa sometimes to hang out” – Samuel
“I play basketball” – Pedro
“I play football” – Fabrizio
“I play in band” – Marietta
Q: Are you learning any languages?
A: “English and Italian Sign Language” – The whole class agreed
Q: Are you planning on going to college? If yes, what do you want to go for? If no, what do you plan to do instead?
A: “For now, I am planning on going to high school” – David, and the whole class agreed!
wow only 8 kids we have 20-30 kids
ReplyDeleteIt was a very small class!
DeleteThank you for bringing us along on your trip to Italy! It was really cool I hope to visit there one day!
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading! You will have so much fun here when you visit!
DeleteI learned a lot about the food and the culture in Rome
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy you learned so much :)
Deletehi is ashley i want to say thank u and i learned alot about the food there
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm happy you learned something!
Deleteso the class's there are pretty similar to are just lest kids.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your time in Rome it was interesting to learn about it
-Bradley
I would say they are very similar! This class was just especially small. Thank you for reading!
DeleteHow much different is American Sign Language from Italian Sign Language? I also just wanted to thank you for you time that you spent on making the blog. i hope your time in Italy is going great and you enjoy the rest of it.
ReplyDeleteAmerican and Italian sign language are pretty different! Thank you for reading, appreciating, and always wishing me well!
DeleteThank you so much for telling us about your trip, it was very interesting to see and learn about Italy. I hope to go there one day.
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading! You will have so much fun when you visit!
DeleteSchool seems pretty different there! Thank you for sharing your trip to Italy with us it was very fun to learn about!
ReplyDeleteSchool here is actually pretty similar, but different in some ways also! Thank you for reading! It was very fun to write for you all!
DeleteThank you so much for taking your time and sharing the wonderful things about Rome. I learned a lot of cool interesting facts. I really enjoyed the food and culture. I hope to visit Rome and Italy. Thank You So much I really appreciate.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for taking the time to read my posts! I'm so happy you were able to learn so much and appreciate things about the culture. You will have so much fun when you visit. I appreciate you!
Delete