Università degli Studi di Padova

One of my main goals in going to Italy was to become confident in my command of the language. At the beginning of my study abroad experience I could understand basic phrases, but at times I was just not used to being so immersed in another language. Sometimes I just needed a break because it took a lot of energy to focus on the Italian and understand everything. The main way that I learned Italian and became confident with the language, was by making close Italian friends and limiting my interactions with English. Every experience became a learning experience: buying a train ticket, going to class, reading books in Italian, everything became an opportunity to improve my skills. Now that I have returned from Italy, I still look for ways to continue to improve. I send e-mails to my friends there often, read books in Italian, and watch Italian films...all to maintain the level of Italian I acquired while studying abroad.

I had very little Italian before I went to Padova. The language contained in the legal textbooks was very technical and sometimes difficult to follow but I passed 4 exams and got very good marks. In the first semester the university ran free language classes which were a great help. There was one small problem, these classes started after the academic classes and you were assessed on your arrival which meant by the time they started, my language had greatly improved and I was still in a beginners class.

I've arrived this week to Padua so I'm not completely used to the italian language yet. But I've realised It's not so difficult as I thought it would be (perhaps because I'm spanish and both languages are similar). Anyway I hope to improve my italian still a lot, so I will start next week a course for it.

I relaly liked the fact that all our classes were in Italian and that our teachers spoke no English, thus forcing us to speak in Italian. I had no problems communicating at all, and when I didn't know a word or needed to communicate a particular idea, I went looking for the dictionary!

I love learning new languages, furthermore, for spanish-catalan speakers its quite easy to learn other romanic languages so I had a great time whereas I improved my italian basically speaking with other erasmus or italian students

I had only two semesters of instruction before I left for Italy, but by the end I was completely at ease in any situation. Because all of my classes were in Italian, in addition to further instruction in grammar, my Italian flourished. I comminicated constantly with my host family and Italian friends.