Università della Svizzera Italiana

Not many people speak english. That is a problem if you don't speak italian, foturnatelly I do, a little bit at least.

I have a very good knowledge of English, good level of Russian and German and basic Italian.

I started studying Italian one year before I left for Switzerland with no previous knowledge of it and about 5 courses of French, but not a good conversational knowledge (pretty passive, there). I left Canada with a decent knowledge of Italian and then spent almost 2 months before school started immersed in the life of the city. I didn't have a glowing social life before school started, so I can't say that I got intense practice, but it was sufficiently in my ear so that, by the time lectures started, I was able to follow them at a good pace. I did have a little trouble in the beginning, but by the time exams rolled around, I was able to take them in Italian (where required). Socially, people were really nice about correcting me, helping me to understand things, and generally support me through the whole experience. The staff at the university was understanding of my position, but the again, I became fluent in pretty good time, so it wasn't as if communicating with me was a struggle for them.

It was ok inside ALARI, but other than that...its tough without knowing Italian