Per un mese lei si prende cura del giardino della nostra scuola; e in cambio ha un corso d’italiano gratis!!

Um dos meus projetos era estudar, por algum tempo, um idioma no país de origem e consegui, finalmente, realizar (parcialmente) essa minha vontade, em Roma,  por poucas semanas na Escola Torre di Babele.

Eu era, sem dúvida, com mais de 50 anos, a única nessa faixa etária na época em que estive lá. As aulas foram ótimas, intensivas, 4 horas/dia. Os alunos tinham bom conhecimento e os professores eram muito dedicados.

Como projeto é maravilhoso! Como experiên cia só tenho recomendações.

Professores ótimos.
Estudo sério e com organização.
Material prévio muito bem elaborado.
Ambiente excelente.
Compromisso com resultados.
Colegas empenhados em estudar.
Equipe administrativa muito organizada.
Inscrições por internet viabilizadas.

Exigência de um teste prévio para avaliar o grau de conhecimento.

Rebbecca at work

This year I went to Rome for one month and had one of the best experiences of my life without spending a fortune.
I really wanted to come to Rome again (I had already been to the school the year before) but I couldn’t afford to come to Rome and pay for the course, so when I found out I could work as a gardener for a couple of hours a day in exchange for free lessons it sounded like the perfect opportunity.
I talked to Monika about it (the director of the school) and she agreed to let me do it the month of September. I was really excited about going to Rome a second time; it was nice knowing that I already knew my way round Rome fairly well and I knew the school and some of the teachers.
When I arrived I was a little bit nervous about doing my job well, but after the first day or two, I settled right in. I enjoyed doing the gardening; the garden is really pretty so it was a pleasure to take care of, it didn’t take up too much time which meant I could still go out and enjoy Rome with my friends after, and also it meant I had a little bit more pocket money to spend on going out.
My experience in Rome has been fantastic, the school is very friendly, if I ever had a problem doing the gardening the school was very easy to talk to and very helpful. The course was also very good, I learnt a lot of Italian while I was there, and I made some really good friends. The hardest part about going to Rome was leaving.

Torre di Babele students at Appia Antica

Pebble stone roads, birds chirping, grass blowing in the wind, ancient ruins standing off in the distance of a massive field. Via Appia Antica is truly the ideal escape from the noise of a city and easily accessible in under ten minutes using public transport.

This previous weekend a group of students from the school and I were fortunate enough to experience this part of Rome through the Saturday cultural activity offered through Torre di Babele. With a tour guide arranged for us, all we had to do was show up and follow! The guide was really helpful as she was able to cater to all the different levels of Italian. As the group had several really advanced students and then me (level 1, baby!!), it was impressive that she kept the upper level students engaged while still ensuring that I understood the general gist of the story. The tour was varied with a stop at the basilica, the ruins, a visit of the field where the movie Ben Hur was filmed (cool, huh?!) and a lot of fun facts about all the little things we passed as we walked along the “via.”

It was also a really economical trip as we got tour guide and entrance fees to everything for under 10 euros. With the advantage of a British passport (always carry a copy with me!) and a student ID, I am able to get discounts to a lot of places around the city, and Appia Antica wasn’t any different. Being young does have significant advantages in the city!

After a good day of strolling around ancient Rome, I am definitely looking forward to the upcoming tours of regions of the city offered through the school – next week we are going to Rione Colonna which should be cool! We’ll get to see the Pantheon and other awesome things in that neighborhood.

If you wanna see the lucky winners go to the home page of the photo competition and you will see their names right next the their beloved prices.

Torre di Babele looks forward to welcome the lucky winners during the last half of this year and the first half of the next. Don’t be shy… brag about it on the web if you won! You deserve it!

Photo Competition Winners

Jesus

P.S. Even though the competition was stiff, the board of directos had to recognized that some of you made an extra amount of work. It turns out a couple of names repeat. To those by public vote you won immediately. However, it was your hardwork and artzy skills what took you to win again. We just want to re-state an important rules of the competiton, you can only win one prize. In case you won two, please feel free to give the second away to a beloved person or a friend. The school will be happy to welcome you both in Rome.

Well the waiting time is about to come to an end. On Wednesday June 4, 2009 at 12 pm the competition will be closed. I’ll publish the last blogpost about the competition and on Thursday morning, we will announce the lucky winners… actually more than lucky the hardworking winners!

Thanks to you all  for participating!

Regards from the eternal city!

J

Pizza Evening in Rome

In return for attending Italian lessons and labouring tirelessly for the school I get free pizza and wine every couple of weeks. Such is the hardship of life in Italy, where the youth, unable to find jobs, will work for 6 months unpaid, and the rest are called ‘Bamboccioni’ (or lazy) by the politicians, while the students protest the lack of jobs.

Actually, that’s not the case for those of us from the wealthier northern Europe, where we heat our homes sufficiently, and drive in cars instead of these interminable scooters that Italians are so fond of. I jest (joke), of course.

This evening at the pizzeria everybody decided to speak Italian all the time. Perhaps that’s due to the large encapment of Germans at the moment who have annexed the school, and who, in the name of efficiency, wish to spend every moment advancing their Italian.

It is my mission to promote the spread of English in this most secure bastion of la lingua italiana – . Many students have benefited from my native tongue and masterful grasp of the English language.

Roman Forum

While studying Italian in Rome students often spend the afternoons going off to the Colosseum, or the Roman Forum, the Trevi Fountain………..

….Piazza Navona, Piazza di Spagna, or Villa Borghese and other sites of historical, architectural or cultural interest. In fact for an English person like me who would rather sit in the sun in a piazza with some friends and a bottle of wine and good food, or in Villa Borghese, the groups of students who run off to Centro Storico after class can be quite distracting. Before studying Italian at Torre di Babele I visited many of the famous Roman sites on vacation but knew hardly anything about them. I was the typical British / American tourist in khaki shorts, sneakers, baseball cap, sporting a sunburnt face, eating a dripping pizza slice on the Egyptian obelisk of Rameses II from Heliopolis in Piazza Del Popolo, quite oblivious to the mess I was making on 3000 years of history.

For me the historical, artistic, cultural and gastronomic pleasures of Rome were simply interesting background scenery to the real business of taking in the sun and large amounts of very economical (and very good) Italian wine. But for others Rome’s culture and history are half or more of the reason they come, for example all of the art historians, artists, architects, stylists in the fashion industry and so on that I meet.

After many lost aternoons in the sun lazing in the parks of Rome with other students, I remembered that ‘cultural program thing’. Then I quickly forgot about it, and spent another month in the bars of Campio di Fiori, the Trattorias of Trastevere, and getting to know the ‘culture’ through lots of lovely Italian Tandem partners. (By the way: A ‘Tandem’ is where you meet an Italian and practice speaking, and then you talk in your own mother tongue so they can learn from you.) Finally I got pulled into a guided tour of Rome given by Stefania Vastano, the expert in ‘La storia dell’arte’, and realized that it was a way to both learn Italian and get some culture at the same time. Once I had gone I realized that I was missing out on a valuable aspect of being here: why come to Rome if you’re not going to take in the culture? A large part of the value many people get from the course is the cultural programme, which includes these tours, as it’s a lot cheaper than paying and going on the many given in your language, and the Italian is pitched at the right level so you can learn at the same time.

Watch out though Stefania will test you to see if you’ve been listening! And don’t get pulled into an aperitivo afterwards (which is nothing as classy as it sounds and nothing more than a drinking session, especially when English and German students are involved).

NEWS FLASH: Day passes in Rome without sun, first time in three weeks

Although a large number of people prefer to speak Italian all the time. You learn really quickly this way!

San Lorenzo is a favorite place to go to socialise as it has many bars, restaurants, cafes, music venues and discoteques and it has a lively atmosphere because of the students of the university. Many places are very economical also – in San Lorenzo cafe for example a bottle of beer cost €3.50, cocktails were €5.00 and wine is €3.50 also. You can choose from 15 bottles of Italian wine and there is a free ‘aperitif’ – so you can also eat a plate of free food! If you’re interested in wine you can learn about Italian wines in the school’s wine seminars. (There is also a great little place on Campo di Fiori that has an extremely large selection of wines, outdoor seating on the piazza.

Note: Campo di Fiori is another great place to go out.) San Lorenzo is 10 minutes from the school, simply take the tram from the main road next to the school.