Submitted by Caleigh Bauer on the 2020 spring semester study abroad program in Rome, Italy…
I have been learning the Italian language since I was a freshman in high school and have dreamed of studying abroad in Italy for years. The fact that I will be living here in Rome for the next four months feels so surreal. Even though I have been studying the language for the past 7 years, I still do not feel very confident in my ability to have a conversation in Italian here and am struggling to interact with the locals in my community.
Over the course of my first week here, I have gradually become a lot more comfortable speaking in Italian. I have discovered that the best thing I can do is put myself out there. At first, I started by just using smaller basic words such as saying “buon giorno” when I pass the guards in my building or enter a business and “per favore” and “grazie” when I go out to dinner. Now, I try to have conversations with waiters and staff at stores in Italian whenever I can.
The biggest challenge I face in my language practice is that many Italians are also eager to practice their English with me. I do not quite look like most local Romans so a lot of the time locals will automatically speak English to me assuming that I would not understand Italian. However, I have noticed they get very excited to find out that I, too, can speak their local language. Ending this week feeling very optimistic about the growth I am going to make in my Italian studies this semester!