Learning italian in Rome.

February 2024, I have put a plan in motion, in September I am going to Rome for three months to learn as much Italian as I can. I book the apartment, that I already know,  in Baldo degli Ubaldi, and now I just have to start preparing for the arrival of a new language in my life, or it would be better to say, a new life. They say that with each language we speak we live another life, and I am determined to arrive in Rome being half Roman.

Every day, when I walk Bella, I listen to a podcast that I have discovered called “Italiano con Amore”, Eleonora has very clear Italian and in each episode she tells us many things about Italian culture and literature, introduces us to cities and towns, food, … in other words, she takes us to get to know her country.

August arrives and I have to decide my plan. I think that chatting with the neighbours will not be enough, so I write to Scuola Leonardo da Vinci Roma, where I get all the information I need to be their student.

I arrive in Rome on September 1st, and on the 2nd I go to Piazza dell’Orologio first thing in the morning, I go to the office and sign up to start attending Italian classes.

I pay for nine weeks, it’s the option that suits me best and I’m overflowing with happiness. My plan has come true and is underway. I start on Monday 16th from 12:00 to 15:15.

In my class I meet students from different backgrounds and cities, our teacher is Katherine and we love her, it looks like a good start. I must add that Marta, Francesca, Valentina, Monica, Livia, Ana Maria, Lulu, Pier Alberto are a wonderful team and that’s why I feel part of this big family.

During break Rolf, Anna, Dan, Yannelis, Victor, Fabiana and Dora invite me to go for a coffee, and suddenly I find myself in a small bar/café called Amore, full of students and locals, not at all touristy, rather “traditional” and I love it. There they know our name, and we know theirs, they know what we drink and I feel immersed in this experience.

In the same piazza as the school there is one of the Roman libraries, with high ceilings and a courtyard with trees and a fountain that marks the rhythm of my study. I go there every day before class, do homework or just read for a while.

One afternoon after finishing lessons, our group goes to eat in front of the Pantheon, we spend hours chatting and laughing, always in Italian, we help each other, we laugh when we invent words, this is really working.

My days go by between the morning gym, breakfast and bus 47 to Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, a little time in the library, class and some plans with my new friends. I feel totally mindful, my mind and I are 100% in Rome, focused on learning a lot.

The school offers the Aula Aperta. Every week there are organized walks or visits, I sign up for all of them. The first is a walk with Katherine to see some of the fountains of Rome, we learn their stories as we walk through its cobbled streets and squares. Rome is so dazzling.

Another afternoon the walk takes us with Livia to Trastevere and the Gianicolo hill, or the so-called eighth Roman hill, from where we can enjoy great views, as I told you in another post. There is the cannon that is fired every day at 12 o’clock. This custom began in 1849 when Pope Pius IX ordered the cannon to be fired once and thus synchronize the bell towers that struck twelve at different times. Initially it was located in the Castel Sant’Angelo.

We pass by the Montorio church that has a small temple by Bramante next to the Cervantes Institute (Royal Academy of Spain in Rome), it is illuminated with the colors of the Spanish flag since in two days it will be Columbus Day (Día de la Hispanidad). 

The one that is also illuminated is one of the most significant fountains in Rome, the Fontana dell’Acqua Paola or Il Fontanone the Romans call it, created with marble and stones from the Roman Forum. Also known as the “other Trevi fountain”. The last time I saw it it was under construction, so I am happy to see it so beautiful.

These days I am reading Un otoño romano by Javier Reverte, which as the title says the writer recounts his three months in Rome and his strolls around the Eternal City, the history of so many places, and quiet afternoons from his room overlooking the Montorio church. It became a kind of guide in those days when going to class, practicing Italian and doing homework took up my days.