Thoughts about Learning

In two more days, I will be able to register on line for college classes. I am {of course} going to take Pastels II again {and not because I failed it it the first time either! I actually made an A}

But I am also going to take the following:

Course Description:

An introduction to the fundamentals of the Italian language: grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation. Includes simple conversation, reading, and writing exercises. Also provides an introduction to the culture of Italy.

Essential Objectives:

1. Recognize and pronounce the basic sounds (phonemes) of the Italian language.
2. Employ vocabulary and grammatical structures orally in the Italian language to:
a) Communicate and solicit basic personal information, including age, address, telephone number, birthday, nationality, and occupation.
b) Participate in simple interpersonal exchanges, such as introductions, greetings, requests, and purchases.
c) Identify personal and household articles, such as clothing, furniture, foods, and utensils.
d) Describe his/her town, residence, family, daily activities, interests, personal likes and dislikes, and other important elements of personal life.
e) Respond appropriately to simple statements and questions on selected topics.
3. Describe basic geographical features, traditions, and elements of daily life (food, clothing, work, etc.) of selected countries in which Italian is spoken.
4. Apply learned vocabulary and grammatical structures to writing simple sentences, notes and short letters.
5. Read simple prepared or authentic dialogues and narratives and answer questions about the contents of the readings.

There is, of course, a story. My sister and her husband went to Italy many times before her death and her favorite place was Florence. She and I had plans to go there together but then she died. My BIL gave me a packet of dollars which was their traveling money. I know it came from her also because my name was written on the envelope in her handwriting. So, this is the backstory as to why I want to learn to speak Italian. I really love the emphasis in this curriculum on speaking.

I am quite excited about this. I will have pastels every Monday and Italian every Tuesday and Thursday. Since I pay no tuition because I am a non-matriculating student AND Officially Old, the main expense will be the cost of books for Italian. The UVM bookstore is on line and seems pretty easy to navigate or I could ask Fred to take me over there! {The Community College students use the University of Vermont bookstore.}

When I was growing up in England, a second language was required in order to get into college. Mine was French, and I hated it. I had started at age eleven with Latin which I loved but then changed schools and the only language offered at the new school was  French. So I sulked my way through a couple of years of French and promptly and deliberately forgot it all after I went to college. Now, apart from being forced to take a language that was definitely NOT my first choice –and, of course, let us not forget that the French and the English are Hereditary Enemies– another big part of the fact that I didn’t like French was back then, I had to be perfect. Back then, if I admitted I didn’t understand something or was having trouble with something, well, my whole world would crumble. So, usually what I did was to "lose interest" in the subject and quit. But you can see the dilemma here can’t you? I had NO choice about taking French.

But now, I am a lot different. I have internalized the notion that mistakes are steps on the way to success. I used to say to my students that every time they asked what they might think of as a "stupid" question, there were at least three other people in the class who were saying to themselves "Oh, I am so GLAD she asked that because I didn’t understand either!" In this class, *I* am going to be the one who asks the "stupid" questions.

 
Links to art:

Drawings and Pastel Paintings

Until later….