Today’s blog post is the next in our series profiling MLC students who started learning a language as complete beginners and who have now completed their final year. This time, we meet Julia Ward, who is taking a BA in Modern European Languages (French, Spanish and Italian) and tells us of the enriching experience of learning Italian from scratch.
After studying French and Spanish all the way through to A Level, I was so excited to have the opportunity to pick up Beginner’s Italian at university. This was one of my main deciding factors for coming to the University of Liverpool, as the course allowed me to continue with my current languages, whilst also picking one from a range of choices to study ab initio. For me, this choice was always going to be Italian and I’ve not once regretted my decision.
I have progressed from being an enthusiastic beginner of Italian to a confident final-year student who feels completely at ease with the language, and is at the same level as with my other two languages. The modules I have studied over the years have comprised both language and culture modules, covering a wide scope of Italian cinema, history and linguistics, which have further heightened my passion for the language.
Learning Italian has been such an enriching and eye-opening experience for me and allowing me to have the opportunity to spend half of my year abroad in Italy was an experience I will always be thankful for. I worked for four months in the northern city of Bergamo, where I was positioned as an English language assistant in a school. Travelling there knowing absolutely no one, I soon became immersed in the language, making friendships that will last a lifetime and having the best year abroad possible. My experience abroad and learning the language in general has made me fall even more in love with Italy and Italian. I mean, who wouldn’t love riding through the Italian countryside on a vespa and eating gelato in the sun?
I feel privileged to have been part of a dedicated (and hilarious) group of students of Italian, who have all become my close friends for life, and also part of a team of teachers who have made my experience an exciting and enjoyable one. I would therefore like to thank all those at the University of Liverpool who made my time here studying languages an unforgettable experience for which I will always be grateful!