Viva Rome!

Many people have asked me to describe Rome in one word. Noisy. There is a constant noise or soundtrack to the city. While some have mistakenly compared it to New York City in America I disagree somewhat. You see there is a lull in the noise level in New York. There does not ever seem to be any lull in noise in Rome however. This can be quite upsetting to someone who lives in a quiet neighborhood. In fact I could not get much sleep while i was living there because there was a constant noise of car alarms, garbage trucks, people arguing outside and the ever present ambulance sirens that seem to pervade every corner of the city.

Now some students could easily adapt to the noise level. I found it kind of hard to do so. I guess even though I grew up in a suburb in America I was not ready for the drone of the city noise.  I am sure after time i would have adapted to the noise after more time in the city but just one month was not enough.

So if you are going to Rome and are going to actually live in an apartment then I would highly recommend buying ear plugs or some sort of white noise machine to make it easier for you to sleep. Some found that using their iPods with speakers a great way to fall asleep. I would recommend using this technique as you can more easily fall asleep to something that you are familiar with then these other distractions.

As I said I like Rome but it is not all wonderful. There are points of contention i have with the  city and the noise level is by far the biggest one.

I have been away from this blog for far too long. Quite honestly trying to get stories published in newspapers today is quite a hassle. The reason behind this is because many newspapers are going out of business and do not have a budget for any freelance writers. So I have been changing up my tactic and writing for the online publications which seem to be somewhat immune to this downturn.

However, I did want to put up a review of my experience at TorrediBabele in Rome, Italy. This was the language immersion school I attended while I was there and it was the reason I went to Rome in the first place. Now to be honest it was not always a pleasant experience but that is to be expected when you are in a foreign country for one month. You have to realize that not everything is going to go your way.

The best word that would describe the first week in Torredibabele would be stressful. But this is honestly what you want when trying to learn a language. If you go with the apartments that the school will set you up with then you are going to learn Italian much faster. This is because they choose to put you in apartments in non-tourist areas of Rome where very little to no English is spoken. I was put in Piazza Bologna area which is very near to the school. This area is extremely Italian and extremely Roman as well. This means that you better start talking Italian very fast otherwise you will have a very hard time.

The first task is just learning to survive when you can not speak the language fluently. This means finding and learning all you can about shopping for food and going out to eat. These are by far the two most important subjects in Italian you should learn first. If you do not know how to get food you will starve. Being a single guy in Rome is also a disadvantage. Most Italians seem very helpful to all the single girls but guys not so much. I am not sure why but I did notice a difference when ever I went out in a group.

Now as far as the lessons were concerned the school teachers will only speak to you in Italian. You can not speak a word of English, Spanish, or any other language while you are in class in this school. It is a forced language immersion school. But this is okay as the first day of class they do teach you how to ask questions in Italian so that you can try to understand what they are talking about. Some people found this forced immersion technique to be a bit stressful and either quit or broke down. I actually found this technique stressful as well but was lucky to find a friend in the school to help me out.

The very first day of class you are given your textbooks and a list of cultural events sponsored by the school. I would highly recommend that you attend these during your first week as that is one great way to make friends while you are away. Without some sort of friends your stay is going to be miserable.

The first week was a stressful one but I learned more Italian in this week then I ever would if I had studied it on my own. This is because of the classes and the environment as well. Rome is one hectic and noisy city and you best have your game face on if you want to learn the language. Italians do not like to speak English and would prefer to speak their own language. That is one great motivator in learning the language so that you can get along with more people while you are away.