Do…
…check emails a lot. They’re sent rarely but they will
include when the week’s classes are and not every week is the same. (Of course.
Italy + consistency/planning? = ha!)
…try and gather a basic ‘music’ Italian vocabulary. Because
my classes are all music related, there are certain words used very frequently,
and after learning these it becomes a lot easier to translate a sentence. For
example, ‘sharp’, ‘flat’, ‘scale’, ‘major’, etc. along with a lot of other
everyday verbs and conjunctions.
…be confident. If you’re like me - one of the people
who was always scared to put their hand up in class in case the answer was
wrong - a year abroad is the perfect time to overcome things like that. It
sounds strange; you would think it would be scarier with the language
being foreign. It is! But it also means it’s all the more important to make sure you
understand what you’re meant to be doing. And if
you make a language mistake or you still don’t understand it, who cares? You’re
only there for the year, any embarrassments will either be forgotten or left behind!
…the work. Sounds really silly but I have hardly any lessons
during my week, and this sometimes just leaves me annoyed and unmotivated. It’s
also tempting to not do it because the Italians don’t; in a recent class only
me and my friend from Finland had done the work from before Christmas. But I’m
glad I did it because I learned a lot and, you know, that’s the whole point of
the lessons and the work.
Don’t…
…expect to be given lots of information. I can’t quite
explain how difficult it was to initially find out about my lessons, who the
teachers were, when they started, where they would be, and just how the
conservatorio* worked. I had to put a lot of effort into finding out for myself,
which is a good thing but it’s also something to be prepared for if you’re
thinking of studying abroad; you’re not going to be spoon-fed information.
…be tired for the lesson. I really have no excuse for this
seeing as I only have to get up for a lesson once a week, but for that one day I
have lessons 9.30-1, and 2.30-6.30. That would be tiring enough at uni in
England, but there is double the concentration needed here in order to translate
everything and make sure you always know what’s going on. It hurts the brain,
it truly does.
…expect there to be a teacher/lesson at all. When putting
together my modules, I was told I did not yet have a singing teacher and they
didn’t know when they would hire one (I have since got one! Woo!). I was also
told one of my classes might not be on because the teacher had ‘had a
disagreement with the other teachers’ so they were ‘currently trying to
convince him to come back’. Sounds promising. And our piano teacher sent an
email before Christmas saying we would have a new professor after Christmas. We
heard nothing. Until last night, when we received an email from former teacher, announcing his return with the title ‘sometimes they come back…’ Haha bless him. And finally, I emailed a
teacher yesterday to ask when the class would start (I think around March) and was
answered immediately! …by an automated email saying the address didn’t exist. Sigh.
…be late. But also don’t arrive on time. Yeah, I haven’t
figured this out yet. I feel so British and awkward when I’m the first one to
arrive, but I am also definitely not cool and effortless enough to waltz in
after 15 minutes like the Italians do. I shall live and learn.
*I've just realised I haven't explained what a 'conservatorio' is. It is the Italian name for 'conservatoire' (In English we use the French word), which is a music college that usually focuses on performance.
I'm enjoying writing these list-type posts, and think the music favourites, little things and do's and don't's may become regular occurences.
Hope you're enjoying reading; more photos will be coming soon!
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