This is Italy...Again.

Again...Italian politics from the world's point of view. Have a look at this article from The Times.

Martina

The Skype exchange experience

[Photo by duffofdean]

Hi, everybody!

This is my last post on the blog...I can't believe it! Times flies!

The second semester seemed to be shorter than the first one...Maybe because I had a lot of fun!

Well, I'm supposed to speak about my personal experience of the Skype exchange we did during this semester. Well...I really liked it!

At the beginning of the second semester I decided to take part in the Skype exchange because I realized that I needed to improve my listening and, above all, my oral skills. So, since this is my last semester at university, I had to take advantage of this opportunity. Anyway, I must admit that I was a little frightened at the beginning. But in the end, it was not bad at all! I really enjoyed it! I had two American peers: one during the first part of the exchange and another for the wiki project. I was really lucky because they were both kind and very nice. We still keep in touch mainly by Skype and Facebook, and I think it’s great.

Well, what did I learn from this experience? Well, I must say that I didn’t notice an enormous cultural gap between me and the American girls. There are different costumes in some aspects but I never felt uncomfortable speaking with them because of cultural differences. Anyway, I realized that the Americans are more open-minded than the Italians. There was one particular thing that made me re-consider my culture: the problem of immigration. I was quite impressed when I realized that my American peers don't think about cultural differences in a negative way. Personally, I appreciate cultural differences because I think they can enrich you. But I know that most of the Italians don't think like that. We Italians still have a long way to go.

I really enjoyed the final project as well. The topic of our wiki page was a comparison between college life in Italy and at Dickison college. I knew many new things about their graduation ceremony or their students' parties. It gave the opportunity to reflect a lot on this issue. I think that their experience at university is very different from ours. And it’s much better. The live all together in a campus and can share the same experiences. I think that they are more independent at the end of their studies.

As regards my language learning, this experience helped me a lot to improve my English. I learnt a lot of new words and concepts, for example the word sorority. What's more, I can speaking English with less effort and I can easily understand native-language speakers.

Well, it was hard sometimes but I managed improving my English and having some fun as well. Now I need to keep up with the improvements! ;-)

Martina

[Photo from Google images]

More newspaper articles

Alemanno won political elections for Rome mayor. Here is how the news has been commented by international newspaper:

• CNN+
• The Guardian

I'm really worried; I fear for our future. Italy...WHERE ARE YOU GOING?! If you want, leave your comments.

Martina

Italy from the world's point of view

[Photo from Google Images]

April, 13-14th , 2008. Political elections...Mr Berlusconi won for the third time. He has the power again. I'm not happy about that because I really don't like him. But this post is not about my political preferences.

I just want to yell out my bitterness. I'm really mistrustful and disappointed with Italian politics and above all with Italian people. There's so much arrogance, which goes arm in arm with a great ignorance. During this election campaign, I spoke with many people -both adults and young people- about politics. What struck me at most was not the personal political choice for one party or another, but rather the great lack of arguments to support that choice. Many use long-winded words, their reason are commonplaces and you understand that they just absorbed passively what the television told them. For example, do you remember what I said in my post about immigration? Well, I asked that question to a boy who voted for Lega Nord. I asked him:"Well, why did you vote for Lega?". Answer:"Because there're too many immigrants. They have to come back to their countries. In Italy there should be only Italian people". I couldn't resist asking him who is an immigrant and he obviously said that an immigrant is a Moldavian or a Rumanian man. "Well, and what about Spanish or American people living here?". He looked at me astonished and answered: "What? They're not immigrants at all!". Is it necessary to comment on this? I don't think so. I really fear for our future if Italian people think in this way.

I definitely believe that a person needs to be aware of the world he/she lives in. One should consider many points of view about a topic and then he can make his/her choice. This means being responsible citizens. This is the reason why I pray you all, my peers, to do that. We're the future of this country: we have to change this old-fashion, corrupted and lost country.

After the elections, I didn't read Italian newspapers deliberately. I read on-line international journals. Their point of view is uninvolved and objective: they're more reliable. So, do you want to know what the world think about us? Then read these interesting articles and start thinking consciously about our future:
The Financial Times
The Economist
El Mundo
The Times (the first Berlusconi's gaffe)
The Times (Berlusconi's profile)
The Times (Berlusconi's anatomy)

I'd like you let me know what you think about that! I'm looking forward to read your comments...

Martina

Final project and Skype exchange

[Photo from Google Images]

The semester is about to finish...time flies! Now it's time to think about our final project. We're organized in new groups and I'm not going to skype with Marigny anymore. My new American peer is Kelsey, who studies English Literature at Dickinson. I spoke with her yesterday, during the Skype exchange... She's a very nice girl! Anyway, yesterday I chatted with Marigny as well...We want to keep in touch, I'm very happy about that! :-)

Well, in my new group there're 5 people: Alberto, our secretary ;-) , Serena, Alice, Kelsey and me. Yesterday, at the beginning of our Skype exchange, there was a bit of confusion... It's really hard speaking in 5! Anyway, we managed doing it and, at the end, Kelsey said that it's fine if we skype all together. I think it's the best thing to do, even because we have to work all together on the wiki page.

Our final project consists in writing a wiki page about a cultural topic, comparing American and Italian culture. Yesterday we spent almost one hour and a half deciding our topic! I had no idea it could be so difficult. To tell the truth, we decided the fist topic quickly at first. We thought that the American dream could be an interesting topic. But in fact it was not! We should compare a cultural aspect that both Italy and America have, but the American dream seems to be only American. So...We eliminated this idea. We discuss a lot about other possible topics but no one seemed to be good: music, health system, education, immigration...In the end, we decided to speak about university life, comparing the differences between America and Italy. I know it's quite banal, but I think it will be amusing. As Sarah suggested us, we'd like to focus on particular aspects of university life here in Italy. For example, the particular way in which we celebrate our degree (papiro, terrible jokes, the tunnel, the "dottore-dottore" song). I really like this idea, don't you?

See you!

Martina

Immigration in Italy

[Photo from Google Images]

Next week we're going to speak about immigration with our American peers. It's a quite ticklish question in our country. Countries like America and England have been experienced immigration for many and many years...On the contrary, here in Italy it's a relatively new phenomenon. According many Italians, it seems to be a sort of calamity!

Studying foreign languages, I learned to be open-minded and not to reject people who are different. I definitely think that the difference is a quality and everybody can learn a lot from someone else. The comparison and relationship with a person with a different culture is a way to understand who we are and what we really believe in. All relationships enriches you and all cultures are as important as the Italian one.

I think that in Italy there's a lot of confusion about the issue. Too many Italians judge on the basis of stereotypes and don't look beyond their nose. If you ask people who an immigrant is, they immediately say that an immigrant is a Moldavian or a Rumanian or a black man. And what about Spanish or American or English or French people in Italy? Are not they immigrants? I'm quite sure that many Italians would answer that a Spanish man in Italy isn't an immigrant. That's why I say that there's too much confusion and that too many people speak without being well informed about the issue.

Anyway, something is changing in Italy. When so many foreign people arrive, the social balance changes. And as always, changes create panic in people. But I think that it's only a transitional phase and that with some clever immigration laws Italy could find its feet in this multiethnic society. At least, I hope so.

Martina

Against death penalty

[Photo from Google Images]

Hi!

This week I couldn't attend the lesson, so I didn't Skype. I had a look at the American forum, I read the comments to the topics and I answered to that about death penalty.

Well, I'd like to spent two words about the subject. First of all, I was surprised when I read the American guys' question...They wanted to know if in Italy death penalty exists and what we think about it. There were 22 comments to this question but I decided to answer anyway, because I'm very sensitive to this issue and because I wanted to add something more.

My peers and I are all against death penalty. In my opinion, death penalty is a sentence which belongs to the Middle Ages and it's simply unacceptable in our modern world. We're supposed to live in a civilized society but sometimes I have the terrible impression that the human being is even worse than the animals.

The person who is guilty of atrocious crimes MUST BE PUNISHED but death penalty isn't the right solution. Let's take an example: a murderer is usually punished with the death. I mean, a man kills a man because he had not to kill another man. Does it not sound like a paradox?! It's absurd, isn't it? What's more, in this way the criminal doesn't pay for his crimes. He just dies and he gets it done!

I really believe that death penalty should be replaced by LIFE SENTENCE. Freedom is one of man's fundamental rights. If a man is guilty of terrible crimes which prejudice one's freedom, he MUST BE deprived of his freedom and therefore he MUST BE condemned to life imprisonment. That's the right sentence!

Martina

Final paper...Sorry! :-(

Hi, everybody!

First of all, I'm really sorry...I was supposed to publish this post on monday but, as you can see, I'm late! :-( As I wrote in my previous post, in this period I have simply too many things to do for my courses and 24 hours are not enough to complete all my tasks! Last week I had to prepare a paper on Mexico for the Spanish course and yesterday I had its exposition in class...That's why I couldn't write here in time.

Anyway, let's speak about my final paper. In these days, I thought about a cultural aspect I would explore further...Well, I know it could sound quite banal, but I would be interested in the differences in education. I'd like to explore how the different systems can infuence the personality and the future of the Italian and American guys. Education plays a very important role in our growth and I thing it influences our personality and mind. What's more, it prepares you for work...During my Skype exchange last week, I asked Marigny if it was hard to find a job in America and she said no. I admit I was quite surprised. I'd like to find out if an Italian guy has the same possibilities of an American one.

Anyway, it's just an idea at the moment! We'll see...:-)

Martina

3dr Skype Xchange: political elections :-(

[Photo from Google Images]

Hi, guys!

How are you? I must admit I'm quite tired in these days and my best expression when I wake up is something similar to the dog's one! :-( We're right in the middle of the semester and my language courses are very very VERY demanding. Both in Spanish and English course, we're supposed to do papers, projects, exercises, translations, compositions...I have to respect too many deadlines! It's terrible! I'd like to prepare an exam by the end of April but it's quite impossible because I haven't time enough to study! I feel soooo frustrated! :-(((

Well, let's speak about something different. This afternoon we had our third Skype exchange. Since I was very tired, I had to gather together to concentrate and to speak English as correctly as possible. I spoke only with Marigny at first but then a peer of mine added to our discussion, so we created a conference. At the beginning, speaking in three was an hard task. You know, speaking at the telephone is always hard, because it isn't a face-to-face conversation. Try to image how difficult could it be when you speak in a foreign language! However, after few minutes of confusion, we started a very interesting discussion about politics and politicians. I liked speaking in three very much because in this way the discussion turned out to be more lively.

As I said, we spoke about politics and politicians. I sent to Marigny the links to watch some interesting videos, like Obama girl and the ones about Berlusconi and Veltroni. We discussed about them, about our impressions...Personally, I'm still shocked about the official video of PDL's campaign...At the end of it, there're some young guys singing all together. In the background, there's the Palazzo della Civiltà del Lavoro, which is in Rome. It was built during Mussolini's regime and it represents the fascism for the world! :-O I mean, Rome is full of beautiful monuments...I'm sure that's a planned choice. I begin to fear for our future!

Anyway, I don't want to express my opinions about Italian politics here...Let's go back to the exchange. Well, we not only spoke about politics but also about our future. Marigny wanted to know which kind of job would we like to do in our future. So we explained her what a mediatore linguistico is supposed to be and we spoke about the difficulties we'll have to find a job...It was a very interesting discussion!

I'm getting more and more involved in this Skype exchange...Marigny and I are in contact also by email and by Facebook! ;-)

See you next week,

Martina

Intercultural competence: the YOGA form

[Photo from Google Images]


Hi!

This week there's no skype exchange because we're on Easter break. So we're supposed to do a different activity. We should reflect on our intercultural competence. In order to do that, we were supposed to fill out a test, called YOGA (Your Objectives, Guidelines and Assessment Form).

Let's speak about this form. Obviously I never heard about it before. It's a sort of self-evaluation guide which could help you to assess your intercultural objectives. It's divided into 4 level regarding different kinds of competences. I just filled out the first one, called "Educational Traveler". This was the only one that applied directly to my experience. I went to England in 2002 and stayed there a month, living in a family. It was my first time abroad and it was a great experience. Then to fill out the test I considered my experience as a foreign languages' student as well. I thought of my language competence in general but with an eye on English culture, which is the one I experienced directly.

In my opinion, the first benefit of using YOGA form is that it let me stop and reflect on my intercultural competence. We rarely have the opportunity to critically reflect on our competences and this form is a useful starting point to assess them. Aswering the questions, I found out some interesting things. I demonstrate awareness of differences across languages and cultures and my attitude towards other cultures is open and positive. I think I demonstrate flexibility in the interaction with people from other countries and I'm willing to learn from them.

I've always been an outgoing girl and I've never had problems in relating with people. It's a natural thing for me. This is the reason why I decided to study foreign languages...I wanted to relate with as much people as possible. At the time, I still had no idea of how complex was studying a foreign language. I mean, learning the grammar is only the bulk of the iceberg. During these years at university I gradually learned that if you REALLY want to LEARN a language, you NEED to "control" its culture. And this is a very long and complicated task. Even studying at university isn't enough. Filling out the test, I realized that I have a low competence in the knowledge of the essential norms and taboos of the host culture. This is a great difficulty for me...I'd really like to become a Cultural Mediator (and this is the work I'm studying for), but my question is: how could I be a good Mediator if I haven't a complete mastery of the foreign culture?! At university we study a lot of theoric concepts about the language, but nobody teached us the culture. I really believe that there should be Foreign Culture's courses as well. It's fundamental!

I really don't know what could I do now to fill this deficiency...Any idea?

Thanks! :-)

Martina

Padova-Dickinson: 2nd week

[Photo from Google Images]


Hi, everybody!

How are you? And what about your Easter break? Mine was very relaxing! I spent the last few days pigging myself and staying with my family. I ate sooooo much dark chocolate! ;-)

The classes are going to begin on Thursday, so I still should be on holiday but in fact I am not! I have so many things to do for university that I have to work hard in the next few days! :-( Well, it doesn't matter...In the end, university is my work, isn't it?

Let's speak about our exchange with Dickinson's students. Last Wednesday we talked with them once again; it was our second conversation. Fortunately, I was supposed to speak with the same girl I had during our first exchange. She's Marigny, a very kind girl. We were supposed to discuss about terrorism both in Italy and in America. We prepared for that topic on Monday. I had to search for pieces of information about Italian years of lead because I wasn't prepared to discuss about it. I'm a little ashamed about it, but that part of Italian history is very contemporary and we rarely study it at school. For this reason, I had to read up on years of lead.

Anyway, Marigny and I didn't speak about terrorism at all. During the first 30 minutes we chatted typing because there was another lesson in our class and we couldn't speak all together. We chatted of this and that, I asked her how was her spring break. I knew that she went on a journey with her bestfriend so I asked her about that. I'm happy because she wrote me that my written English is good! All these posts on my blog bore their fruits!

However, speaking is always more difficult than writing. Marigny and I both agreed about that! She finds more difficulties in speaking Italian. I think its obvious because she has been studying Italian only for two years. The first time we spoke in Italian we had some difficulties so this time Marigny prepared some questions to ask me in Italian. She asked me about my spare time, music, films, actors. So we didn't speak about terrorism!

Anyway, I'm very happy about this exchange and above all about my American peer. She's so kind! Yesterday she sent me an email in Italian. She even sent me the link to subscribe to Facebook. During our conversation, she mentioned it but I had no idea of what it was! Now I'd like to ask her how to use it. I really hope that this is the begin of a new "international friendship"!

See you soon!

Martina

Happy Easter!

Here comes Peter Cottontail

"Here comes Peter Cottontail/Hoppin' down the bunny trail,/Hippity hoppity, Easter's on its way/Bringin' ev'ry girl and boy/A basketful of Easter joy/Things to make your Easter Bright and gay/He's got jelly beans for Tommy/Colored eggs for sister Sue/There's an orchid for your mommy/And an Easter bonnet too./Oh! Here comes Peter Cottontail/Hoppin' down the bunny trail/Hippity hoppity Happy Easter Day/Here comes Peter Cottontail/Hoppin' down the bunny trail/Look at him hop and listen to him say,"Try to do the things you should"/Maybe if you're extra good/He'll roll lots of Easter eggs your way/You'll wake up on Easter morning/And you'll know that he was there/When you find those choc'late bunnies/That he's hiding ev'rywhere,/Oh! Here comes Peter Cottontail/Hoppin' down the bunny trail/Hippity hoppity/Happy Easter Day!"


Easter Bunny Boogie

Weekly discussion on the wiki: how hard!

[Photo from Google images]



Hi, my peers!

How are you? I'm so happy today! In the end, SPRING IS COMING!!! I'm looking forward to see trees in blossom! I love spring, it's definitely my favourite season. When spring comes, I'm full of energy...It's a sort of revival for me!

Well, let's speak about our task three. Last Wednesday we didn't have Skype exchange because our American peers were taking their spring break. So our weekly task was easier. We were supposed to discuss in groups to come up with one question to pose to the Americans. I thought it would be an easy task but actually it was not so easy! First of all, the wiki isn't the simplest way to discuss. I think that a chat would be more effective. It allows you to speak in real time and to have a real discussion. What's more, we all had different questions to pose to the Americans. For example, I was curious to know which are the typical differences between North and South America. However, my peers were curious to know something more about the Americans' view of Italian lifestyle and in particular they wanted to know how many their view is influenced by mass-media. All our questions were equally interesting but my peers were right. The question about the influence of mass-media could be a good starting point for a lively general discussion :-) . So in the end we decided to pose this question.

I must admit that I really enjoy working in groups. It's a way to learn how to interact with people with different points of view. This experience enriches you because allows you to consider other opinions and to enlarge your horizons. ;-)

See you tomorrow!

Bye!

Martina

Online activism: help the world!

[Photo from Google Images]

Hi everybody!
I received a very important email by a friend of mine and I want to let you all know what I founded out.

There's a new way to help breast cancer research: an official website exists and just clicking on the pink window in the middle you can give free mammograms to women who can't pay for them. Don't worry, it's free. According to the number of daily visits, the corporate sponsors advertisers pay for a mammogram. I did it. It really takes 2 seconds of your time! So, please go to http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=2 and click on the pink window.

Moreover, from the same website you can visit other similar website and do the same thing. Again, you don't have to pay anything because the sponsors pay for it! This's the list of website you can access:

• The Literacy site: you can provide free books to children.
• The Animal Rescue site: you can provide food and care to a rescue animal.
• The Child Health site: you provide health service to poor and unprivileged children.
• The Rainforest site: you help the organizations which work for the preservation of rainforests around the world.
• The Hunger site: you help to feed the world's hungry donating a cup of food.

If you want to know more about these projects, take a look at this video.

Martina

Padova-Dickinson exchange: let's begin!

[Photo from Google Images]

Hi everybody!

Here I am after a long break. On January and on February we had exams at university...We had an hard time! We started the second semester two weeks ago. In the next few months, our activity on the blog will be a little different. During the first semester, we learned how to use some Web 2.0 tools for language learning and now we should be able to work by ourselves. I have to admit the activity we had been doing during the first semester turned out to be very stimulating and useful. During our break, we wrote a mid-term paper, in which we were supposed to reflect on our improvements in English language learning. Well, I certainly developed some skills in the past few months and my English is a little better now than in October. But I realized I need to work harder on my oral skills. I have been studying English for 13 years, but I still find difficulties in speaking, above all in speaking spontaneously and fluently. So, since this is my last semester at university, I definitely want to take advantage of our English course. This is the reason why I decided to take part in the Padova-Dickinson exchange. Using Skype, I'll have the opportunity to speak once a week with an American girl, who studies Psichology and Italian at Dickinson University, in Pennsylvania. We started our Skype exchange last Wednesday. I was a little nervous before starting but when we started our conversation I relaxed. She made a good impression on me; she seems to be a nice and kind girl. At first, we spoke about ourselves: where we are from, our families, our hobbies. We were supposed to speak about the educational system in America and in Italy but a little of time to know each other was necessary! Anyway, we spoke about our universities as well. She lives in a campus and said that the life there is just like we see in tv. Great, isn't it? Well, I'm quite satified with my first Skype exchange. I hope she could understand my English well...Sometimes I got lost with what I was saying just because I wanted to say too many things together! Anyway, it was just the first time...Fortunately, I have enough time to better my conversational skills!

Next week we're going to speak about American primaries and Italian elections...I need to read something about that to prepare for my next convesation. I'm not ready to answer my American peer's questions! ;-)

See you next week!

Martina

"Sometimes, a hug is all what we need" (J.Mann)

Hi, everybody!

I was surfing the Net when I run into Chiara's blog. She's a peer of ours who put in her blog a wonderful video from YouTube, entitled "Abrazos gratis". She took that video during her staying as an Erasmus student in Alicante (Spain). When I watched the video, I was touched. It's about a group of young people who offer free hugs to strangers in the streets. It's wonderful seeing how many people stopped to hug one another: women, men, children, old men and women... everybody wanted a hug, maybe they needed it in that moment. Anyway, try to watch the video and judge by yourself.

It's moving, isn't it? I love seeing people smiling and hug one another. In my opinion, a hug is the best way to demonstrate your love to those next of you. I feel closer to other people when I hug them.
At the end of the video a name appears: Juan Mann. I didn't know who he was so I typed his name in Google. I found out that he's the man who first invented this initiative in 2004. Thanks to him, now a Free Hugs Campaign exists: it became a real movement with joiner from all over the world. There is also an official website, you should visit it. Juan Mann writes: "In this age of social disconnectivity and lack of human contact, the effects of the Free Hugs campaign became phenomenal". For him, the hug is the "symbol of human hope" and I agree with him. We all should reflect about it!
As I wrote to Chiara, try to image what would happen in the world if the world's heads of state hugged one another during their meetings...Wouldn't the world be better?

Martina

Hi, everybody!

[Photo by Google Images]

I'm writing this post for those who visit my blog. As you can see, there is a map in my blog...I'm very surprised to see how many people run into my little space! And I'm sooooo happy! You're from all over the world...I'd like to know you! I write on this blog because I'm attending an English course at univeristy but it could be an opportunity to know many boys and girls from all over the world!

[Photo by Google Images]

So, why don't you write a comment to this post or to another post? Just few words to tell me your name, where are you from and why are you visiting my blog...or simply to write what you want!

I really hope to hear you soon!

Cheers,

Martina

Holidays are over :-(

[Photo by me]

Hi everybody!

How are you? And your holidays? Mine were really GREAT! As I wrote in my previous post, I spent a week in the mountains with my boyfriend. We went to La Villa (BZ), a town in Alta Badia, one of the most beautiful areas I never saw. In spite of everything, we had a lot of fun... I say "in spite of" because Stefano (my boyfriend) dislocated his shoulder the day before leaving.

Hard luck! So, on Saturday we went to the first aid instead of leaving! Fortunately, the shoulder wasn't broken and he just had to wear a brace to keep his arm firm. Finally, on Sunday we managed to leave and we went to the mountains! Obviously we couldn't ski but we walked a lot. We saw a lot of beautiful places...there was the sun and a lot of snow! Wonderful! I took more than 200 photos...I put three of them here...I couldn't resist sharing these beautiful landscapes with you. Do you like them?

Cheers,

Martina

[Photo by me]

[Photo by me]

Snow! Mountains...HOLIDAYS!

Photo by F. Planinschek (Alta Badia web site)

Well, guys! It's time to leave...I'm going to go to the mountains tomorrow! ;-)

See you next week!

Martina