Università Bocconi

I came to Italy with an advanced knowledge of Italian grammar. I needed to practice speaking but didn't do that as much as I had hoped to do. I advise people who want to improve their speaking ability to take a class in Italian, or at least attend a class in Italian all semester. Also, take the crash course offered before the semester begins. It may not improve you're Italian (depending on the level that you're at already), but you will meet everybody in that class.

No offense but italians are not known to be the best english speakers. Overall though it was seldom a problem. At the university most of the interaction was in english. Socially and everyday-life-wise it was a little frustrating in the beginning but it didn't take long to get to know the most basic phrases and by the fourth month I started to be able to have conversations in italian. As long as you are eager to learn there are few problems.

Having spent alot of time in the South of Italy and therefore having a Southern accent when speaing Italian made a good talking point with alot of Italians who, at first, found it quite difficult to distinguish where I was from. I was lucky as many of the exchange students at Bocconi do not speak Italian and follow courses in English, this was the only difficulty I found as I am trying to improve my Italian.

I did not take Italian courses at Bocconi however I did take 2 other courses offerred by the IES program (Italian Politics and Advanced Italian Language) in Italian and these truly helped in advancing my schools. However, interacting with Italians on a daily basis was what truly helped me feel comfortable and also led me to reach a very proficient level.

At first it was horrifying to hear people talking nearby and only understand hello and goodbye. In the beginning I feared that I would never be capable of holding a conversation in Italian. However, by the end of the trip I could spend weekends with my Italian friends in Naples and understand the majority of what they were saying...even the slang!

I prefered studying in Italian, but many exchange students took only courses in English. I basically understood everything (except when people were speaking a Southern dialect) but I didn't have a chance to activate my language skills because Italians really want to talk English to you.