As part of the annual Dante Alighieri Society scholarship program, Maurizio ventured to Milan at the beginning of January, to spend a month enhancing his knowledge of the Italian language and soaking up the city’s splendour.
During his time at the Dante Alighieri Society School, Maurizio undertook a course to improve his grammar and vocabulary, which he explains was tailored to the individual needs of each student.
The course was not only flexible in its content, but it also left enough free time for Maurizio to discover Milan, something he was eager to do.
“Classes started from 2:00 pm, so this allowed me to visit various museums and bookshops to obtain textbooks for school [at Gladstone Park],” he says.
“My school also goes on a biannual trip to Italy, so this trip enabled me to explore Milan and the surrounding cities on the weekends to see where else my students would be able to visit.”
Maurizio’s passion for la lingua italiana is inherent, as his parents hail from the sunny south of Italy: his father is from the village of Capo Spartivento at the tip of Calabria, and his mother is from Rometta, a town west of Messina in Sicily.
“I love the language and the influence that the Italian culture has had on the Australian community,” he explains.
Maurizio studied his parents’ mother tongue through primary and secondary school, and put his skills to practice during trips to Italy, two of them as an exchange student and one spent revisiting with his parents in 2009.
His most recent trip has been the longest so far, and perhaps the most valuable.
Maurizio has returned to Australia equipped with some Italian maths textbooks for his Maths Immersion students and fresh knowledge to supplement his classes.
“Teaching the same concepts to students year after year makes you forget much of the other language which doesn’t get taught at school,” he explains.
Maurizio lauds the scholarship program and encourages other Italian teachers to follow in his footsteps, especially those who have limited exposure to Italian on a regular basis.
“The ability to interact with and learn from people in Italy enriched my capacity to teach the language here in Melbourne,” he adds.
The enthusiastic teacher owes his unforgettable experience to the Dante Alighieri Society for providing him with the opportunity, and the Marcocci and Valmorbida families for kindly funding the scholarship program.
“It has been a wonderful experience that renews my passion for the language and allows me to bring back a piece of Italy to share with my students for years to come.”
For the chance to study at one of the Dante Alighieri Schools in Rome, Bologna, Milan and Florence, visit the Society’s website.
