SYDNEY - At Santa Sabina College, languages form a significant part of the school curriculum.

They’re compulsory until Year 12 for students in the IB (International Baccalaureate) program and are an option for those who prefer the HSC (Higher School Certificate) pathway in New South Wales.

For the past three years, the school’s languages department has been coordinated by Anna Formosa, who also teaches Italian.

Formosa was born in Australia to an Anglo-Australian mother and an Italian father, who met each other in Italy. “For me, both Italy and Australia have always been home,” the teacher explained.

At three and a half years old, Formosa moved to Italy with her parents but frequently returned to Australia with her mother to visit the rest of the family.

During those years, she was primarily exposed to the English-speaking world and only came into contact with the Italian community in Australia at the age of 21.

At 26, she returned Down Under thanks to Co.As.It., beginning her career as an Italian teacher in Sydney. “I did things the other way around; I first taught English in Italy and volunteered a bit by teaching Italian to refugees.”

Her love for languages has been with her since childhood, during which she nurtured her bilingualism before studying at a language-focused high school and enrolling in university, also to study languages.

“Becoming a teacher was an easy decision, perhaps even a little boring given that both my parents were also language teachers,” she said with a laugh.

Formosa considers herself “very lucky”, because from the moment she stepped into the classroom, she realised teaching was her true calling. She immediately fell in love with the job and hopes to be a guide for her students.

Although taking students on trips is becoming increasingly difficult due to bureaucracy, Formosa is undeterred. She’s constantly finding ways to motivate her students and provide them with opportunities to develop their language skills in the real world.

“Last year, we took the girls to a cooking lesson at an Italian restaurant and even at school, we use recipes to engage them,” she explained.

Formosa also loves using a variety of multimedia resources to capture their interest such as podcasts, radio, music and selected videos from TikTok and YouTube.

“Among others, we enjoy following Lucrezia Oddone’s vlog Learn Italian with Lucrezia, as well as Måneskin’s music, which the girls love,” she shared.

“As a band, they’ve significantly contributed to showcasing a contemporary image of Italy to the world,” Formosa noted.

For Formosa, it’s crucial to build an understanding of Italian culture that dismantles stereotypes. She believes there is a risk of reducing Italy’s intellectual heritage to something overly simplistic that ignores its regional diversity and remains tied to a frozen, outdated perception based on vague and imprecise ideas.

In this sense, the study trips to Italy organised by Santa Sabina College for Year 10 and 12 students are essential.

Through these experiences, the girls immerse themselves in a country full of unique traits that is far more diverse than many abroad would believe.

“Last year, we visited several places, including Venice, Florence and Bologna, because the girls were obsessed with Luna Pop,” Formosa said, amused.

“Then we went to Siena, San Gimignano, Assisi, Rome and Perugia, where we took part in a workshop at Perugina.”

After exploring the beauty of Italy, the students spent four days in Ariccia, in the Castelli Romani area. There, they got a taste of small-town life and, for a couple of days, attended what was once their teacher’s high school.

Formosa emphasised how “for many of the girls, these were special days because they had the chance to … gain a deeper understanding of the Italian way of life”.

Trips to Italy are crucial for keeping students motivated and helping them see that Italian is a living language. For this reason, Formosa is committed to maintaining the presence of Italian teaching assistants in the school.

She’s also working on strengthening ties with the Italian community in Sydney.

“We want to bring some members of the community to school and interview them,” she said.

“We want to show them that Italian is spoken beyond the classroom walls.”