MELBOURNE – The pair became passionate about the Italian language in high school before continuing to study it at university. Once they graduated, they returned to the place that instilled in them their love of the language.

Baggio and Bellino, who are two of six Italian teachers at MacKillop College, shared their unique story that saw them move from the back to the front of the classroom.

Both born and raised in Australia to families of Italian descent, their bond with the language grew into a mission of passing on Italian to the next generation of MacKillop students.

Italian has been at the school for a long time, and although French and Japanese are also offered, Dante’s language remains the language of choice for children.

The school has about 1700 students, and in Years 7 through 9 there are five or six Italian classes for each year level. The number of classes inevitably decreases as language learning becomes optional in Year 10.

“But there has never been a year level without an Italian class, because our principal supports languages in every way,” Baggio explained.

During the year, numerous activities are organised in and out of the classroom to motivate the students in addition to the usual Language Week, such as exchanges and study trips to Italy.

“Every year we organise an exchange with a school in Milan with which we are twinned,” Baggio shared.

“Our students go to Italy every two years for three weeks, where they travel, attend school and live with families in order to be immersed in the language and culture.”

Over the years, approaches to teaching a second language have changed dramatically. Not only is technology used more, but kids are often given the tools to construct sentences right from the start, before going on to study grammar later.

For teachers, the most challenging aspect is being able to engage students and getting them to participate.

“A lot depends on the group, and if you create a good relationship with the students, you can capture their attention,” explained Baggio.

“The important thing is to always keep them engaged with activities in the classroom.”

“We also use culture to engage them, we choose topics that are interesting to them,” adds Bellino, who points out that in class they speak Italian with students at a level they can understand.

“We talk about fashion, hobbies, transportation, family. All accompanied by videos or songs.”