Picture a valley in Trentino-Alto Adige, in the north of Italy, nestled between rolling hills and verdant vineyards.

Here lies Rovereto, a quiet town of just under 40,000 inhabitants, and the place that Paola Keller called home until the age of 30, when she said goodbye to the mountains and moved to Brazil for a decade, and before moving to Tasmania between 2005 and 2006.

For the entirety of her time abroad, Keller has taught Italian to foreigners, but it was in Australia that she decided to acquire a formal qualification to be able to teach in schools.

“In 2009, after finishing my studies, I began my adventure as a language teacher at St Mary's College in Hobart, a girls' school founded in 1868, where I teach Italian to Years 7 to 12,” she recounts.

“Teaching Italian in Tasmania is quite difficult; not many students are interested in studying a second language.”

To motivate her girls, almost 12 years ago, the teacher organised an exchange project with two Italian schools: one in Riva del Garda in the province of Trento, and one in Assisi ― a program that was suspended due to the pandemic, and will finally resume in 2024.

"Not being able to travel, we started an epistolary exchange between the Year 7 and 8 classes and their Italian peers, in preparation for meeting in person: they talk about what they do in their free time, about school, sports and family. They often switch from e-mail to social media, commenting on their pen-pals’ photos and statuses. It is much more immediate for them,” Keller comments.

Of course, it’s not the same: before the pandemic, the Year 9 students welcomed Italian girls from Easter until the end of the year, hosting them with their families and introducing them to the natural wonders of Tasmania.

Conversely, from November until the end of January it was their turn to go to Italy.

"It was always a very positive experience," the teacher says.

A group of students during the preparation of Carnivale masks. (Photo provided)

At St Mary's College, Paola Keller always keeps Italian culture to the forefront:

“It’s one of the cornerstones of my teaching: if there’s a will, language can always be studied.  I believe that starting with art and culture makes the difference, because it is by coming into contact with these aspects that young people are enticed to go to Italy and study Italian,” she emphasises.

The teacher not only attributes great importance to the culture behind the language but also to a communicative approach in the classroom:

"With Years 7 and 8 in particular, for at least a third of the time, an hour a week, I allow students to create through art projects. On the occasion of Carnevale, for example, we made masks and then researched their history and that of the costumes, then linking that research with a textile creation course. I create connections between Italian and elective subjects such as art and food tech,” Keller explains.

She also recently organised a competition inspired by MasterChef, where teachers judged the dishes prepared by the girls.

"I only speak to the older students in Italian; they answer me in English, but they understand everything. In the first few years I introduce explanations in Italian followed by English translation, and then, because I really like maths, I started to include it in my lessons when we talk about numbers; I am trying to utilise a CLIL approach," she concludes.

Paola Keller does everything she can to inspire her students and make them realise the importance and beauty of studying Italian by offering innovative and engaging lessons.

There are only two high schools in Hobart that teach Italian as a second language, and the average number of female students at St Mary's College who decide to continue to Year 12 is between 20 and 25.

All of them will certainly cherish the memories of their teacher’s passion and enthusiasm.