Welcome to my Italian 203 blog. The study of the Italian language over the past three semesters has been not only fulfilling but also engaging. Starting out in Italian 101 and Italian 102, I gathered a basis of Italian grammar as well as vocabulary that provided a foundation for the skills that I gained in Italian 203. The experience for me throughout my study of Italian has honestly been quite positive because I was able to see myself grow as an Italian learner and build on the knowledge that I gained semester after semester.

One of my favorite aspects about Italian 203 was how it differed from the two introductory courses. Although there was still vocabulary and grammar attached to the course, there was still much more of a focus on culture and history. Through the several projects that we had in the course, we were able to really get a basis on Italian culture and compare it to our own culture and personal experiences as well as confirm or reject our own unsubstantiated thoughts of Italy and Italian culture. Some of my favorite projects in this course ranged from interviewing a native Italian person, learning about Italian food through the poster project and understanding the difference between Italian food in America and Italian food in Italy, as well as learning about art in Italy through our study of museums.

Over the past several semesters, I have really seen my critical thinking skills increase seeing that studying a foreign language is not easy. There is a lot of un-noted brainpower that goes into reading, writing, and interpreting a foreign language. It has been amazing seeing myself having to think less and less as I translate Italian in my head when I read it or vice versa when I write it. That feeling is truly incredible as I slowly see myself finding the language more and more natural.

One thing that I really love about the Italian 203 course in specific is the versatility of the assignments that we were given. No two assignments were the same and it not only honed our creative thinking skills but also allowed me to demonstrate my learning in a plethora of ways aside from just a quiz or a test. For me, the interview, the video blogs, the video project, as well as all of the other projects gave me an avenue to represent what I have learned over the past three semesters in a fun and creative way.

Lastly, this portfolio project was an amazing culminating project that allowed me to bring together segments of the things that I have learned over the course of the semester. It was a great means to reminisce on all of the work that I had done whether it was grammar related, vocabulary related, or related to the cultural aspects of the course. Overall, I know that a lot of the skills that I learned in Italian 101, 102, and specifically 203 will be very applicable in my other disciplines.