WHAT A WAY TO “LIVE AND LEARN ITALIAN”!

On Tuesday, December 6, a small group of AMHS members, along with Joe Lupo, Director of the Casa Italiana Language School and Maria Fusco, Director of Education, Embassy of Italy, enjoyed a presentation by Jenifer Landor, founder of Live & Learn Italian in Agnone (Molise), Italy.

Jenifer’s grandfather was from Agnone; he had a distinguished career in nuclear physics, working with Enrico Fermi and Robert Oppenheimer as part of the Manhattan Project. Her grandfather’s cousins are owners of Agnone’s most important business, the Marinelli Bell Foundry.

(Pontificia Fonderia Marinelli) - the world’s oldest bell foundry. Jenifer gave a wonderful presentation on the town of Agnone and its importance to the region of Molise, in terms of culture, art, history and, of course, food! Jenifer then spent time talking about the program Live & Learn Molise.

The program, which students can attend for one or two weeks, is held in four sessions (one in June, two in July, and one in September). Fifteen hours are spent in the classroom per week, and classes are taught by fully qualified native Italian teachers who work in groups (maximum of 6, generally 3-4; a maximum of 12 in the entire group). The program takes students out of the classroom and into shops, the market, small farms, the centro storico – to give them the opportunity to mix with the community and practice Italian throughout the day. One must have competency in the Italian language in order to be accepted to the program; there are currently no courses/programs for “beginners”. To learn more about the program, sessions for 2017 and prices, visit Live & Learn Italian.: http://www.liveandlearnitalian.com/ (Note to our members, that this program is a sponsor on the AMHS website!).

We were very pleased to have in attendance Lucio and Edvige D’Andrea, Helen Free, Albert Paolantonio, Margaret Uglow and myself, as well as Gina Gianoli, a teacher of Italian Language at Trinity School in Falls Church, VA who studied in Agnone about 5 years ago.

We all enjoyed a light reception afterwards. Needless to say, the program piqued the interest of a few people (Albert, Helen and Maria) who are seriously considering attending the program in June 2017! Special thanks to Father Ezio and Joe Lupo for allowing us to use the Casa Italiana Language Library for the presentation, and to Helen Free for providing light refreshments and really good wine!