Episode 20: My Three Weeks Learning Italian in Siena

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Read Janet's full article in the January 2023 issue of International Living Magazine here: My Three Weeks Learning Italian in Siena.
“I’m too old to learn a new language!” is a phrase we hear a lot at International Living. But it’s based on a misconception. Most of us believe that children have some innate language-learning ability that somehow disappears as we get older. But is that really true? Isn’t it just that we get busier? Or find other things to take up our time?
When you think about it, there are lots of reasons why learning a language when we’re older makes sense. We know what a sentence is. We know what verbs do. We have a much better grasp of our own grammar…which makes it easier to learn it in a different language.
Janet Buell didn’t swallow the old line about it being difficult. Instead, she enrolled in a full-immersion Italian class in the picturesque Tuscan city of Siena.
Once there, she found that it wasn’t just a new language she was learning—it was a whole new way of life. A life devoted to excellent food, wine, conviviality, tradition, and beauty. Diving headfirst into Italian life, with a team of dedicated teachers who were delighted to show her the ins and outs of life in an ancient Italian city, Janet soon found that learning a language has come a long, long way from reciting verb constructions in a dusty high school classroom.
Host, Jim Santos, gets the inside track on the nicest way to pick up the lingo, in the latest episode of International Living’s Bigger Better World podcast.…
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1. Episode 20: My Three Weeks Learning Italian in Siena (00:00:00)

2. 10 years an expat in Ireland, but with a love for all things Italian too (00:01:57)

3. “I was only supposed to go for a week…I was there for almost three months.” (00:03:13)

4. I discovered myself, just immersing myself in the culture. (00:05:19)

5. No cars in the city—you have to go up the hills on an escalator. (00:09:24)

6. “On Friday afternoons, the teachers make lunch…it’s a community experience." (00:11:13)

7. Walking to school as the city prepares for the Pallio medieval games tournament (00:21:48)

8. “Platters of food, bruschetta, little pizzas, crostini…and then we'd have wine.” (00:27:13)

9. “In Europe…almost everything is close or a short flight away." (00:31:47)