IL DIPARTIMENTO
Are you glad you decided to study French and Italian
at Bristol?
Absolutely. Languages are really in demand at the
moment, especially native English speakers who can
speak foreign languages. Lots of companies are looking
to expand abroad, especially in Europe, so a University of
Bristol languages degree is a great opportunity. I picked
up Italian from scratch when I started my degree course
and I’m really glad I did. It was a great opportunity to
learn a new language and I felt that the quality of teaching
that I got at Bristol was excellent and gave me a really
good groundwork in the language. I was drawn to Italy
for various reasons, from having a teacher at school who
really encouraged me to take up Italian to being a big
football fan! When I started learning more about Italy I
fell in love with the country and the Italian way of life. I
also met my fiancée, Laurie, when we were both studying
French and Italian at Bristol. We’re currently planning our
honeymoon in Italy!
Which would you say are your favourite cities in Italy?
I love Florence; I’m even a Fiorentina fan now! I also think
Vicenza is one of the most beautiful Italian cities. On my
year abroad, it was great to compare the more rural Tuscany to the stylish cities of the north-east. When I went to
Bologna as well, I thought it was such a great university
city. Because of its position in Italy, its culture around food
and its massive Erasmus community I thought that it had
a real buzz to it.