Project by: Ruthanne Staskowski (10th Grade), Nina Gerzema (10th Grade)
Project Advisor: Jess Prohias-Gardiner
Student(s)’s Advisor(s): Kara Luce, Jess Prohias-Gardiner

For this project, we set out to learn the basics of Italian because we were interested in learning another language. We thought it would be useful when traveling in an Italian speaking country, or just when we overheard someone speaking it. We chose Italian because it has many similarities to English, and we felt that we would be able to accomplish a higher level of understanding in the short period of time we had by speaking this particular language versus another language not as similar to English.

We studied on Duolingo every day up until finals week and scheduled meetings with Jess, our project advisor, to check in on how we were doing. Our end point was going to Café Belle, an Italian bakery which was recommended to us by Jess. Below is the handbook we have created to display what we have learned and to give others a starter on learning Italian.

Learning Italian: Reflection

One thing that we have learned after doing this honors project is how much more of a language you can learn than what you might have thought if you practice every day. A challenge that arose while working on this project was finding a time that we could all meet, so we ended up figuring out meeting dates as we went along. Our original plan was to shoot a video of us speaking Italian, but as we approached the end of the trimester, we realized that there wouldn’t be enough time for us to shoot it in time. However, our decision to not shoot a video led to our very fortunate visit to Café Belle and the bags of Italian cookies we got to take home afterward. Overall, learning Italian was an amazing experience and will come in handy if we travel abroad.

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PROJECT PROPOSAL

Please write a description of the project you are proposing. Why do you want to take this on, and what do you hope to learn?

We hope to learn the basics of Italian because we are interested in learning another language and would like to be able to get around when traveling in an Italian speaking country, or just when we overhear someone speaking it. We have chosen Italian because it has many similarities to English, and we feel that we would be able to accomplish a higher level of understanding by speaking this particular language versus another language not similar to English in a shorter period of time.

Critical thinking, creativity, citizenship, and courage are essential LREI learning values. Explain how you’ll draw on at least one of these values to complete your proposed project?

We believe that our project takes courage and creativity because we are stepping out of our comfort zone and expanding our horizons by learning a new language and creating and designing our own guidebook.

What is your proposed outcome? How will you be able to demonstrate successful completion of this Project? How do you plan to share your learnings with the larger LREI community (e.g., exhibit of work, poster of learnings, performance, etc.)?

To show how much we have learned we will make a slideshow “guide book” with useful words, phrases, and sentences so others can interact with people who speak Italian. The book will be composed of terms that we have learned on our own and find helpful in understanding or having a conversation. We will visit Café Belle an Italian bakery owned by an Italian speaker. The final thing that we plan to have is our guide book with important phrases/words, how to order food, and how to build a sentence.

Please provide a general outline that indicates your work plan for the trimester? What are some of the key project benchmarks (i.e., goals that will help to ensure that you finish the project)?

Six weeks of learning on Duolingo (watching videos, TV shows, and movies in Italian) while adding what we have learned to our guide book. We will take pictures at Café Belle during finals week after school and complete the final draft of the guide book.

When do you plan on meeting?
Friday after school