Develop new skills on a gap year in Florence
Why learning Italian, or how to paint, on a year out in Florence can be a life-changing experience
By Susannah Price
Published: 13 August 2007
In the early hours of the morning I found myself walking through the Piazza della Signoria in the heart of Florence. Next to me were a Swiss and a Belgian girl, and a Mexican boy. It was the first week of my gap year abroad and, I was just beginning to realise, the beginning of a great adventure. As the pigeons swooped through the arched corridors of the Uffizi museum and out over the Arno river behind us, my new friends and I chatted about our daily lives.
Which outdoor café should we breakfast in tomorrow, before attending Italian language lessons? Where should we have lunch before our cooking and art classes in the afternoon? Most important, which of the many bars should we go to in the evening to try out our recently acquired language skills? Like a lot of 18-year-olds, I wanted to take a year out before heading off to university. I wanted to go abroad, meet new people from around the world, and have exciting experiences. But I also wanted to come back from my year out with something more durable than a great sun tan and a trekking-guide boyfriend from Peru.
Studying abroad in Florence - a beautiful and historic place that attracts large numbers of international students - was the solution. I could become fluent in another language, visit amazing museums in the city that was the cradle of the Renaissance, and be inspired to start drawing again.
I could also go drinking and dancing at clubs and bars, develop a taste and an unprecedented tolerance for shots of limoncello and grappa and on Sunday afternoons, hire mopeds and drive out to villages in the hills.
What you choose to study in Florence is up to you: there are as many kinds of courses as there are nationalities studying on them. There are courses that focus entirely on learning the Italian language and others that combine language with other subjects such as art, history of art, Italian culture, cooking, wine and architecture. If opera is your thing, there are schools offering lessons in that art form.
As in most language schools across Europe, the language part is often taught in the mornings (usually over four hours, with a cappuccino break in the middle), while extracurricular courses take place in the afternoon. There are also courses where the language part is optional, with the main focus on studying art or art history, two popular examples.
Bosco Hernandez, from Mexico City, chose to study a course mainly concerned with painting and print making at the Lorenzo de Medici school. "I wanted to be exposed to a different culture, be away from home and try to learn more about me and what I wanted to do with my life," he says. "I was so excited to be away from home and to be involved in the arts. It was a wonderful place to be. There were so many students like me, who came from different parts of the world. Everyone was so eager to meet other people and be exposed to different cultures."
The course was made up of two to three studio or practical classes, and a class in art theory. If you haven't picked up a paint brush for years, or if your language skills don't extend to more than naming types of pizza, there is no need to worry - most schools will provide placement tests to put you in the right class for your ability. Most schools will offer classes in English, and as your Italian improves you can start to take classes in the language.
For Hernandez the decision to study art in Florence had a far-reaching impact on his life. Studying art in Florence changed his future direction. "When I left Mexico I had already been enrolled in a business school in Mexico City," he says. "For so many young people there is so much pressure to jump straight from high school to college or university. I was supposed to start studying business administration right after the summer. I really didn't know what I wanted to do and I felt I hadn't been exposed to the arts enough at my high school.
"After six months of painting and drawing I knew that there was no way I would be able to study business administration. I was thriving at what I was doing, because I really loved it. I never felt I was in school."
During his art course Hernandez applied to the Rhode Island School of Design in the US. "I really think my experience in Florence boosted my application," he says.
Taking a year to study abroad, either for the fun of developing new skills or to try something out before committing to study it at university is a great investment. There are different ways of studying to suit any budget: the majority of schools in Florence run courses from as short as a week long, or anything up to a whole academic year (36 weeks).
There is a lot of choice of accommodation. You can share with fellow students, or ask to be placed with a host family, an experience which will help increase your knowledge of Italian and perhaps your waistline as you eat a lot of home-cooked meals.
However you choose to study abroad, you can be sure of one thing, you will remember the parties, the people you met, the places you saw (and the language and painting skills of course!) for the rest of your life.
Contacts
For more information about spending your gap year in Italy, including length and costs of courses, go to:
Art History Abroad
www.arthistoryabroad.com
Guide price: six-week course travelling throughout Italy, including all tuition, transport, accommodation and organised entertainment from £4,950
Lorenzo de Medici
www.lorenzodemedici.it
Guide price: one-week Italian language course starts at £142
Languages Abroad
www.languagesabroad.co.uk
Guide price: 36-week course with accommodation from £5,500
British Institute
www.britishinstitute.it
Guide price: four-week life drawing course from £185
Independent Offers
A-Z site map
Indy 100 prices
MORE: Travel podcasts
SAVE: Travel offers
FREE: Email headlines