Formaggi d’italia sono favolosi e che modo migliore per goderne di alcuni che assaggiarli mentre si fa una lezione d’Italiano! Questo lo faremo quando studiamo a Venice Italian School in Aprile. La lezione inizia fuori dal negozio, nel bel Campo della Cordaria, dove prima parliamo della nostra conoscenza dei formaggi Italiani e poi entriamo nel negozio della famiglia Aliani che ci aspetterà con un assortimento di formaggi da provare. Noi studenti avremo l’opportunità di ascoltare Signor Filippo, il figlio del proprietario, mentre lui ci spiega come si fa il formaggio e le origini dell’impresa della famiglia. Poi avremo l’opportunità di parlare con tutta la famiglia per esercitare la lingua ed esprimerci in un ambiente amichevole, senza stress.
Italian cheeses are fabulous and what better way to enjoy them than tasting them during an Italian lesson! This is exactly what you will do when you study at Venice Italian School in April with Melissa. The lesson begins in the beautiful Campo della Cordaria, where we will first talk about our “cheesy” knowledge and then we will enter into the store where the Aliani family will be expecting us with an assortment of cheese to sample. Students will have the chance to listen to Signor Filipo, the owner’s son, while he tells us about how the cheese is made and the family business. Then we will have the change to talk with the entire family and practice the language in a friendly stress free environment.
Avremo sempre alla nostra disposizione, Diego e gli insegnanti di Venice Italian School per aiutarci con nuove parole e modi di dire. Secondo me si può imparare meglio quando si ride e quando si mangia. Ma durante il nostro soggiorno a Venezia in aprile avremo tante altre possibilità di ridere insieme, mentre assaggiamo vino e frequentiamo lezioni di cucina. Altre attività divertente che aiuterà il nostro apprendimento della lingua: imparare a soffiare vetro, avere lezioni di “voga alla veneta” e fare un “treasure hunt” sul mercato di Venezia. Andiamo anche in bicicletta lungo il lido. Immaginate il vostro livello d’Italiano dopo aver fatto tutto questo?!
We will always have at hand, Diego and the teachers from Venice Italian School to help us with new words and expressions. In my opinion one learns better when one is laughing and when one is eating. But during our stay in Venice in April we will also have many other occasions to laugh together such as when we are wine tasting and taking cooking classes. Other fun activities that will help us remember pesky new vocabulary and grammar will be learning how to blow venetian glass, gondola lessons and taking part in treasure hunts in the Venice market. We will also bike along Venice’s lido. Just immagine what your level of Italian will be after all of that!
Allora vi lascio al mio co-host Diego per raccontare in inglese l’escursione di formaggio nel Campo della Cordaria:
Even their name – PerBacco, Gorgonzola, Morlacco, Taleggio – is intriguing and mouth-watering.
The Morlacco, a type of cheese originated in the Dalmatian plains where the people of Morlachs used to live many centuries ago. The PerBacco, prepared with a procedure that involves months of maturing under red wine that gives it that lovely purple color and inebriating taste. The Gorgonzola piccante, with that mixed green and blue shades that seem to come out straight of a Titian painting.
These are only a few of the different types of cheese which are available for our students to taste, flavor and enjoy during our unique 
Formaggi d’Italia lesson.
Set in the fascinating and lovely cheese-smelling iconic shop La Casa del Parmigiano – 2 minutes from the Rialto Bridge – this lesson takes our students right to the heart of a great Venetian and Italian tradition. The shop has been run for generations by the Aliani family and it is a favorite even for the everyday shopping of Commissario Brunetti’s wife in the best-selling novels by Donna Leon.
Our lesson begins just outside the shop, in the lovely Campo della Cordaria, where we will brainstorm students’ previous knowledge of cheese and share everyone’s passion for it. The lesson then enters its core and moves inside the shop, where the Aliani family will be waiting for us: several different types of cheese will be available for students to taste while listening to Signor Filippo – son of the owner – introducing their origins, their process of maturing and preparation. Students will be encouraged to actively participate in an open discussion with Signor Aliani father, Signora Aliani mother and Filippo himself, sharing their impressions and their preferences on the different types of cheese.
Listening to the Aliani’s family answers and explanations, contributing to the debate with one’s own personal take on a particular cheese; and then taking notes of what the discussion has been about and the peculiarities of each different type of formaggio: this lesson is fun and practical learning at its very best. We are extremely happy to be able to offer this hands-in, interactive learning activity to our students.
Finally, the language, the idioms, the pronunciation and all the issues that arise during the cheese tasting part of the lesson will be analyzed and discussed with Diego and Lucia, either during the lesson at the Casa del Parmigiano or the following day in class. A fundamental language feedback to group up new structures, vocabulary and expressions learned.
Oh, I was about to forget: it will all be further enhanced by some good wines to match the cheese and complement the experience
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