Una settimana in UK (Wimbledon – Londra)

Durante la settimana che andava dal 5 all’11, le classi 3H, 3G e 4D del Liceo scientifico  Marinelli hanno partecipato ad uno stage linguistico a Wimbledon, Londra, accompagnati  da quattro insegnanti. È stata un’avventura non solo linguistica, ma anche culturale, che ci  ha lasciato ricordi indelebili. 

Partiti all’alba in corriera dal parcheggio della scuola, abbiamo raggiunto l’aeroporto di  Venezia e volato fino a Gatwick, dove una corriera ci attendeva per portarci dalle nostre  host families. Queste famiglie ci hanno accolto a braccia aperte, offrendoci un assaggio  autentico della vita londinese. 

Le nostre giornate erano strutturate in modo efficace: lezioni di inglese interattive al  mattino e attività pomeridiane diverse ogni giorno. Le lezioni, basate sui nostri livelli di  inglese, erano focalizzate sulla comunicazione pratica, arricchendo il nostro vocabolario e  le competenze di ascolto. 

Nel pomeriggio, abbiamo esplorato Londra: dal tour a piedi dei suoi famosi monumenti,  alla visita alla National Gallery, dove abbiamo partecipato ad un’attività interattiva sui  dipinti. Abbiamo anche avuto tempo libero per lo shopping e per assaporare una tipica  tazza di tè inglese. Non sono mancate visite al British Museum e a Camden Town, dove  abbiamo esplorato mercatini e negozi vintage. 

La sera, tornavamo alle nostre famiglie ospitanti, condividendo pasti e conversazioni,  un’occasione unica per immergerci in diverse culture e modi di vita. 

L’ultimo giorno, dopo aver salutato le nostre famiglie ospitanti e restituito le Oyster card,  siamo tornati a Udine, arricchiti da questa esperienza che ha rafforzato non solo le nostre  competenze linguistiche, ma anche la nostra autonomia e apertura verso nuove culture. 

In sintesi, questa settimana di studio all’estero è stata un’occasione unica di crescita  personale e culturale, che ci ha permesso di affrontare nuove sfide e scoprire il mondo in  modi che non avremmo mai immaginato. Spero che anche voi possiate vivere  un’esperienza altrettanto arricchente! 

Qui una galleria fotografica video su quest’esperienza.

A personal experience…  A CULTURAL STUDY WEEK 

During the week between the fifth and the twelfth of November 2023 my classmates and I, with  two other classes, went on a study-trip to Wimbledon and London.

We got up early in the morning and the flight was pleasant, but I’d like to focus on the activities we  did. 

The first day, we went sightseeing.  

We saw the Big Ben – which we discovered to be the name of the bell, not of the tower! – Westminster Cathedral, the London Eye – which I adored! It’s always been my dream to ride it – a  lot of monuments dedicated to the people who died at war, the Treasury and a lot of other  buildings. I have to admit, I was so mesmerised by the beauty of a whole new city to explore that I  forgot most of the information the guide was telling us. Oops!  

On the second day, we visited the National Gallery.  

Much to my disgrace – and to the happiness of others, we only had an hour to go around the  museum and it got purely occupied by us answering a survey made by the teachers, in which the  name of a painting was mentioned and we had to find the work and answer some questions. I have  to admit, I didn’t really understand some of the questions, since various sets of skills were required  for this type of work, such as observation, reasoning and general knowledge, but I was lucky  enough to get some help from a few of my classmates and friends. 

In any case, I had the opportunity to spend a few minutes to wander around with one of my friends,  and we discovered that the artists range varied from Italian artists, like Canaletto, Michelangelo  and Botticelli, to foreign ones, like Van Gogh, Klimt and Holbein.  

After the visit, we had an hour to wander around Leicester Square, and we got to see a lot of cool  shops.  

On the third day, we were supposed to go on another sightseeing walk, but it was so windy and  cold that our teachers were forced to change the program last-minute: we went shopping on  Oxford Street! It was so fun, there were lots of interesting shops, and it was a bit weird seeing  some of the same shops we have here, in Italy. 

If I have to be honest, during that afternoon I was feeling so lucky to have been able to fly to  London and see all those shining lights and monuments with my friends.  

On the fourth day, we went to the British Museum.  

Here, we were divided into groups to carry out an activity similar to the one done in the National  Gallery, but less time-consuming, to allow us to visit the museum’s many rooms on our own: using  a survey, we had to find a single artefact to describe and photograph, so that our teachers could  create a board on “Padlet” full of culture and student opinions regarding these artefacts.  After this activity was finished, my friends and I were able to explore the various exhibits offered by  the museum. It was filled with Egyptian, Greek, Roman and even Oriental exhibits, although the  room that was deemed most important by the teachers was the one that contained the exhibits  from the Greek Pantheon. In this exhibit, in fact, it was possible to see what remains of the  pediment of this ancient temple, as well as a scale reconstruction of the monument and discover  the history behind it. It was massive, and I was so mesmerised by it that I stopped there staring at  it for a good five minutes.  

While my friend Alexandra and I were walking around the Greek art exhibit, she told me: “I could  spend hours and hours inside this museum, you could forget me in there and I wouldn’t even  complain.”.  

After the visit to the museum, our teachers took us to have dinner together in a very nice pub. My  friends and I had a table all to ourselves, the food was great and we had a lot of fun just talking and  sharing.  

On the fifth and final day before the departure, we got to see Camden town, a famous English  street that was filled with both cultural and non-cultural shops. We only had an hour to buy stuff,  and most of us used this time to buy some souvenirs and presents for our relatives. On Saturday, we packed our bags and sadly left for the airport.

All in all, it was a really fun experience, and we got to learn a lot about the English culture and  language. 

Marianna