The lessons I have learned on my school trip

I have had a few interactions go less than ideally, for example, asking for the price per kilogram of candy at a small shop and completely missing the actual price the worker told me. Additionally, for many of the questions I ask, people choose to just respond in English. But I haven’t let those deter me, and with each conversation that follows, I become more confident. After each positive interaction, when the other person responds in Italian, and I understand, I feel a sense of accomplishment that is difficult to find anywhere else.

I feel accomplished not just because I am using a skill I learned for over five years in school, but because I am succeeding in something with which I thought I would only struggle.

Aside from my own sense of pride, even in interactions when I attempt to speak in Italian, I notice people are much friendlier and more willing to help. Seeing effort, even if it does not lead to perfection, leads to warmer interactions. I have seen the wheels turning in multiple people’s brains, trying to decode what I am saying rather than just asking me to repeat what I said in English. Our class’ bus driver was overjoyed when he found out that our class studies Italian in school, even if we would still have to do some of the tours in English. It was obvious that even if our mistakes made things slower, people appreciated us putting in the effort to learn their native tongue.

This experience has also made me appreciate the people who must navigate the world every single day, without the easy fallback option of speaking in their own language. For me, the journey of learning a language is mostly for fun and my own goals, not something out of necessity. This trip has given me much more understanding and appreciation for the effort it takes to communicate with a language barrier.

In my personal life, I often don’t want to try new things if I think I won’t be good at them. Like many people, I am scared of making mistakes and being a beginner in things. Making so many mistakes in Italy in front of strangers has given me exposure, but also shown me that no one is expecting perfection. Even though it can take a lot of vulnerability to try speaking to a new person in a new language, it is important to remember that your willingness to try matters. Even though I didn’t expect to, communicating imperfectly has become one of the most memorable aspects of my trip.

Josie Wettan is a junior at Burlingame High School. Student News appears in the weekend edition. You can email Student News at news@smdailyjournal.com.