What is it like to study in Italy? What are Italian universities like? What are the main challenges to be faced in this route?
If you are thinking of studying in Italy, this is a text made for you, as I will open the game and tell you my biggest challenges during my master’s degree in psychology.
First of all, I warn you that this article will be a little different from others, as it will have a more personal touch. I will tell you my personal adventure at the Italian university. If you like this style, please write it in the comments.
• Studying in Italy
My dream has always been to study abroad, because I was always a very curious person. I have always loved the Human Resources sector, but specifically the area of personal development. In this way, I remember when I was in graduation “psychology of work” in Brazil and I used to wonder: “Does everyone apply and use these techniques?”
Furthermore, I always thought the world is very rich and that we can learn from other people and other cultures. Anyway, I came to Italy in December 2011 for the Christmas holidays and decided to stay. Craziness, craziness, craziness…
If you want to know all my history and what I’ve learned, please access About us, on my website.
One of the things that motivated me to stay here was the possibility of studying in Italy and opening my mind to another point of view. When you decide to study in Italy, you have to go through these three steps:
- Documentation – At this step you should be very patient, as sometimes it takes time. What I did: I translated ALL of my academic files, then I presented at the Italian Consulate in Brazil and finally handed it to the university here in Italy.
- Money – I got a full scholarship.
- University – I searched for the best universities in my study area.
After these three steps and after university enrollment, other challenges begin.
Studying in Italy: my biggest challenges
a) The Italian language
I remember very well my first day of university… Chance wanted me to start with a Freud class, so I would be scared at once. Wow, I didn’t understand anything about what the professor said.
I was sad because I thought, “I’m fluent in Italian and I don’t have the ability to understand what the professor says.” What a tragedy!
After a moment of initial despair, I rolled up my sleeves and began to wonder how I could learn the technical language of psychology and finally understand the classes. What I did?
- I recorded the audio of the classes.
- I transcribed the audio.
- I looked for the meaning of words I did not understand.
- I studied until I knew everything.
I know, I know, a lot of work, but it was worth it!
b) Oral tests
I don’t know who had this “genius” idea of oral evidence.☺️ Irony aside, I had never taken an oral test in my life, at least as long as I could remember. Furthermore, here in Italy all the tests were oral. I think only on the statistical test was not so (for obvious reasons).
In this way, I found the oral test very difficult, because it is one thing for you to know the content studied, it is another thing for you to explain it. Especially when you are a foreigner who just arrived in Italy.
It was a big hurdle for me, but I got over it by summarising and repeating the content many times out loud. In addition, I would create a kind of Q&A document and ask questions to myself.
I will tell only one episode – oral sociology test
You may never have noticed, but each area of knowledge has its own language, for example: psychology, philosophy, statistics, sociology, etc.
Little by little I got used to the terms of psychology and learned them but each time the knowledge area changed; the challenges were enormous. And that’s what happened to me when I went to take the sociology test.
My Goodness, I had studied hard and really knew the content, but at the time of the test, I spoke like a child trying to explain the mechanics of a rocket. Can you imagine the scene?
As a result, I have to say it was very frustrating, but to learn a technical language, it takes time. Unfortunately, sometimes we don’t have this time.
To encourage you…
Today I am an assistant professor at the same university where I studied, and I am the one who asks the questions to the students. I’m here to tell you: if I did it, so can you!
c) Not being allowed to “talk” during lessons
I was used to classes in Brazil where there is a conversation, lessons are very dynamic, and the classes are small. It’s very different here. The classrooms are huge with 150 students.
That’s because I was doing a master’s degree, the undergraduate classes are even fuller, reaching 500 students. Can you imagine the size of these classrooms?
For that reason, professors use a microphone and obviously the interaction between the students drops a lot.
I, with my “Brazilian” mindset, when I had something I didn’t understand or was curious about, simply raised my hand to ask questions. I remember the first few times I did this, my classmates poked me to stop asking questions.
I have to confess that I didn’t change this habit of asking questions and ended up influencing my colleagues. It was so much that one day the professor said: “Does anyone have any questions to ask, except by the group of the front row?”
Obviously, I was part of the front row group! 😊
d) Formality
Here in Italy there is a great distance between the professor and the students. On the other hand, in Brazil, it is very common for students to be friends with professors and to go out to dinner together at the end of the semester. For example: I keep in touch with many of my Brazilian professors.
Because of this, I made terrible mistakes around here. For instance, once I knew the professors well, I swore I could “dare del tu” (use informal language) with them.
Then I’d open my smile and say “CIAOOOOOO”! My university classmates almost “died” so ashamed they were. They explained to me that I couldn’t talk like that. Moral of the story: In Italy, no matter how long you know a professor, you will ALWAYS “dare del Lei” (formal language) unless he tells you don’t have to.
I managed to get close to some teachers and even work with some of them, but the formality language remained.
I do not say that this is a negative aspect, but it is certainly an aspect to be respected.
Finally, these were my main challenges and I hope my experience will be useful for your life! Did you study here in Italy? What were your challenges? Tell us in the comments! I will definitely identify with some.
Next I will talk about the curiosities of the Italian universities. Sign up for my newsletter and stay tuned for all the latest news from the Italian job market. After all, the next step to study in Italy is to work in Italy.
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Best regards,
Marcela Oliveira
