Case Study – Katherine Hudson, August 2026
As required by my degree course, I spent a year abroad: one semester in Spain and one in Bergamo, Italy, the latter in which I was supported financially by the John Speak Trust Grant.
While I studied at the University of Bergamo, I was lucky enough to live with an Italian host family and I feel that this was truly what made my experience valuable. For me it was perfect to be around someone with culinary training to introduce me to Italian dishes, a multilingual export consultant with a background in linguistics, a young worker and another student. After the first few days, we spoke in Italian together all the time, which was a challenge but such a useful environment to learn and grow in. Apart from when contacting friends and family in the UK, and chatting with international friends I made there, my six months were spent almost entirely in Italian.
My confidence has grown immensely as I remember being very nervous at the beginning of my trip to speak Italian with “real” Italians who might judge me for any errors. However, everyone was so welcoming that I felt like I overcame that fear quite quickly. While I still get some nerves initiating a conversation in a foreign language, I know that it’s irrational and that I am capable of having full conversations in Italian. As it’s a muscle in need of exercise, I am excited to practise my Italian whenever I can and since returning to the UK, I have been attending local language exchanges to meet other learners and native speakers of Italian and practise conversations together which has been a really lovely way to connect with my local community and maintain the language I’ve picked up from my time in Italy.
To anyone considering spending a significant period of time abroad like this, I urge you to give it a try! It has challenged me in so many ways but I have to recommend living with native speakers, especially if they are locals, as they can show you around, invite you to community events, introduce you to their family and friends, and answer any questions you have about the region and its culture. My year abroad has been such a fantastic component of my degree and I’m so grateful I was able to do it as there aren’t many chances in life to pack your bags and be immersed in a foreign language for six months!
I met such wonderful people in and around Bergamo and I feel like I learned so much. On top of achieving good grades at the university, I hiked Canto Alto (a mountain in the Bergamo Alps), went to the theatre and the cinema, got tickets to the Milan Winter Olympics, witnessed a referendum and the Sanremo Music Festival for the first time, and saw the celebrations of the republic and Liberation Day. I visited several parts of northern and central Italy: Milan, Brescia, Sirmione, Crespi d’Adda, Turin, Florence, Montalcino, Pienza, Montepulciano, Rimini, San Marino, Bologna and Venice. All of this improved my knowledge of Italy’s politics, geography, religious background, history, linguistic situation, and of course my Italian improved greatly. Italy has such a rich history and culture both as a nation and at a regional and local level. It has fascinated me and I’m pleased to have had such a great opportunity to learn about it both from university lecturers and from the family I stayed with and the locals I met.
With the support of the John Speak Trust grant came comfort and the freedom to travel and try new things, and not having to worry about missing out on experiences due to my small budget. These experiences have been so valuable to me, so I’d like to thank the trust for their help. I also found writing six monthly reports for the trust in Italian and English allowed me to reflect on my time in Italy, practise my Italian writing skills, widen my Italian vocabulary, and get used to translating texts into my native language – all very useful skills.
In summary, I had an amazing time, greatly improved my Italian, and learned so much about Italy and its education, workplace, and culture. Spending such a long time immersed in the language in Italy was such an incredible experience. I am looking forward to going back some day and can definitely see myself working and thriving in Italy or in an international context in the future and using the skills I’ve learned this year. I would love to explore more of Italy as it is such a beautiful country, and I can’t wait to see where my language skills take me!