GeoVisions - Tutor English in Schools in Italy

I signed up for Geo Visions Conversation Partners in early 2012 and I was matched with a family in March. There were a few communication glitches in the pre-departure process, but everything worked out. Living in Italy has always been a dream of mine, and this seemed like the perfect way to be introduced to the culture and make some Italian friends. I have been here for two days and my host family (a couple my age with no children) have been wonderful. They are very flexible and easy-going, and their schedules will allow me lots of free time to explore the Florence/Tuscany region. So far, everything has been great and Geo Visions has followed through on everything they said they would.

Overall my experience with the Conversation Corp program from GeoVisions in Italy was very positive. My assignment was to spend 15-20 hours a week tutoring two lovely Italian teenagers [13 and 16] in English. To my surprise, both of them were already quite good so that was actually more of a challenge then I had imagined.Also, the parents inadvertently began learning some English as well which he kids had great fun mimicking and acting out, you'd be surprised how similar 'angry' and 'hungry' sound to an Italian.

I had traveled to Italy previously for a semester abroad and vacation. Once that travel bug hit me again, I was seeking a new way to explore a culture I already knew I loved. The home-stay program was wonderful for anyone seeking to really get involved with a family and their local network. I was told some families only want a tutor and some families want the whole experience, thankfully mine was the latter. [State that this kind of experience is what you are looking for on your app to avoid the first kind].

I suggest this program if you are a comfortable, independent traveler looking for a unique experience in a country. If you don't have prior Italian language experience, make sure you put that app as well. I was in an area where no one spoke English save one or two people and it was a challenge I loved [even though it was intimidating at times], but if that's not for you, tell them.

I have already been back to visit my Italian host family throughout my continued travels and the kids and I Facebook chat regularly. I don't keep up the blog I began during my time there anymore, allieinitaly.tumblr.com, but it's still up for anyone looking to learn more about the program or the beloved seaside town of Porto Sant'Elpidio.

I spent the summer of 2011 with a family in Civitanova Marche. I lived with a family who had one son. The family was absolutely amazing, and they took me into their home and treated me like family. I truly felt at home being with them. 5 days a week I would sit down with the son for an hour and teach him an English lesson. We worked on vocabulary through games. We worked on words that are used on a daily basis. I used the resources provided by GeoVisions, which were generally just ideas to spur a lesson. From the ideas, I would build on them. I used the internet a lot to find short movies, google translator (when we were really stuck), and images.

On the weekends, I would travel to nearby cities to site-see. I did have difficulty finding friends at first because of the location of the family home. We were not located in a town with easy walking as we were located in the countryside of beach area. I had to count on the family to drive me places. I did meet up with people, and we were able to travel together on the weekends or meet up on a week night. The good thing about it is that once we did get to hanging out, we continued our friendships back in the States. I actually just got back from Denver from meeting up with them.

I absolutely loved my time abroad in Civitanova and chalk it up to getting placed with a family that was a perfect fit for me.