His name is Roberto, but he also responds to "Robert" or "Rob," and for a few weeks now, even to "Teacher Rob." A Vicentino born in 1942, after a past of work in America, he stepped into the classroom to teach English to his peers, or almost peers. "They asked me if I wanted to have conversations with seniors, and I said sure, they're my colleagues." A commitment met with enthusiasm and offered voluntarily, which Rob carries out at the aggregation center of Villaggio del Sole managed by the Senior Veneto association. The appointment for members is on Tuesdays, from 3 to 4 p.m., for an hour of dialogue in English. And it doesn't matter if you don't know a single word, the important thing is to dive in. The group is diverse, "about twenty people already in the first lesson." Each with their own baggage and at their own pace. "For example, I pretend I have to go on a trip - explains Rob - and then I start by packing my suitcase, then there's the ticket to buy and so on. Or there are introductions, your name, how you are. And inbetween, some verbs and some pronouns. I'm not a teacher, we just have chats." Rob's background is indeed of a different nature. "I was born in Chiampo, then I attended Rossi in Vicenza.
My mother was a war widow and remarried an American stationed in Vicenza. When I was 16, we moved to America." Destination: Washington State. "I attended high school, then I enlisted in the US Army and had a military career." In the late 1980s, retirement, the return to Vicenza, and employment as a civilian for ten years at Ederle. And the encounter with Senior Veneto. "I'm happy to lend a hand," he says. In class, they start with the classics "good afternoon" and "how are you?" "I used English for work," says a student of Greek origin, 70 years old, "I worked in marketing for a company. Now I'd like to pick it up a bit." "I only know three words," adds another lady. But it doesn't matter. "I had difficulties abroad," says Maurizio, 70 years old, "in Greece, for example, I didn't understand what I was eating. So when I came back, I started studying English. Ten years have passed, and now I can practice it here." Gianna, 72 years old: "I had taken a few courses, and when I heard about this opportunity, I signed up."
The idea arose from discussions with specialists from the Department of Psychology at the University of Padua. "They told us that learning languages and doing theater stimulates older people a lot at the mnemonic level," says Vincenzo Gigli, president of Senior Veneto, "so we wanted to include these activities in our offer as well." An experiment that works, so much so that the association is ready to launch a French course, also for members. (GdV, martedì 27 febbraio)