Get thee to a language school. It's worth it

Seattle Times Travel editor Terry Tazioli is off to Rome for a while, on his annual quest for good food, good wine, good friends and a new Italian verb form or two.

Lest you think I while away my days in Rome consulting an ancient muse or two, lounging on a couch sampling wines, or shoe shopping — I don't.

I go to school, to Italiaidea, a private language school near the city's famed Spanish Steps.

It has become my home away from home. I've been studying at it for several summers. I am convinced, despite the staff's protestations, that I must have been the worst Italian speaker they'd ever seen when I marched through the front doors a few years back. But I've persevered. And it's better now.

I'm in class every day, five days a week. I'm in a group class for three hours, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., I get a break of an hour, and then I'm back for an individual session from 2 to 3:30 p.m. I think I'm nuts. I know they think I'm nuts. It's a lot to do every day. But I am determined, each year, to leave better equipped and more confident in Italian than I was the year before.

No, immersion language study is not a prime tourist activity. Because — there's homework! Every day. And, trust me, by the time I stagger out of the afternoon lesson, I am ready to collapse — first at the Bar Farnese at Piazza Farnese for a very large, cold beer, and then onto the couch at the apartment. Of course, that doesn't last long, because I realize I have homework to do, and I put myself to that task.

Because of all of this, I'm delighted that things like dinner, concerts, plays, movies, you name it, usually don't start until 8:30 p.m. at the earliest, which gives me some recovery time, and a wonderful evening to look forward to.

Over the years, I've read a few travel stories whose authors eschew the notion of immersing yourself in another language while on vacation. They say you should rest instead, that the immersion doesn't do you any good because it's too difficult and because you parachute in the middle of courses and never catch up. That many schools aren't very good and there's no way to judge quality in advance. That immersion is too expensive or doesn't concentrate on the correct things.

Sorry, but I think those authors are nuts.

I see the opposite. For me, the language is a rest, and a great adventure.

It's not hard to find a good school — just ask around. The University of Washington, for example, has courses in nearly every language you can imagine. Ask for recommendations from the faculty. There also are various private language schools in Seattle — call one that's appropriate to your desires and ask for advice. Take some classes there, while you're at it, to begin to warm up.

If really want to do this overseas and you pass up the opportunity, you pass up the chance to learn a language, a culture and, as importantly, to meet like-minded fellow students from all over the world.

If I'd passed on this summer, I wouldn't have had the chance to meet Noora, Vittoria, Mariusz, Carolina and Susan. And I wouldn't have missed them for the world. We are from Finland, Greece, Poland, England and Scotland — and all sorts of backgrounds. We've traded stories, and adventures, talked about politics and customs and the price of a cappuccino.

Over the years I remember Veronica, in Rome from South Korea and studying opera; Ozgur, from Hungary, studying to be a priest, who showed off his shoulder tattoos; , Nori, from Japan, in Rome for a year learning how to make pizza so he could open up a shop in his country; Gui, the French-speaking priest who had a knack for finding the coolest shoes in Rome; Yukiko, a vet from Japan, who simply took a year off and came to Rome because she loved it and wanted to learn the language. The group I treasure the most: My teachers. Even when I'm in the U.S., I think of them all the time, how much fun they are, how good they are at what they do and, at least with me, how incredibly patient. Nicoletta, Paolo, Nadia, Filippo, Chiara (both of them!) and Roberta (who was one of my first teachers). And Carolina, director at Italiaidea, who sees me coming the first day and in an instant makes me so happy to be at home again in Rome.