MY NIGHTMARE DATE
One of the activities that all books suggest is “to describe a person that could potentially be your best date.” This was also the case of XX, a book that I used for a summer program at IES in Milano in the summer of 2017.
In class the students discussed the qualities their ideal partners should have, with no enthusiasm. So, I decided to assign them for homework the description of their nightmare partner. They had to come up with a solid description, adding hobbies, and personal background stuff. Extra points for those who would draw their character, no matter the quality of the drawing. Two days later they showed up with their nightmare dates complete of ID pictures. My students had a lot of fun explaining in Italian what they disliked about the people they invented and I decided to challenge them again with the quest for their ideal date. This time they enthusiastically accepted and two days later they showed up with more drawings and descriptions.
What they did not know was that I kept their nightmare partner materials which they found attached to the whiteboard. That day I had a different challenge in mind for them: they had to match one ideal partner to a nightmare and act the script of their first date.
Students spent a good 20 minutes between matching the couples and deciding which character to play. In the end we all had a great time hearing the dialogues and surprisingly we discovered that some characters decided to change and be less of a “stronzo” to make their date work. Some others, instead, lived the rest of their fictional lives alone; for instance, Marta and Giuseppe who reciprocally broke their hearts to find comfort in their careers.
What this activity taught me is that not everybody is exited of practicing Italian to describe ‘always positive things’, such as an ideal partner. This activity gave them the opportunity to practice a ‘negative’ vocabulary that is often missing in books.
What motivated the students in some cases was the possibility of discussing ridiculous thingsand to write and draw caricatures. Such was the case of Giuseppe a fisherman who dreamed about losing a hand to become a modern Capitan Hook. In other cases, students wanted to bring to class real stereotypes with whom they had to cope in real life. For instance, Viola was the stereotypical gothic girl prone to depression, and David was the classic selfish football player as good-looking as empty inside.
Students also discussed about their sexuality with their classmates, arguing that for them the worst partner would be a different sex person. The supportive response they received from the classmates and me (aka the teacher and arbiter of the conversation) made them feel safe to laugh about their nightmare partner and appreciate some of the others ideal partners that could also be suitable for them. In the end one student took a moment to share with me and the class their prejudice about the homophobic reputation of Italy. In the end, the entire class concluded that it seemed that nobody cared about someone else’s sexuality in Milano.