Job Discussion Forums

sprightly · Joined: 07 May 2003 Posts: 136 Location: England

i'm going to do a three week gig this month, and would appreciate any thoughts on the little monstres.

they're between 12-17, and are streamed. i know to keep the pace high, change activity, etc. i'm told they're often very chatty but not always in english.

what sort of things would they like to talk about?
so far i have, well, football.
will the boys talk about shopping? is english langauge pop music common? english language movies?

what are some hip things with teenagers? are tehy wearing the plastic charity bracelets?
thanks!!

Teacher in Rome · Joined: 09 Jul 2003 Posts: 1286

Italian teenagers like clothes - they are very fashion conscious and will probably put you to shame! Just make sure your shoes and handbag match, or you will get pitying looks. (If you are a bloke, please pass this advice on to your female colleagues!)

Most films here are dubbed into Italian, so your teenagers are unlikely to have seen the original version. That is, of course, unless they are really keen and have seen the original on DVD.

They love anything to do with mobile phones: texting, ring tones, picture and video phones. Perhaps you could do something with that in your lessons?

I haven't seen any charity bracelets here. There is an Italian version of Live8, featuring a few old has-beens of Italian music, but most kids are at the beach in summer.

The kids in my neighbourhood are really very sweet. They seem to do a lot of kid hanging-out stuff, and to risk making gross generalisations, this is what they seem to like doing:

- smooching on scooters
- wearing either very baggy or very tight clothes
- displaying piercings / tattoos (though piercings are more popular)
- for girls, at least, wearing a ton of make-up
- spray-painting (not so good)
- practising dance moves

Hope you have fun!

stillnosheep · Joined: 01 Mar 2004 Posts: 2068 Location: eslcafe

sprightly · Joined: 07 May 2003 Posts: 136 Location: England

smucat · Joined: 11 Jul 2005 Posts: 5

summer school with italian teens was wicked, if knackering,and involving strange big-brother-esque living arrangements...(funfunfun).
popular lessons involved debating, arguing, team competitions. Having said that, the only thing they wanted to discuss was whether Britney Spears was a virgin. They were obsessed ! It was 2002, I guess you can no longer do that!
have fun and stay away from the handbags!