Ciao ragazzi,
It was not my intention to take over the English conversation class from Livia. She was doing just fine before I stumbled into the room. But since she has been gracious enough to allow me to put my handprint, as well as occasional footprint, on our weekly sessions, I would like to offer, in this blog, a sense of what I am trying to achieve among us.

My first goal is to create a warm and inviting environment in which speaking English, even badly, is encouraged. Some of us in the group have to overcome embarrassment just to open their mouths and utter a sentence; I want to help make it easier for them to do so. Some of us in the group speak English very well; I want to encourage them to improve and answer, if I can, any questions they have about grammar and usage. Our evening together should be both entertaining and enlightening. When the conversation among the group gets going and reaches the point where I can sit back and listen, I feel that I have done my job.

Giving everyone who wants to talk the chance to talk is my priority. I don’t want anyone to leave the room feeling that they were deprived of an opportunity to say at least one or two things. To prevent this, I must unfortunately deprive the better speakers from contributing too much. Further I must often nip in the bud a potentially stimulating conversation if I sense that it will go beyond the comprehension level of the majority of the group. Of course I often make errors of judgment in this regard and disappoint some who may wish to take things further.

In the future, Livia and Gaudia, (who, in case everyone doesn’t already know, speaks Sanskrit! God, I hate her!!), may decide to separate our group into two levels each meeting at a different time or different place. When some of us have, at times, taken over the conversation by the force of our personal passions, (you know who you are!), I have had to exert my dictatorial powers and redirect things toward a communal, rather than individualistic, environment. I apologize if I have stepped on anyone’s toes in doing so.

Finding stimulating topics to discuss is the weekly challenge. Admittedly, it has been my weak point. I have not put sufficient thought into preparing a topic for each session.  My recent and obsessive effort in trying to get everyone interested in talking about sex, which has resulted in the disappearance of several of our group members as well as one lawsuit filed against me, is obviously not something that I will continue pushing in the future.

On the other hand, Gaudia’s idea of having everyone read from the letter of the American mother whose son was killed in the Iraq occupation encouraged me to do something similar. I thought that our last week’s reading from Kahil Gibran’s, The Prophet, and the subsequent discussion, went very well. At our next meeting, I will take Livia’s advice and start off by reading out loud from the book that I plan to bring before having everyone else read the same passages out loud. This should be of some help for everyone with his or her reading as well as with better understanding the theme of the passage before our conversation begins.

As we all know, Monday, December 12, may be our final gathering. The library hours may soon be going back to their previous incarnation. I am hopeful, though, that the Ministri di Potenze alla Biblioteca Rispoli, (or, as we say in inglese- “the head muck-a-mucks), will decide to maintain the current hours of operation so that we can continue meeting every Monday evening. If my hopes are dashed, as they usually are, then perhaps we can arrange to meet at another time. Or, if the Comune di Roma permits, at another place.
And perhaps, at that time, everyone will be as interested in talking about sex as I am.

Michael Robeson