Giada Longo

The Yupik, a group of people living in Alaska, need about one hundred words related to the concept of ‘ice’, because the place where they live, the weather they have to face, their way of life, request it. Each language mirrors the vision a country and its inhabitants have of the world. Hence those who are able to speak more than one language are privileged, because they have the possibility to peer into other cultures and to actively cooperate for their respect. This allows one to disclose new perspectives of the world, to widen one’s horizons and to get to know one’s own culture in a more conscious way. These are the reasons why I have been studying foreign languages since I was a child. I have started with English, continuing with French at the secondary school. I have attended a Linguistic Gymnasium for five years, focusing on the study of English, French, German and Latin and their respective literatures, looking at my native language too, Italian, which I have studied in more detail. After graduating, I have started learning Spanish on my own and in a few months I learnt to speak it as fluent as the other languages, and since this year I have been learning portuguese too, just for the pleasure I take in diving in another so interesting culture. Furthermore, I enjoy many aspects of stranger literature, particularly poetry which I take pleasure in reading, writing and analysing, but I feel the language has also much to offer. I also like painting, drawing and writing on my own, and i am finally attracted by any kind of multicultural communication. The study of cultures and literatures different from mine tough me to appreciate diversity and to be sensitive to humanitarian affairs and after acquiring these skills I feel like I need to get actively involved now in order to complete my personal growth.