I was booked to participate in an English Village program near Cittá di Castello in Umbria next week from 27 July to the 2nd August. Unfortunately, I´ve had some health problems this month and am not feeling well enough to participate, so I´ve just cancelled.

The organizers are hoping to recruit another person (or even two) to replace me, even though its last minute. To give a bit of background, this is a type of English immersion program for Italian professionals who want to improve their English. English speakers who attend simply have to converse in English all day, and in return get free food and accomodation, and generally a very enjoyable and social holiday.

Its a program that started in Spain, and I´ve done it three times at Spanish locations and have always really enjoyed it. The Italian program is fairly new though. You can check out the details at English village program .

You don´t need to speak any Italian to participate, in fact its preferred that you don´t, since its meant to be an English immersion program. But you do need to have English as a mother tongue or be extremely fluent. The bus for the program leaves Sunday morning for Umbria from Rome, but anyone who lived closer to Umbria could likely meet the group there, which is what i had intended to do.

If you are interested at all its best to send an email directly to Luke at the following address: anglos @ puebloingles.com, rather than trying to apply through the website.

I´d be happy to answer any general questions about the program in this thread.

Hey there! No one interested in this free program?

I know its sort of last minute but if you know of anyone who might be interested and available to go to Umbria next week, let me know.

I guess I feel a bit bad about cancelling on them last minute, so it would be great to find a replacement - a good time is guaranteed (and there is a pool onsite)

Perhaps I should post somewhere else, any suggestions?

Carolyn

Carolyn,

My wife and I are available. We are an Expat couple that lives in Monte San Savino (AR). However, we have an elderly dog that has mobility problem. We do not wish to leave her or board her at this time. Can the program and the hotel allow a dog? Also, since we are so close to Umbria, can we meet the group at the hotel?

My wife would be the primary person and I would also be available. She taught at Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC) before coming to Italy. She has experience in teaching customer service in a Hospitality Management program to speakers of a second language.

Our phone number is 0575 84 7059. I will also send an email MSG to Luke.

Ciao, Ben

Hi Ben,

That would be great if you and your wife can participate.

I am pretty sure you ll be able to arrange to meet them at the hotel, as thats what I had planned to do. I hadnt got all the details yet though. Luke or someone else from the organization, eg. Brian Bolles, should be able to coordinate that.

I cant say anything about whether or not you can bring your dog with you. I guess that will be up to the hotel to decide. Good luck with that.

Send an email to Luke today and most likely he will get back to you right away. By the way, if both of you wish to go, then they would expect both of you to participate.

I do hope you can arrange it. Let me know how it all works out.

Cheers,

Carolyn

We would have volunteered in a heartbeat but unfortunately have other commitments for next week! Of all the weeks, it had to be this one! We'd love to participate in the Italian program in the future....any chance of that?

For the Italy program they usually like to have participants who have already done previous programs, ie. in Spain. But you never know, that may change, and they may want to have a backup list of people nearby who they could call on when there are cancellations.

Anyway, you might try dropping an email to the program or applying through the website.

As of this morning, they had only one spot available. You can go onto the website and fill out an application.

Sounds like Ben is signed up now, and now the program is filled up (just got a message from the organizers).

So anyone else interested could still apply for a future program, or for one of the Spanish ones - those are held almost every week.

Hope you enjoy your week, Ben.

Ciao,

Carolyn

Carolyn,

Mille grazie, for your posting about this amazing program. I have spoken with Caroline and I am scheduled to talk again this morning or this afternoon.

Yes, I am in the program for Umbria. Unfortunately, there was only one slot open and since my wife is the primary care provider to our dog, I am going. It looks like its going to a busy time for me but an exciting and fulfilling opportunity to meet and interact with 21 people for a week.

If you have the time, could you drop me a line with your phone number? I would like to chat with you about PuebloIngles.

Thanks again, ciao, Ben

Sounds like you will have a great time, Ben! Hope it's tons of fun.

Carolyn (linaluz),

I want to thank you for posting this opportunity on Expats. It was an incredible experience and one that I will remember for the rest of my life!!

Sorry for the delay in letting you know about my week in Umbria but I came down with a summer cold after the week I had in Umbria. I was told by an Anglo that spent a couple days with my wife and I afterwards that a few Anglos catch colds or are exhausted physically after the event.

I met 23 people. The mix was ½ Spaniards and the other ½ Anglos. You meet in Rome with the group for a reception dinner (which I skipped) and the next day, they bus you up to Umbria. The reason that I skipped the reception dinner was that I lived just over an hour away from the hotel in Umbria and there was no need for me to incur the expense of going down to Rome for the evening.

Here is a an approximate description of the week I had by a person who had done the program in Spain. The main difference was my time was spent at a small, comfortable and isolated hotel in Umbria, Borgo di Celle.

I met a group of individuals (Spaniards and Anglos) whom came from a diverse background. Some of the Spaniards paid their own way to this session without company/corporate support because they felt it was important for their own advancement in the respective companies or organizations that they worked for in Spain.

Some of these individuals I will be keeping in touch with for a long time and feel very fortunate to have met, laughed and shared life experience with one and all in English.

I took a lot of pictures the week I was in Umbria. You can view them at Pueblo Ingles in Umbria - Summer, 2008. You may recognize some of the Anglos from your previous trips to Spain.

For those Expats that are interested in this program either in Spain or Italy, you will find more information at the more than english (Pueblo Ingles) web site.

Carolyn, thanks again for this memorable and rewarding opportunity. Ben

Wow Ben, seems you had such an awesome time! Your time in Italy just seems to be getting better and better....good for you...enjoy!

Good to hear from you Ben.

And I´m so glad to hear that you enjoyed your week!! (I must admit, I was starting to worry when I didn´t hear from you earlier Too bad about the cold though, but you´re right that it can be a very exhausting week.



Sounds like you met some interesting people - now I´m wishing I could have gone. Fortunately my health is finally improving, so I will plan to do a Pueblo Ingles soon, in Spain though, maybe even this fall.

Just one thing I´m confused about - you mention Spaniards in your post, and the Pueblo Ingles folks also mention that there are Spaniards participating. Somehow I assumed that in the Italy program, there would only be Italians trying to improve their English.??? Can you shed some light please?

Ciao,

Carolyn

Wow Ben, I'm so happy for you that you had a great time at this exchange. It looks like an amazing program, now that you recommended it I am going to forward it onto some people that might be interested.

Carolyn,

As it was related to me, the Spaniards were initially offer placement for sessions in Spain. However, when they were told that Italy was an option, they decided to come to Italy and filled all available slots. I was hoping to meet Italians but now I can vacation or visit Spain or elsewhere with some of the folks that I met in Umbria.

Cobalt, I do recommend this volunteer program! It is not for everyone. As Carolyn mentioned it can be mentally exhausting but in a good way. You are speaking English to individuals whom have taken the initiative to advance themselves in their personal life and/or in their professional career. You share with some of these individuals, their dreams, their hopes for a better future and hear some individuals express feelings and their respective impressions of life for the first time in English and not their mother language.

I do not believe everyone comes away from this program the way that I feel but I am very fortunate to have met and interacted with the individuals from Spain and elsewhere. It was a rewarding week for me on many levels and for some of the individuals that I met. For example, one of the Spaniards told me that she had a dream in English for the first time in her life after being there for 3 nights. She was amazed.

That's it for now and ciao, Ben

ciao everyone, my hubby Franco and I are very interested in getting involved and hopefully will be chosen. we are excited to get our application in and go from there.. Going to Spain would not be too bad,.,its only a train ride to Italia!
ciao all