More and more people are cottoning onto the huge benefits of taking Gap Year. Far from setting you back a year, using this time to travel can provide the most transformative and educational experience of your life.
Spending your Gap Year in Italy means opening up one of the world’s most beautiful countries and its wealth of culture for your enjoyment, employment and profound personal enrichment.
Here’s what you’ll get out of a long term course at ILM:
- First and foremost, you will learn Italian on our language course for foreigners. This is, of course, an excellent skill to have when it comes to impressing future employers. Languages open so many doors in so many industries, and Italian is the third most widely spoken language in the EU. But even in workplaces that don’t require Italian, the transferable skills you gain from studying a language are highly desireable: linguists have great brains for analysis, quick thinking, problem solving and communication.
- Once you have a good level of Italian, you can also get invaluable work experience in a number of fields if you opt for our internship programme. This is one of the best ways to ensure your Gap Year is a sound investment in your future. Working alongside Italians in a local business will stretch not just your linguistic skills but also make you develop a high level of intercultural understanding and sensitivity.
- But it’s not all work and no play – at ILM we make sure you leave with an appreciation for the finer things in life. You will make friends and have fun whilst discovering Italy’s rich cultural heritage. We guide you in this through extra-curricular activities every week, exploring Italian cinema, visiting historical sites, taking an aperitif, and much more. You can also take one of our special courses in cooking, wine tasting or art, to learn new skills and indulge a beautiful hobby.
- Immersing yourself in a foreign culture, you open your mind to a different view of the world. Living in Pisa you’ll learn the idiosyncrasies of Italian life. But at ILM, you’ll also belong to a highly international student body, and so you’ll hear stories from all corners of the globe. These perspectives may move you, amuse you, change you, or make you more faithful to your own. What’s more, in Pisa, you have the rest of Italy, even the rest of Europe, on your doorstep, ready to be explored, as you can travel cheaply and easily from Pisa’s well connected train station or Gallileo Gallilei international airport.
- Come the end of your gap year in Italy, you will be at a huge advantage as you move forward, and will likely do better at university and in your career. It has been reported that gap year students outperform their classmates once they go to college, and have very bright futures (click here for more info head). This is because the independence you gain, the challenges you overcome, and the countless lessons you learn abroad make you confident, driven and well-rounded. You’ll have a clearer idea of what you want to pursue and who you want to be. What a pay-off!
We’re sure you’ll find a gap year in Italy richly rewarding, and we’re eagerly awaiting you here in Pisa!
You can explore our courses here or head over to our Instagram page for some Italian inspiration and insight into life at ILM.
