By Alice Phillips



The Directed Studies Italian class will attend a private screening tonight of the film “Mio Fratello e’figlio unico” (My Brother and Only Child) at the Italian Culture Institute in Westwood.

Foreign Language teacher Simona Ghirlanda said she got this opportunity to take her class through a program that keeps Italians living abroad in touch with Italian culture. The organization allowed Ghirlanda to invite to her students, even though the screenings hosted by the culture institute are by personal invitation only for people with Italian citizenship.

“I truly believe that getting in touch with natives in their element while studying their language gives students a chance to observe how they interact in a spontaneous environment,” Ghirlanda said.

“The beauty of the Directed Studies format is that every year it gives the teacher who offers the freedom to select what to present based on the specific students.”