By Jeff Ostroth
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

Since Ann Zito began her Italian class last spring, her focus has been on what she calls “tourist Italian.”

“So many people go abroad and don’t know anything,” says Ann, a former Aberdeen, N.J. resident who now lives at Cedar Crest. “There’s a certain amount of the language you should be familiar with if you want to be comfortable in another country.

“So what I do,” she continues, “is concentrate on the kind of things that would be helpful if you go to Europe on a tour or an extended stay.”

Ann’s lessons include how to use the telephone to find a restaurant, a pharmacy, a bank, or anything else you might need; how togreet people and make introductions; and of course, what to say in a restaurant—how to call the waiter or waitress, how to ask for something, and how to let them know you’d like the bill.

Ann wasn’t content to merely teach theses things on a hypothetical basis, however. She contacted a tour operator and arranged to give her class some onsite training.

“The class just loved it when I announced the trip to Italy, so we could practice our Italian,” says Ann. Six people out of the eight or nine who attend her Cedar Crest class went on the tour, which included other travelers as well.

The group went to Tuscany, a region in the middle of the Italian peninsula and one of the most popular tourist destinations in Italy. They stayed outside the city of Arezzo and explored the surrounding area. “It was very interesting,” says Ann. “We saw all the ancient hill towns. There was a lot of climbing up and down, and the group did very well. And they had a great time just greeting people and saying ‘how are you?’ and ‘the food was delicious’ . . . that sort of thing.”

Ann says the food was  indeed wonderful. “The wine flowed at every meal, and we just had a great time. We had knowledgeable guides. And the other people on the trip were from all over the U.S. It was a very interesting group.”