Name: Letizia Aiello
Job Title: Waitress
Age: 19
From: Milan, Italy
In London: Since 1 July
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Why did you come to London?
I wanted to experience life abroad, improve my English, gain more confidence and be proud of myself for what I hoped I could achieve.

What did you hope to achieve?
The best English possible!  Meet lots of people, make friends, earn some money, gain satisfaction.

What were you doing before this?
I just finished a diploma in Accountacy at ITC. Maggidini in Italy.

What does your job involve on a day-to-day basis?
Customer service, working behind the bar, serving food, collecting glasses & plates, taking orders, giving the bill and working the till.

What responsibilities do you have?
Not giving the wrong food to the wrong cusomter!

What are the best bits?
When I understand the customers!

And the worst?
Nothing, I’m very happy where I work, the manager the colleagues they are all nice people.

Do you have to have prior experience?  If so, what helped get you the job?
No.  But you have to be friendly and smile!

How did you go about getting it?
Laura, who works for Answer English, knew the manager and helped arrange an interview for me.  I then had a couple of hours one afternoon work trial (which I was paid for too!)

Any tips you could give our readers?
I was very lucky.  You have to believe in yourself.  Every experience is different, so go for it!  Don’t lose hope if at first you don’t find what you are looking for.

What if any lessons could the AE Blog readers learn from your experience in London?
Carpe Diem!  Everything is possible in London, there are so many things to do, so many opportunities.  Everything is a lesson.

How much do you think your English has improved?
I think it has improved, for sure, especially my listening and speaking skills.  Still lots more to learn though!

With this experience, what do you plan to do next?
For the moment I have to begin university, studying accountancy at Catolica.  I think in the future I would like to work in a big accountancy firm and come back to live in London.  It’s great!

The number of British people learning a foreign language is on the up, according to the BBC this morning.  From research conducted with both the Goethe Insitut and the Institut Francais which promote German & French language and culture respectively the number of people taking language courses has risen.  It seems that far from the typical image of British people shouting steadily louder at people abroad in English, we now take a greater interest in language learning.

They attribute this increase in interest to the World Cup, where national stereotypes were visibily broken down, and social changes brought about by cheap air travel to previously unchartered territories for many British people.  The BBC quotes Peter Daykin, a spokesman for the Football Supporters’ Federation (FSF), as saying ‘”People are now going abroad for a weekend to places like the Czech Republic, which once would have been unheard of.”  Mr Daykin was another visitor to the World Cup who left with a sense that the journey through Germany had been a very “positive experience” for fans - a long way from the negative stereotypes of the English as suspicious, tongue-tied travellers.’

This can only be great news for the British image abroad but also for the country in general.  If more British people start learning languages not only will our economy be better placed to compete internationally but also we will begin to understand better (and be understood by) the best of the world.  Muss ein gutes Ding sein!

Read the BBC article in full: Language Learning Kicks Off