Here are some tips for Italian students to do better in their English Seconda Prova at the State Exam (Tourism)

1. Seconda Prova An itinerary in some Italian art cities

2. Remember branding?
• In your circular letter
you introduce
yourselves to a potential
customer and you
promise something.
!
• Remember to KEEP
your PROMISE!

3. So, before you start writing
your itinerary, ask yourselves:
What did I promise in my circular letter?
!
Or, even better, write your circular letter
at the end, after you’ve finished detailing
your itinerary.

4. If you start your letter saying: “Are you tired of the same old package tours year after
year?”
!
You can’t write a very traditional itinerary where your customers just go sightseeing
in the main art cities in Italy or Tuscany, visit museums, and don’t do anything special!

5. So, how can I make my itinerary special?
• Include a special event (the opening of an exhibition in a museum, where you
meet the curator of the exhibition, or even the artist himself/herself, as it often
happens in Sete Sois Sete Luas and other Art Galleries; a typical festival or a
“Palio”)
• Include something special during the visit to a museum, for instance an art
workshop where an expert teaches you to reproduce one of the
masterpieces you are admiring in the museum
• Include some evening activities (special themed dinners, a Renaissance
dinner, Renaissance dancing, moonlit drawing sessions, cosplay etc.)

6. The language
• Don’t think in Italian!
• If you do, you get things which don’t make
any sense in English, such as:
“a good report between quality and price”
“the arrive to Pisa airport is foreseen at the
20.00 o’clock”
• To avoid this kind of mistakes, study the
vocabulary and the most common
expressions such as:
“Our package is great value” or “We will land
at Pisa airport at 8pm”

7. The language
• Don’t use “everyday language”, use tourist
vocabulary and expressions
Don’t say: “You have the plane at 8am, a
transfer brings (takes) you to the airport at
6am”
Say: “Your plane takes off at 8am, so a
private transfer will be waiting for you at 6am
in front of your hotel”
• Avoid verbs like see, go, eat (especially
EAT): use synonyms: admire, marvel at, take
a look at / reach, head to, get to / have
lunch, have dinner, enjoy some typical
Tuscan food, taste some delicious sweets

8. The language
• Don’t say:
“We enclose a copy of our brochure
where there is information about
our itinerary”
• Say:
“We enclose a copy of our brochure
where you can find detailed
information about our itinerary”

9. The language
• Avoid using “there is” / “there are” all the
time!
Don’t say: “Inside the tour there are some
events and other extra activities like shopping
to savour every aspect of our region”
Say: “ Our tour includes some special events
and other extra activities such as evening
shopping in the heart of the city, to savour
every aspect of our region”
Don’t say: “Inside the cathedral there is a
magnificent marble altar”
Say: “The cathedral houses a magnificent
marble altar from the Renaissance period”

10. The language
• Some words you should ALWAYS, and I
mean ALWAYS (even under torture) avoid in
English:
COMPOSE / COMPOSED (as a verb)
It’s an Italianism! Don’t say: “Our qualified
staff is composed of two guides and a
personal manager.”
Say: “Our team is made up of two qualified
guides and an experienced personal
manager”

11. Geographical names:
Use English for place names referring to famous
cities: Florence, Rome, Paris, London, Berlin
!
Use the original language for Streets or
Squares:
Piazza di Spagna,
Piazza Venezia,
Via Condotti,
Avenue de Champs Elysées,
Place de la Bastille etc.

12. How to make your itinerary more personal? more appealing?
• Use specific information:
Instead of saying: “You will have dinner in a little restaurant in the city centre”
Say: “At 8 pm you will have dinner in a beautiful restaurant called Onda Blu situated on a
cliff, where you can taste the numerous seafood dishes”
Instead of saying: “In the afternoon we visit the Uffizi Gallery, where we can admire different kinds
of paintings”
Say: “In the afternoon we are going to visit the Uffizi Gallery, where we can admire
breathtaking masterpieces, including the world-famous Venere by the Italian artist Botticelli”

13. Add the personal touch!
• When you describe the hotel, think about something
special your hotel may have or offer. For instance, if
your hotel is in Venice, you may say:
“In every room you will find lamps made with Murano
glass”
• Think about what you like and add something
personal! If you like partying, add a closing party to
your itinerary: “From 9pm to midnight, we will have
a closing party full of surprises!”
• If you like fashion, add a visit to the Fashion Week in
Milan or Florence: “Our tour offers you a fantastic
experience, the possibility to take part in the
Fashion Week in the Pitti Palace. Italy is well-
known for fashion, so why not admire stands of
designers like Armani, Gucci, D&G? You can see
fashion shows, get to know the new collections
and be more trendy!”

14. Prices
Try to make your prices detailed and at the same time
“real”.
Have you ever seen a “round” price in a tourist
brochure?
I haven’t!
It’s always “From 399€” or “From 2449€”.
Specify reductions and supplements (for instance,
reductions for children under 14 or supplement for
single room).

15. Prices
Why do we always have “odd” prices? Because
consumers tend to perceive “odd prices” as
being significantly lower than they actually are,
tending to round to the next lowest monetary
unit.!
!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_pricing