John was born and raised in Los Angeles by Filipino parents. He soon realised that if he wanted to fulfil his dream of becoming an international lawyer, he would have to learn another language.
After spending some time in Spain, John, following the advice of some friends, decided to try to go to Italy to learn Italian and immediately fell in love with it.
John immediately appreciated the uniqueness of Italian culture that includes simple gestures such as "letting the elderly take your seat on the bus, or always say good buon giorno, salve or ciao when you meet someone".
Source: Courtesy of John Alumit
John also learned quickly that Italian cuisine has very strict rules and that if he wanted to adapt to the local culture he must accept the fact that "you must not put parmesan cheese on fish pasta".
To those who want to learn Italian, John advises "to go to an Italian village and interact as much as possible with the inhabitants" and stresses "it is important that the people in the village do not speak English so that you can only interact in Italian".
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