The Host Family Text Thread
You are 17 and have just arrived in Bologna for a three-week exchange. Your host mother, Signora Rinaldi, sends a message: Ciao! Allora, stasera ceniamo alle otto, non alle sette come pensavo - mio marito torna tardi dal lavoro. Ho fatto la pasta al forno. Tuo fratello ospite, Marco, arriva alle sette e mezza. Ah, e domani mattina dobbiamo uscire presto: il treno per Firenze parte alle 6:45, quindi sveglia alle 5:30. Va bene? You had planned to call your parents in Sydney at 8 pm Bologna time, which is 4 am in Sydney. Your phone shows the call is already scheduled. You also promised your Italian teacher you would send a short voice note about your first dinner by tomorrow morning. You have not eaten since a panino at the airport at 1 pm and you feel a headache coming on.
1. What has changed in the dinner plan, and what should you do about your scheduled call?
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What changed: Dinner moves from 7 to 8 pm because the host father is coming home late. The host brother Marco arrives at 7:30, so there is a half-hour window where you may be alone with him before the meal.
The call: 8 pm Bologna = 4 am Sydney. That was already awkward; now it collides directly with dinner. Do not silently skip dinner or take the call at the table. The correct move is to speak to Signora Rinaldi before 8 pm, explain that you normally call home and ask whether you can call after dinner (around 9:30–10 pm Bologna), which is roughly 5:30–6 am Sydney - still early, so also message your parents to confirm a new time.
Reasoning: In an Italian host-family context, refusing food or disappearing during the main meal reads as rudeness; negotiating a time is normal and welcomed. The exam rewards noticing the time-zone conversion and choosing communication over avoidance.
2. The 5:30 wake-up and the 6:45 train create a practical problem. Identify it and propose a solution that also handles the voice note.
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The problem: You need to be up at 5:30 for a 6:45 train, so you must be asleep early. A 9:30–10 pm call plus dinner at 8 pm leaves very little wind-down time, and you have a headache from not eating since 1 pm.
Plan:
- Eat something small now (fruit, bread, a drink) and mention the headache to Signora Rinaldi - she will almost certainly offer something, and saying so is not complaining.
- Call home shortly after dinner ends, keep it to 15–20 minutes, and set a hard stop.
- Record the voice note for your teacher at dinner, discreetly - or right after the call - describing the pasta al forno and the family. It does not need to be long.
- Lay out clothes and pack the bag before dinner so 5:30 is realistic.
Reasoning: The judgement being tested is prioritising and sequencing under a fixed constraint (the train), while maintaining the social relationship (the meal) and the school obligation (the voice note).
3. Write the message you would send Signora Rinaldi in Italian (3–4 sentences), covering the call and the early start.
Read the worked answer
A model response:
Grazie mille per la cena, Signora Rinaldi, non vedo l'ora! Volevo solo dirle che di solito chiamo i miei genitori in Australia: posso telefonare dopo cena, verso le nove e mezza? Domani mattina mi sveglio alle cinque e mezza per il treno, quindi vado a letto presto. A dopo!
Why this works:
- Opens with gratitude (grazie mille), which is expected before any request.
- Uses the polite Lei form (posso telefonare, Volevo solo dirle) with an adult host you have just met.
- States the specific time rather than a vague più tardi.
- Links the early night to the train, so it reads as consideration, not withdrawal.
- Closes with a warm sign-off (A dopo!).
Common trap: using tu with the host mother, or asking permission with a bare imperative. Neither fits a first-week exchange.