Culture and Language Class: Italian for Beginners 2

elective courses

The study of the Italian language starts from level B1.

Intensive Italian language course – B2+ level (according to the Common European Framework of References for Languages - CEFR). This culture and language class has an innovative structure, which allows students to learn about Italian culture, history, and politics in Italian.

First semester is mainly dedicated to the intensive language course, while second semester will consist of tutorials taught in Italian.

First semester:

During the classes, the students will discuss grammar and lexical issues, and practice their listening, reading, speaking, and writing skills, up to level B2+. Grammar issues will be introduced and developed through practical exercises and translations of sentences and short texts, containing familiar grammatical structures. The vocabulary is broken down into thematic blocks. Listening skills are practiced on the basis of original recordings or statements presented by the lecturer. The understanding of contents is checked through tasks related to the text. Writing skills are developed by analyzing texts in Italian and attempting to create one’s own written statements. During the classes, the students will practice their ability to create spoken statements about topics introduced within a framework of selected thematic blocks.

Second semester:

Various literary forms and genres will be analyzed and practiced during the course. The course classes will be based on the linguistic richness of the contemporary Italian novels.

Historical and political context, in which Italian cinematography at the turn of the 20th and 21st century developed, will be presented. The classes will be complemented with screening of selected films showing political, economic, social and cultural reality of the contemporary Italy, followed by the analysis by the lecturers and the attendees.

The course is conducted on the basis of texts prepared by the lecturer specifically to enable the students to master grammatical structures and basic vocabulary as quickly as possible, together with the knowledge of Italian culture. In addition, material from the textbooks selected by the lecturer will be used.

T. Marin, Nuovissimo Progetto Italiano 2

T. Marin, S. Magnelli, Progetto Italiano 3

D. Piotti, G. de Savorgnani, E. Carrara, Universitalia 2.0

M. Dardano, P. Trifone, Grammatica italiana con nozioni di linguistica

Raymond Queneau, Esercizi di stile

Italo Calvino, Lezioni americane

Raymond Carver, Il mestiere di scrivere

S. Brugnolo, G. Mozzi, Ricettario di scrittura creativa

Brunetta G.P., Il cinema italiano contemporaneo

Patota G., Rossi F., L’italiano al cinema

Knowledge: the graduate

- has a structured, advanced knowledge of the Italian culture and Italian language at B2+ level (K_W01, K_W03, K_W10)

- has an in-depth knowledge of the language as the basic form of expression and as medium of a given culture, reflecting its characteristic historical and cultural processes (K_W01, K_W03, K_W10, K_W11)

- is well familiar with the methods of analyzing literary texts (K_W03, K_W10, K_W11)

- knows main genres in the Italian film at the turn of the 20th and 21st century (K_W03, K_W11)

- understands the film language as a genre (K_W11)

Abilities: the graduate is able to

- use Italian language at B2+ level (K_U09)

- interpret and analyze literary texts independently, taking into consideration their historical and regional context (K_U06, K_U09, K_U10)

- write texts such as: short stories, articles, essays in Italian (K_U06, K_U09, K_U10)

- recognize and independently use the basic research methodologies within the contemporary literature, film and culture studies (K_U06, K_U10)

- understand ad interpret films (K_U06, K_U10)

Social competences: the graduate is ready to

- carry out the work plan of is contribution to a class, according to the teacher’s guidelines (K_K01, K_K04)

- take part actively in discussions in Italian, respecting the views of their partners (K_K04)

- improve his personal culture (K_K01)

Continuous evaluation (based on the activity during the course and preparation for the classes), final test (written and oral). Four absences are allowed – if absences exceed, the student will have to make up for them individually (extra work to be discussed with the lecturer). Seven or more absences result in failing classes and the necessity to repeat them.

Methods and rules for passing the course: tests during the years, final test (written and oral).