ITALIAN LANGUAGE

The language is always presented in a practical context which is stimulating for the student. From the very beginning classes are held in Italian and the textbooks do not have explanations in English. The selected material concerns aspects of Italian culture and civilization and students will be able to enlarge both their knowledge of the Italian language and of Italian society.

The course is divided into seven levels and students will take a test for placement.

Italian - Level 0: Beginning

No prerequisites for admission.

Grammar:
Determinate and indeterminate article, name-adjective agreement, regular present tense, to have to be, there is - there are. Present tense: main irregular verbs (andare, bere, rimanere, uscire, venire + modali), prepositions and verbs of movement, close to -far from, present perfect, most common past participle irregularities, possessive (adjectives and pronouns). Direct pronouns, the verb piacere.

Thematic areas:
Introducing oneself, physical description, home, time, at the railway station, the weather, seasons, days of the week, months, numbers. Adverbs of frequency. Speaking about one's habits: the free time. Finding one's way, shops and prices. In a clothing store and at the restaurant, expressing one's tastes. Inviting someone to do something, accept-refuse. Talking about one's past.

Italian - Level 1: Intermediate 1

Admission: level 0 exam or level 1 placement test.

Grammar:
Review and development of article and present tense. Future, regular and irregular. Stare + Gerundio. resumption oand development of present perfect. Imperfect, prepositions of time. Reflexive verbs, articles and prepositions. Indirect pronouns. Imperative, direct and indirect. Negative imperative, imperative and pronous. Interrogative pronouns. Introduction to conditional.

Thematic areas:
Italian festivities. Future plans, weather forecast. Vacation. Staying at a hotel, a telephone and a written reservation. Talking about one's habits in the past. An intalian town, describing one's town, how it is and how it was. Calvino's L'avventura dei due sposi (adapted). Marriage in Italy. Italian food, a recipe. Discos in Italy, Saturday night problems. Sports. How to give directions and instructions.
Italian - Level 2: Intermediate 2

Admission: level 1 exam or level 2 placement test.

Grammar:
Review and development of present and future. Simple conditional, compound conditional: future in the past, unfulfilled desire. Prepositions and verbs. Combined pronouns, use and positioning. Development of imperfect uses; trapassato prossimo. Relative pronouns and the passato remoto. Adjectives: comparative, superlative regular and irregular, use of che and di, diminutivi. Tense agreement.

Thematic areas:
Television in Italy and abroad. Finding a job, writing a resume. At the doctor's office. Animals: idiomatic expressions. On the phone. The Italian language: standard Italian and regional Italian. A biography, fable vocabulary, a Tuscan fable, Natalia Ginzburg's childhood. The geographical vocabulary: speaking about regions. An adapted short story by Alberto Moravia.

Italian - Level 3: Intermediate 3

Admission: level 2 exam or level 3 placement test.

Grammar:
Review of the indicative tense. The subjunctive present and past: most common uses (penso, mi piace che, mi dá fastidio che ...). Another use of the subjunctive: the formal imperative, giving instructions. Subjunctive: imperfect. Conditional + imperfect subjunctive. Passive, essere or venire, passive and impersonal si. 'If' - clauses. The agreement of moods and tenses. Introduction to indirect speech.

Thematic areas:
Five Italian towns and their ecology. Protected areas in Italy. Stereotypes of Italians: interview with Scalfari. Typical products of Italy, oil production and history of Parmesan cheese. Youth. Articles from the magazines Venerdí de Repubblica and Sette. Literature: Ginzburg, Lui e io; Calvino, Se una notte d'inverno un viaggiatore (first pages); Pavese, a passage from Ferie d'agosto; Angolieri, S'io fossi foco (adapted), Buzzati, La libertá. The Italian press.


Admission: level 3 exam or level 4 placement test.

Grammar:
Nouns: irregular plural forms. Direct, indirect, and combined pronouns, the use of the pronominal particles ci and ne, the comparative and superlative forms, and relative sentences. The course includes also a general review of all the indicative tenses including pluperfect and future perfect, the conditional tenses and the study of tense sequence.

Thematic areas:
Only authentic, not adapted material is used in class from the fourth level on. Italian society: the role of the family and the typical Italian wedding tradition, the Italian education system, the position of women in the society and some Florentine historical events (short documentary on Firenze's 1966 flood). Radio broadcast. Interviews. Viewing of short films. Writing: essays, summaries, formal letters.

Admission: level 4 exam or level 5 placement test.

Grammar:
Review of the subjunctive mood and its use, not only to express an opinion, order or desire, but also to report unsure information and in specific subordinate sentences, relative, comparative, implicit moods and the indirect speech. Prepositions.

Thematic areas:
Italian superstitions and popular traditions, the role of the children in the family and in the society, the Mafia problem, the South-North question. Students are also required to read and analyze some literary passages by important Italian writers like Moravia, Calvino, etc. Television broadcasts. Writing: specific types of texts.


Admission: level 5 exam or level 6 placement test.

Grammar:
Review of the most difficult grammar topics like the reported speech, the impersonal form, the optional use of the subjunctive mood in specific situations (comparative sentences, indirect questions, relative sentences), the problem of the tense sequence, the hypothetical period, prepositions and their relation to verbs. those students who already know these forms will focus their attention on their pragmatic function and will learn when it's preferable to use a grammatical structure instead of another.

Thematic areas:
Analytic reading of literature passages by Pirandello, Di Chiara, Campanile, Ginzburg, newspapers' selected articles, etc. Students will focus their attention on some important aspects of the Italian society and culture: the Italian youth, the social meaning of wine in Italy, the problem of alcoholism in comparison to other countries, Italian fashion in the world, the Italian economy and the political situation. Students will also discuss the role of Italian cinema and watch an Italian movie.