What you will study
Starting from learning key vocabulary and expressions, you’ll progress week by week towards being able to hold longer conversations and understand more of the Italian language in different situations. You'll explore activities such as shopping for food or clothes, making a telephone call and arranging to meet someone, and asking and giving directions.
You will have the opportunity to develop and consolidate your Italian through a rich variety of practice activities. The course covers language and learning techniques as well as culture, and you’ll also have two dedicated revision weeks to practise what you have learned, including:
- shopping for food and clothes
- talking about quantity and measures
- describing things
- food habits and traditions
- making a telephone call
- arranging to meet someone
- talking about places in a town
- saying where things are
- asking for and giving directions
- enquiring for opening and closing times
- making comparisons.
You will focus on specific grammar points including:
- the impersonal “si +verb”
- the superlative and using -issimo
- the compound prepositions (preposizioni articolate)
- the demonstrative and direct object pronouns
- the Lei form when giving directions.
You'll also be introduced to aspects of Italian life and culture, such as:
- shopping centres and department stores in Italy
- street vendors and traditional flea markets
- changing shopping habits in Italy
- Sicilian desserts and sweets
- the origin of the expression “pronto?” when answering the phone.
You will learn
After completing this course, you should be able to:
- Communicate with speakers of Italian in a limited range of predictable and simple contexts relating to everyday situations.
- Understand and use basic and more complex Italian language points (for example, questions, statements and instructions), and common vocabulary relating to everyday objects and events.
- Recognise and use basic and more complex Italian phrases in formal and informal communication.
- Show a basic level of intercultural communicative competence, including an awareness of Italian culture and society.
The course is designed to help you achieve a level of language proficiency equivalent to level A1 of the Council of Europe Common European Framework of Reference for languages (CEFR).
Learner support
The course is taught entirely online, with the aid of a learning adviser to offer support where needed. You will have access to online forums that you are strongly encouraged to participate in, as they are an excellent source of support and information. These forums combine peer support with input from the language specialist learning adviser(s). Other support is available via the StudentHome website and Computing Helpdesk.
Course length
You'll study 3–4 hours per week, for 16 weeks. In total this course will require around 64 hours to complete.