Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Introduction to Italian for students with no previous background in the language. Introduces basic oral and written skills, and cultural competence. (A1 level of CEFR). Students with previous Italian training should contact the department for assessment and placement.

COURSE DETAILS:

Welcome to ITALIAN 100! BENVENUTI! This course is for you if you wish to learn a new language, to communicate in Italian with simple and useful sentences, fall in love with the Italian culture and language. You will learn “la bella lingua”, the beautiful language in a fun and interactive online class atmosphere. 

This course is for beginners and focuses on developing basic language skills (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) in Italian. Elements of grammar, syntax, vocabulary and idiomatic expressions as well as aspects of Italian customs and culture will be taught in the context of everyday dialogues and texts. Accurate pronunciation and clear sentence patterns will be stressed. Students will be exposed to authentic Italian material from films, songs, websites, and will have the opportunity to practice their listening and speaking skills on a daily basis.

Regular attendance and preparation for each day’s activities and group work is expected.  

PLEASE NOTE: ITAL 100 is designed for students with no (or very little) previous knowledge of Italian. Students whose first language is Italian, or those who received their secondary education in an Italian-speaking community may not be admitted to this course. Students who have had some initial training in Italian should consult with the instructor regarding placement at the appropriate level: ecaselli@sfu.ca

Method of delivery: The class will be delivered in a blended synchronous/asynchronous way: Students will be assigned asynchronous material to prepare for 2-hour blocks per week, and will troubleshoot and practice that content during synchronous in-person classes for a 2-hour tutorial block on a single week day. Students must register for one of the D101 (the D101 section will be delivered remotely on ZOOM), D102 or D103 in-person tutorials. All exams will be scheduled during the synchronous meeting times. 

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

To prepare students to communicate simply but effectively in Italian through the development of four skills – listening, speaking, reading and writing – as well as to develop a knowledge of Italian culture. Specifically, upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:

• provide basic information in Italian about themselves, their families, interests, likes and dislikes, and daily activities;
• participate in simple conversation on everyday topics (e.g. weather, meeting new people, school, shopping, etc.);
• read edited texts on familiar topics; understand the main ideas, and pick out important information from "authentic texts" (e.g. menus, signs, train schedules, etc.);
• complete forms requesting general information, write letters and postcards providing simple information;
• provide general information about Italy (e.g. geography, weather, food, etc.);
• use and understand essential vocabulary related to everyday life (e.g. days of the week, colors, numbers, months, seasons, time of day, stores, family members, modes of transportation, etc.)
• produce Italian with enough grammatical accuracy and accurate pronunciation to be comprehensible to an Italian speaker accustomed to speaking with non-natives.   

Grading

Materials

REQUIRED READING: