Italian (Begginer - A1)

Learn Italian in Auckland, Hamilton and Wellington with our fun immersion 8 week Beginners Italian language courses (A1) taught by experienced professional Italian teachers from Italy. Start speaking Italian in your first class! In the beginners Italian A1 language courses you will learn to understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very basic phrases aimed at the satisfaction of needs of a concrete type.

Can introduce him/herself and others and can ask and answer questions about personal details such as where he/she lives, people he/she knows and thingshe/she has. Can interact in a simple way provided the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help. Our Italian Language Course Program follows the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and ranges from Level A1 to C2.

The formal CEFR objectives for A1 are :

• Can understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very basic Italian phrases aimed at the satisfaction of needs of a concrete type.
• Can introduce themselves and others in and can ask and answer questions about personal details such as where he/she lives, people they know and things they have.
• Can interact in a simple way provided the other person talks slowly and clearly in Italian and is prepared to help.

Italian Learning Outcomes:

Listening skills

Identify very basic information in very familiar situations provided the speakers talk slowly and clearly and are willing to help:

• Numbers
• Presentation of people (name, age, address, profession, nationality)
• Daily routines
• Simple questions in the present

Speaking skills

Interact in a very simple way in very familiar situations provided the other speaker is willing to repeat or rephrase and help them formulate what they are trying to say:

• Establish social contact: greetings and farewells; introductions; giving thanks.
• Introduce themselves and other people (first name, surname, age, profession, nationality);
• Count in Italian
• Ask simple questions in the present (who, what, where, when, how, how much)
• Initiate and respond to simple statements in areas of immediate need or on very familiar topics (make an appointment (day + time), apologize for coming late, accept or refuse invitations, ask and answer simple questions on very familiar topics)
• State that they don't understand, ask for repetition, and ask someone to speak more slowly
• Produce information about their immediate environment and their everyday life (place they live, describe their flat/house);
• Describe their daily routine using simple vocabulary

Reading skills

Read very short, simple texts picking up familiar names, words, basic phrases and simple sentences and rereading as required;

• Scan for information in simple text, such as a map, diagram, advertisement, chart, application form, ID card or calendar, bus schedule;
• Identify information about people and places (place of residence, age, etc.) in simple text when reading very slowly

Writing skills

Produce very short simple texts related to very familiar topics such as personal details:

• Fill in forms with personal details for example entering name, nationality and address, age,date of birth, on a registration form;
• write short simple texts related to familiar topics in the present (e.g. short autobiographical text)

Learning Activities and Teaching Methods:

• Immersion language learning, Interactive lectures, multi-media techniques (audio/video/information technology), discussion with class participation, group/pair work

Course Textbook:

• Marin, T., & Magnelli, S. . Nuovo progetto Italiano 1 (2009) : Corso multimediale di lingua e civiltà italiana: Livello elementare (A1-A2). Roma: Edilingua. - Readily available at online bookstores and downloadable pdfs
• Available App with the text, audios and videos at Google play & Apple App stores.
• Free downloadable chapters: Unit 0, Unit 1 & Unit 2
• Nuovo Progetto Italiano textbooks used in Universities worldwide including Victoria University, University of York, Oxford, Latrobe, Brown, MIT..

Duration:

• Each evening course is made of 8 x 1 1/2 hour weekly classes running for over 2 months at the same time and day of the week as its listed course start date. There are no classes on Public holidays.