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COURSE OVERVIEW
Benvenute e Benvenuti!
Welcome!
Italian Language and Culture: Beginner (2023-2024) is an introductory course that teaches the four basic skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing) in the context of major themes in Italian culture.
The following two courses, also offered on edX, are the natural continuation of this course:
Italian Language and Culture: Intermediate (2023-2024)
Italian Language and Culture: Advanced (2023-2024)
This course is a new iteration of our previous Italian Language and Culture: Beginner (2021-2022).
Below, please see a summary of the new contents created for this 2023-2024 iteration of the course:
- Virtual tours to three Italian piazzas:
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- Piazza Navona in Rome (between lessons 1 & 2);
- Piazza del Popolo in Cesena (between lessons 2 & 3);
- Piazza San Marco in Venice (between lessons 3 & 4).
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These virtual tours consist of video interviews with city residents, accompanied by a variety of activities you may complete before, during and after watching the interview.
The last lesson of this course will take you on a visit to other Italian piazzas via a series of 360 degree full-immersion photographs.
- Audio files of the relevant phrases that you will be asked to pronounce in the sections "Now it's your turn (Ora tocca a te!)". These activities are found at the end of each Ciak! video, Lettura (Reading), and Intervista (Interview).
- Memory games at the end of each unit;
- Crossword puzzles at the end of each reading (Lettura) and video interview (Intervista);
- Le città italiane e la piazza: an updated reading (Lettura) in lesson 1.6;
- La cucina italiana: regionale o nazionale?: a new reading (Lettura) in lesson 4.5;
- Lesson 1.4: revised and updated with the addition of the adjective "quello";
- Lesson 4.4: revised and updated grammar charts;
- Comprehensive verb charts and other grammar charts: downloadable pdf document (in Appendix A5);
- Maps of Italy (in Appendix A6).
Buono studio e buon divertimento!
Daniela Bartalesi-Graf
(aka Sandra Milani, in the Ciak! videos)
DATES AND VERIFIED TRACK
The course will be open on edX from February 13, 2023 to December 31, 2024.
Free access to the course will last for 12 weeks from the day you enroll. If you want to retain perpetual access to the course beyond the initial 12 weeks, you need to join the Verified Track ($49).
When you join the Verified Track:
- You will gain access to all graded Tests.
- You will receive a Verified Certificate of Completion when you complete our course requirement, i.e. a cumulative score of 60% on your Progress Report (you may drop 2 Tests) by December 31, 2024, the day this course will be archived.
-You will retain perpetual access to all course materials beyond December 31, 2024. Please note that, after December 31, 2024, although you will retain access to all course materials, you will no longer be able to obtain a Verified Certificate of Completion.
For Verified Track learners
Suggested deadlines and due dates
Since this course is self-paced, our tests do not have start or due dates, and you can submit tests scores at any time before the course end date (December 31, 2024).
The suggested deadlines or due dates on tests are designed by edX to help learners plan and stay on-track. You can always change these due dates by using the Dates tab on top of the Course page. You can do this only after the suggested deadline has passed. Then, you will be able to submit. Shifting your due dates will not affect your Progress report. You can shift due dates up until the course end date (December 31, 2024).
Green check marks
The green checkmarks you may see by a lesson have no effect on your Progress report: they are intended to be used as a visual indicator of course progress, and they do not have any impact on your grades.
As for why the green check marks do not appear by certain lessons, it is likely that a learner has not met the criteria for the check mark to appear. A course page gets a completion green check if the learner meets three requirements:
- Every problem on the page has been answered.
- Every video on the page in an edX video player component has been watched until the end.
- The particular page has been viewed for at least five seconds.
For example, if a learner didn't watch the Ciak! video till the very end in one lesson, they will not get a green check mark.
COURSE ORGANIZATION
The course consists of four Units. Each Unit is broken down in 6-7 lessons (1.1, 1.2, 1.3, etc.)
Each lesson presents its content in multiple ways. These can be viewed and studied in any order you prefer.
Below is a quick overview of the various components of each unit.
Ciak! videos: original videos shot on our campus with native and near native speakers of Italian.
Grammar charts: grammar explanations, examples, and charts are available for review with audio files of each example and verb conjugation within the course, and can be downloaded in PDF file format.
Slide Shows with animation: grammar explanations with images and animation.
Videos (Slide Shows with Narration): narrated grammar explanations.
Esercizi: online exercises with immediate feedback.
Vocaboli nuovi: new vocabulary lists are available as PDF files, slide show presentations, and videos with narration.
Discussione: creative writing prompts.
Lettura: readings delivered as PDF files, slide show presentations, and videos with narration.
Intervista: video interview with a native speaker on a variety of cultural subjects.
Memory Game: matching activity to practice vocabulary and listening comprehension.
Viaggio virtuale in tre piazze italiane: virtual tour in three Italian piazzas (between units 1 & 2, 2 & 3 and 3 & 4)
COURSE OUTLINE
Below is an outline of the material you will find in this course.
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Unit |
Lessons |
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Unit 1 Le città italiane e la piazza (Italian cities and the piazza) |
1.1 Saluti e presentazioni 1.1 Test 1.2 Nomi: genere, singolare e plurale 1.2 Test 1.3 Articoli indeterminativi e aggettivo “buono” 1.3 Test 1.4 Verbo “essere”, c’è, ci sono, articoli determinativi e aggettivo "bello" 1.4 Test 1.5 Verbo “avere” ed espressioni idiomatiche con avere 1.5 Test 1.6 LETTURA: Le città italiane e la piazza 1.7 INTERVISTA con Lucia Toppino: La città di Alba 1.8 Memory Game! |
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OPTIONAL: (Virtual journey to three Italian piazzas) |
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Unit 2 I giovani, la famiglia e l'università (Young adults, the family and the university) |
2.1 Aggettivi 2.1 Test 2.2 Aggettivi e pronomi possessivi 2.2 Test 2.3 Verbi in -are; domande, espressioni interrogative, alcuni avverbi 2.3 Test 2.4 Verbi irregolari in -are: andare, dare, fare, stare 2.4 Test 2.5 LETTURA: I giovani, la famiglia e l'università 2.6 INTERVISTA con Beatrice, Elena e Mattia: L'università di Bologna 2.7 Memory Game! |
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OPTIONAL: (Virtual journey to three Italian piazzas) |
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Unit 3 Attività, sport e vacanze (Activities, sports and vacation) |
3.1 Verbi in -ere, -ire 3.1 Test 3.2 Verbi irregolari in –ere: dovere, potere, volere 3.2 Test 3.3 Verbi irregolari: dire, uscire, venire 3.3 Test 3.4 Conoscere e sapere, preposizioni articolate 3.4 Test 3.5 LETTURA: Attività, sport e vacanze 3.6 INTERVISTA con Emanuele Capoano: Le mie vacanze in Italia 3.7 INTERVISTA con Isabella Perricone: Il cinema italiano 3.8 Memory Game! |
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OPTIONAL: (Virtual journey to three Italian piazzas) |
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Unit 4 La cucina italiana (Italian cuisine) |
4.1 Passato prossimo con essere e avere 4.1 Test 4.2 Imperfetto e contrasto imperfetto / passato prossimo 4.2 Test 4.3 Trapassato prossimo 4.3 Test 4.4 Espressioni negative 4.4 Test 4.5 LETTURA: La cucina italiana: locale o nazionale? 4.6 INTERVISTA con Angelo Guida: La mia passione per la cucina 4.7 Memory Game! |
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OPTIONAL: (360-degree photos of some Italian piazzas) |
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Appendix Alfabeto, pronuncia, numeri, date, che ora è? che ore sono? (Alphabet, pronunciation, numbers, dates, telling time) |
A.1 Alfabeto e pronuncia A.2 Numeri A.3 Giorni della settimana, mesi, stagioni A.4 Che ora è? Che ore sono? A.5 Verb charts and other grammar charts A.6 Maps of Italy |
Suggested 12-week schedule
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Week 1 |
1.1, 1.2, 1.3, A.1 |
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Week 2 |
1.4, 1.5, 1.6, A.2 |
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Week 3 |
1.7, 2.1, A.3 |
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Week 4 |
2.2, A.4 |
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Week 5 |
2.3, 2.4 |
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Week 6 |
2.5, 2.6 |
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Week 7 |
3.1, 3.2 |
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Week 8 |
3.3, 3.4 |
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Week 9 |
3.5, 3.6, 3.7 |
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Week 10 |
4.1, 4.2 |
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Week 11 |
4.3, 4.4 |
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Week 12 |
4.5, 4.6 |