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WellesleyX: Italian3x Italian Language and Culture: Advanced

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    1. Course Overview
    2. Course Organization
    3. Course Outline
    4. Suggested 8-Week Schedule

COURSE OVERVIEW

Benvenute e Benvenuti!

With Italian Language and Culture: Advanced you will learn how to perfect your skills in Italian (speaking, listening, reading and writing): by the end of this course you will be able to express opinions and hypotheses on a variety of subjects using both formal and informal ways of communicating. You will also expand your vocabulary to include topics beyond everyday conversation. Italian culture is an integral part of this course: through interviews and readings you will learn about many aspects of Italian art, history, politics and contemporary society.

The course will stay open for 12 months from the starting date as a self-paced course: this means that you can cover the material at your own speed within the timeframe of 12 months, starting January 25th, 2015. Although we estimate that, studying 3-4 hours per week, it will take you about 8 weeks to complete the course, you are under no obligation to finish within this suggested time. Please see the detailed syllabus below for suggestions on how to divide the material over 8 weeks.

You may decide to study towards a Verified Certificate of Completion ($49), or to learn for your personal enrichment and pleasure.

To receive a Verified Certificate of Completion you must obtain a final score of 60%. This is calculated as follows:

- Tests count 90% of your final score. You may drop 2 Tests.

- Esercizi (self-graded exercises) count 10% of your final score. You may drop 4 Esercizi.

The material you will study in this class was successfully tested in an entirely online course offered in summer 2014 and summer 2015, taken by about 1,500 students, all of them either Wellesley College students, alumnae, or selected high school students.

COURSE ORGANIZATION

The course consists of six Units. Each Unit is broken down in 5-6 lessons (9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 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. Each Ciak! video is followed by two downloadable Podcasts. These will be ideal for your on-the-go practice.

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: interview with a native speaker on a variety of cultural subjects.

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COURSE OUTLINE

Below is an outline of the material we will cover this semester as it is presented in the edX platform. Since we don't have a textbook, this outline is the equivalent of a Table of Contents in any textbooks. 

Unit

Lessons

Unit 9

Il mondo del lavoro

(The job market)

9.1 Congiuntivo: congiuntivo presente; infinito o congiuntivo?
(Subjunctive: present subjunctive; infinitive or subjunctive?)

9.1 Test

9.2 Congiuntivo passato
(Past subjunctive)

9.2 Test

9.3 Altri usi del congiuntivo
(Other uses of the subjunctive)

9.3 Test

9.4 Lettura: Il mondo del lavoro
(Reading: The Job Market)

9.5 Intervista con Dante Roscini: L’economia e il mondo del lavoro in Italia
(Interview with Dante Roscini: The economy and the job market in Italy)

Unit 10

Il sistema politico

(The political system)

10.1 Congiuntivo imperfetto
(Imperfect subjunctive)

10.1 Test

10.2 Condizionale presente con il congiuntivo imperfetto
(Present conditional with the imperfect subjunctive)

10.2 Test

10.3 Lettura: Il sistema politico italiano
(The Italian political system)

10.4 Intervista con David Ward: Come è nata la Costituzione Italiana
(Interview with David Ward: How the Italian Constitution was formed)

10.5 Intervista con Giuseppe Pastorelli: L’Italia è una repubblica parlamentare
(Italy is a parliamentary republic)

Unit 11

L'ambiente

(The environment)

11.1 Periodo ipotetico
(Hypothetical clauses)

11.1 Test

11.2 Imperativo
(Imperative)

11.2 Test

11.3 Lettura: L’ambiente 
(Reading: The environment)

11.4 Intervista con Maurizio Marello, sindaco di Alba: Lo straordinario patrimonio ambientale delle nostre colline
(Interview with Maurizio Marello, mayor of Alba: The extraordinary environmental heritage of our hills)

11.5 Intervista con Massimo Scavino, Assessore all’Ambiente di Alba: Il moderno ambientalismo
(Interview with Massimo Scavino, Council Member for the Environment of the town of Alba: Modern Environmentalism)

Unit 12

La musica, il teatro e il viaggio di Dante nella Divina Commedia

(Music, theater and Dante's journey in the Divine Comedy)

12.1 Gerundio (presente e passato); Verbo “stare” + gerundio presente
(Gerund [present and past]; Verb “stare” + gerund)

12.1 Test

12.2 Si impersonale e passivante
(Impersonal and passive constructions with “si”)

12.2 Test

12.3 Lettura: La musica in Italia
(Reading: Italian music)

12.4 Intervista con Mattia Acetoso: La mia passione per l’opera italiana
(Interview with Mattia Acetoso: My passion for Italian opera)

12.5 Intervista con “Pazzi Lazzi”: La Commedia dell’Arte e “Il processo di Arlecchino
(Interview with “Pazzi Lazzi”: Commedia dell’Arte and “Arlecchino’s Trial”)

12.6 Intervista con Francesca Southerden: Il viaggio di Dante nell’altro mondo, ovvero “per lo gran mar de l’essere”
(Interview with Francesca Southerden: Dante’s journey to the other world: “across the great sea of being”)

Unit 13

Il divario fra nord e sud

(The gap between north and south)

13.1 Participio passato; infinito presente e passato
(Past participle; present and past infinitive)

13.1 Test

13.2 Fare + infinito; lasciare e permettere di + infinito
(“Fare” + the infinitive; To let and to allow to + infinitive)

13.2 Test

13.3 Lettura: Il divario fra nord e sud
(Reading: The gap between north and south)

13.4 Intervista con Stefano Vaccara: La mafia e le sue origini
(Interview with Stefano Vaccara: The Mafia and its origins)

13.5 Intervista con Newpoli: Ritmi dal Sud - La Taranta
(Interview with Newpoli: Rhythms from the South - the "Taranta")

Unit 14

Emigrazione ed immigrazione

(Emigration and immigration)

14.1 Voce Passiva con essere
(Passive voice with "to be")

14.1 Test

14.2 Voce Passiva con venire e andare
(Passive voice with “venire” and “andare”)

14.2 Test

14.3 Lettura: La recente immigrazione in Italia
(Reading: The recent immigration in Italy)

14.4 Intervista con Fred Kuwornu: La recente immigrazione e la battaglia per la “ius soli”
(Interview with Fred Kuwornu: The recent immigration and the battle for the “ius soli”)

14.5 Intervista con Stefano Marchese:  Dalla musica tradizionale abruzzese al jazz, un percorso transoceanico
(Interview with Stefano Marchese: From traditional Abruzzese music to jazz: a transatlantic journey)

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SUGGESTED 8-WEEK SCHEDULE

Week 1

9.1, 9.2, 9.3

Week 2

9.4, 9.5, 10.1

Week 3

10.2, 10.3, 10.4, 10.5

Week 4

11.1, 11.2, 11.3, 11.4, 11.5

Week 5

12.1, 12.2, 12.3, 12.4

Week 6

12.5, 12.6, 13.1

Week 7

13.2, 13.3, 13.4, 14.1

Week 8

14.2, 14.3, 14.4, 14.5

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