Fall Semester B2/C1 Italian Language Program – Advanced Intermediate Plus
The Fall semester Direct Enrollment: University for Foreigners program consists of two separate courses as follows:
1-month course – September (Level B2)
3-month course – October through December (level C1 Advanced)
This program is for advanced-intermediate students who start their Italian language learning at the Common European Framework Level B2 (second level intermediate), and after completing the one-month course, continue to study at the Level C1 (first level advanced) for the remaining three-month course.
This program is taught entirely in Italian with the majority of the program taught at the Università per Stranieri di Perugia, and two tutorial hours per week at the Umbra Institute.
Weekly Schedule
B2
Italian language: 12 hours
Aspects of Italian culture: 6 hours
Speaking practice: 9 hours
Practice in pronunciation: 2 hours
Total hours of lessons per week: 29 hours
Tutorial Sessions with Umbra Instructors: 2 hours/week
C1
Students in the advanced proficiency Level C1 may choose from three curricular tracks: Linguistic, Cultural, or Technical/Business.
Each program covers topics in advanced linguistic studies, including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, dialects and historical linguistics, and supplements the linguistic program with one elective course chosen from a variety of offerings in the humanities and social sciences. Elective courses focus on various aspects of Italian history, culture, society, and linguistics and include courses such as: History of Italian Cinema, History of Italian Theater, Contemporary Italian Literature, Art History, Contemporary Art, Sociolinguistics, Business Communications, the Language of the Mass Media, and Psycholinguistics. While these courses are designed to introduce and study a particular subject matter, they principally utilize the subject matter as a tool for further enhancing language proficiency.
Total hours of lessons per week: 24 hours
Tutorial Sessions with Umbra Instructors: 2 hours/week
Prerequisites
The B2 Program accepts students who have attended the first-level intermediate course (B1) or students who have been placed in B2 as a result of the placement exam. Also students who have a CELI 2 (the internationally recognized certificate of Italian language proficiency issued by the Università per Stranieri) or an equivalent Italian Language Certificate issued by institutions similar to the Università, have direct access to the B2 level. Then, after the first month, the move to C1 level is acknowledged by passing an exam at the Università.
Objectives
Starting at a second intermediate level, the program B2/C1 aims first to review and consolidate those linguistic skills required in a fluent, even if still simple, oral and written interaction with native speakers (see objectives for level B2).
Moving to the C1 level, you will tend to use the language almost effortlessly, in its oral as well as written forms, in a natural and spontaneous manner. You must be able to make yourself easily understood even if the expressions you use are not always correct and accurate. You must have good mastery of a broad lexical repertory in different areas sufficient to allow you to understand specialized articles in newspapers and magazines. In terms of communication, you must be able to choose the most suitable language functions from your repertoire in order to speak and maintain a conversation and be able to express your points of view using a language that is not only appropriate, but also efficient for communicative purposes. You must be able to write clear and well structured texts on both straightforward and complicated topics.
Main Grammar Points covered in B2-C1
Il programma prevede una revisione di tutti gli elementi grammaticali della lingua italiana (si veda anche il programma al livello B2), volta ad attivare una competenza d’utilizzo superiore, adeguata a situazioni che prevedano una conoscenza e una proprietà della lingua avanzata. L’attività didattica coinvolgerà diversi livelli lessicali, d’uso e di contesto (differenti situazioni comunicative, ambiti familiare, di lavoro, di relazione sociale, scolastico-universitario, letterario), cosi’ come di registro (situazioni formali od informali).
Transcripts
UMBRA TRANSCRIPT AWARDED – Levels B2/C1:
ITAL 401 Advanced Italian – 5 credits
ITST/SOC 450 Civiltà Italiana: Italian Culture and Society – 5 credits
ITST 490 Advanced Italian I: Special Topics (elective course*) – 3 credits
ITST 491 Advanced Italian II: Special Topics (elective course*) – 3 credits
*There are a variety of elective courses that are on offer to you at the C1/C2 level. Examples of elective courses are: History of Italian Cinema, Art History, Contemporary History, and History of Italian Music.
Note