ITAL 110S – Beginner Italian Language & Culture
A1.1 level (CEFR)

At A Glance
Credits: 6
Prerequisites: None
Contact hours at Università per Stranieri: 72
Contact hours at the Umbra Institute: 8
Co-curricular cultural activities: 20 
Language of instruction: Italian

Course Description
This is a 4-week beginner Italian course offered as part of the Summer Intensive Italian Language & Culture Program. US university students completely unfamiliar with the Italian language will begin at the A1 Elementary level based on the Common European Framework for Languages (CEFR) and receive a total of 6 credits for their studies in Italian language, culture, and conversation. 

Students will be enrolled at the prestigious Universita’ per Stranieri di Perugia and study alongside international students representing over 100 countries. The in-class language instruction conducted at the Università per Stranieri is supplemented by tutorials and workshops at the Umbra Institute and a rich series of cultural co-curricular activities by Umbra faculty at the Umbra Institute. For more information about the Universita per Stranieri click here.

Course Objectives
The objective of the course is to train students to understand and create frequently used sentences and expressions related to environments of immediate relevance (for example, basic information on people, families, purchases, local geography, study, and work). After successfully completing this level students will be capable of communicating in routine situations, providing simple and appropriate descriptions of their personal experience referring to immediate needs.

Weekly Course Structure
Language Class (at UniStrPG):   12 hours
Skills Development Lab (at UniStrPG):    4 hours
Pronunciation & Spelling (at UniStrPG):   2 hours
Tutorial & Workshops  (at the Umbra Institute): 2 hours
Co-Curricular Activities (Outside of Classroom) 3+ hours (varies by week)

Prerequisites
None. False beginners (i.e. students who have some familiarity with the language or who have studied Latin or other Romance languages before) are encouraged to take the Placement test.

Outcomes
After successfully completing this level students will be capable of communicating in routine situations, providing simple and appropriate descriptions of their personal experience referring to immediate needs.

Activities at the Umbra Institute
Students enrolled in the Summer Intensive Italian Language & Culture Program will have access to Umbra Faculty members beyond their private and group tutoring session during a vast series of cultural activities designed to improve their language speaking skills in a natural environment while introducing them to practices of daily life and the cultural offerings of Central Italy. These activities include the following:

• Traditional welcome dinner;
• Tandem nights with Italian university students;
• Day-Trip in Umbria or Tuscany 
• “Serate in cucina”- cooking with faculty members or local experts;
• Trips to local festivals (e.g., typical Central Italian “sagre”, Perugia 1416);
• Guided tours of Perugia and Assisi;
• Visit to local winery with tastings;
• Lecture series on historical and current topics of Italian culture;
• Outdoor Cinema nights and live musical performances in Italian;
• Farewell Festa

A final co-curricular activities series schedule will be provided during orientation.

Main Grammatical Structures Covered 

nomi

• nomi singolari e plurali a suffisso -e/-essa 
• principali nomi invariabili 
• alcuni nomi di origine straniera
• alcuni nomi in -e al maschile e in -a al femminile 

articoli 

• determinativi-indeterminativi, singolari e plurali
• forme più diffuse degli articoli determinativi e indeterminativi
• di nazionalità
• possessivi 
• qualificativi a suffisso -o / -a ed -e
• dimostrativi
• interrogativo
• numerali cardinali da 0 a 100
• numerali ordinali da primo a decimo
• indefiniti (molto, poco, tanto)

pronomi 

• personali soggetto con particolare riferimento alle 3 persone singolari
• pronomi allocutivi (tu, Lei, voi, con introduzione all’uso del registro formale)
• pronomi riflessivi
• pronomi interrogativi

verbi

• indicativo presente (con particolare riferimento a tutte e tre le persone singolari e al noi) degli ausiliari essere ed avere, di alcuni verbi regolari (lavorare, abitare, vivere), di alcuni irregolari (stare, fare, sapere)
• indicativo presente del verbo chiamarsi (io, tu, lui/lei)
• vorrei 
• imperativo formale ed informale del verbo scusare
• Indicativo presente dei verbi potere (io, tu, lui/lei),
• infinito presente nelle proposizioni finali implicite
• infinito retto da verbo modale (potere)
• indicativo presente del verbo esserci solo alla III persona singolare e plurale

preposizioni 

• di (provenienza) 
• di + materia di studio
• di + nome (possesso)
• a + avverbi di tempo
• a (stato in luogo)
• in (stato in luogo)
• per + infinito/sostantivo

avverbi (e locuzioni avverbiali)

• avverbio interrogativo
• avverbi di giudizio 
• la negazione
• avverbi di tempo (adesso, oggi, dopo, domani)
• avverbi di modo (bene, male, volentieri)
• avverbi di luogo (qui, qua, lì, là, sopra, sotto, dentro, fuori, dietro, davanti)
• avverbi di quantità