Course Description
Welcome to our intermediate Italian language course, specially tailored for students who have already completed two semesters of Italian and are eager to delve deeper into the language. This program is designed to enhance your proficiency and understanding of Italian, empowering you to speak with greater confidence, grasp more intricate grammatical structures, and familiarize yourself with authentic texts to enrich your lexicon.

Interactive lessons and activities
Our lessons are thoughtfully divided into two fundamental components:

• Focus on grammatical and syntactical expertise: During the initial part of each lesson, we provide students with comprehensive insights into Italian grammar and syntax, adopting an engaging communicative approach. 
• Mastering communication skills: the second part of our lessons is dedicated to improving your conversational abilities. Engage in real-life scenarios, practice listening, comprehend written and spoken language, and actively participate in various language production exercises. To augment your learning experience, we leverage audiovisual aids, captivating songs, and videos.

Beyond the classroom, our program offers a diverse range of excursion and co-curricular activities, designed to immerse you in the Italian culture and apply your newfound knowledge. Here’s a glimpse of some of the included activities:

• Day trip to Tuscany.
• Exploration of medieval towns in the heart of Umbria, such as Assisi and Spello.
• Weekly tandem language exchanges with Italian students. 
• Visits to Perugia’s prominent museums.
• Journeys through the rich Italian food culture, through cooking classes and wine tastings, and local food festivals.
• Local food festivals, celebrating the true spirit of Italian cuisine.
• Cinema nights
• Visit to the Perugia Opera Theatre (Teatro Morlacchi)

All lessons and activities are based on a comprehensive three-fold approach:

Immersive Language Practice: Immerse yourself in Italian texts and diverse audio-visual materials. This approach exposes you to the language in its natural context, aiding in your language acquisition.

Interactive In-Class and Activities: Engage in stimulating group activities during class, guided by our experienced instructors. These activities foster dynamic discussions, enabling you to refine your language skills and develop your creative expression by writing brief stories or “racconti.”

Real-World Application: Embrace out-of-the-classroom activities that encourage you to apply your newfound knowledge in practical situations. These experiences will deepen your understanding of Italian culture, exploring regionalism, festivals, traditions, social and political norms, literature, cinema, fashion, music, and other aspects that define the Italian way of life.

Course Structure
ITAL 211S meets four days per week (Mon-Thur) and consists of two 1.5-hour morning classes focused on conversation and grammar. In the afternoons and evenings, and sometimes on Fridays, cultural activities in Italian are scheduled. 

Main Grammar Points
The course will begin with a quick review of ITAL 111 grammar and thereafter cover the following grammatical points:

• Uso dell’imperfetto, del passato prossimo e del trapassato prossimo
• Pronomi diretti, indiretti, doppi 
• Accordo dei pronomi con il participio
• Particelle NE e CI
• Gradi dell’aggettivo: comparativo e superlativo
• Il futuro semplice e composto
• Verbi impersonali
• Imperativo diretto, indiretto e con i pronomi
• Verbi riflessivi e particelle pronominali riflessive
• Il condizionale presente e passato
• Concordanze dei modi e tempi (I)
• Il congiuntivo presente e passato

Course Objectives
At the end of the session, you should reach the level B1+ of the Common European Framework in the four basic competencies: listening, speaking and interacting, reading, and writing. In practice, you will be able to:

• Interact with a native speaker on familiar, everyday topics and topics of personal interest when clear, standard speech is used.
• Produce relatively simple texts on everyday topics and understand texts containing concrete and relatively simple abstract topics.
• Express opinions on current affairs, familiar topics and topics of personal interest, describe personal experiences, and provide brief explanations.
• Understand the main points of radio and television announcements, advertisements, news items, and talk shows when the speech is relatively slow and clear.
• Build a basic vocabulary of 750-1000 words and start to develop a small, specialized vocabulary tied to one’s personal interests and to the specific activities covered in class.
• Write simple texts based on familiar topics, personal experience and on certain aspects of culture and contemporary society (in the form of brief compositions, summaries, and informal and formal letters).
• Develop a more sophisticated understanding of Italian culture and contemporary society.

Course Materials
– Required Text: A Course Reader that contains the materials to be covered in the course will be made available.

– Supplementary Text: Selected exercises and readings from various textbooks and workbooks will be handed out periodically.