Basic Modern Italian I
[FLTR1750]
[15h + 30h] 5 credits
This course is taught in the 1st semester.
Teacher(s): Costantino Maeder
Language: I
Level: First
Aims
b) Acquiring knowledge : 1st series: to develop a deductive skill based on the common root of Italian and French. Learning grammar, based on the common root of Italian and French. Learning vocabulary, using the deductive skills based on the common root of Italian and French learned during the course. Introduction to Italian cultures. 2nd series: Learning basic grammar and vocabulary; introduction to the culture.
Main themes
45 hours of practical tutorials directed in series: the 1st series concentrates on getting the students to learn basic communication situations and grammar, as well as on the ability to read newspapers and historical and literary texts. We shall use the methods developed for the inter-comprehension of the Romance languages: as such, the course essentially relies on what the student is already familiar with, though without conscious knowledge (that is, that the syntactical structures and a large part of the vocabulary in Italian and French are identical). The 2nd series will be devoted to reading, understanding, and translating specialized Italian texts, both modern and classical, from the areas of art history and of history.
Each series offers an introduction to Italian culture based on the understanding of written and audiovisual documents.
55 hours of personal study: study of vocabulary; immersion exercises and deduction of grammatical structures. Understanding the texts studied.
Content and teaching methods
Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)
1st series: For the written part, students should be able to (a) interpret the main aspects of a text in Italian based on deductive and inter-comprehensive methods, (b) carry out classical grammar and writing exercises. For the oral part, they should be able to pronounce and read correctly, and to handle a basic communication situation (asking for directions, asking for information, etc.).
2nd series: Assessment, carried our for the most part throughout the series, will be based on the written translation (from Italian to French) of a text not covered in class.
Course holder:
One lecturer for each series.
The first series will be based on a co-teaching arrangement and tutorials. Computer and paper documents will be used and assignments will be corrected individually.