ItalianOnline Summer 2015
CONTENTS
COURSE OVERVIEW
Welcome, benvenuti e benvenute!
ItalianOnline is an introductory course to the Italian language and culture, no previous knowledge is required. This course is made up of lessons, with accompanying tests.
The course in entirely online and you will be able to access the material 24/7 for the entire length of the course (July 6th - August 23rd). The material will continue to be available through the fall, with the exception of a few live features, such as the Discussion Board.
The material available online covers grammar generally completed in three semesters of College level Italian. Whether you are a complete beginner or an intermediate student, ItalianOnline you will find in a way to progress in the language at your own pace.
The course bears no credit and, whether you have chosen the self-study module, the non-intensive (first semester of College level Italian) or the intensive module (first year of College level Italian) you are free to cover the material at your own pace and are under no obligation to complete any number of lessons.
- Students in the non-intensive module will cover 5 units (plus the Appendix). We estimate this to be a time commitment of about one hour a day, five days a week.
- Students in the intensive module will cover 10 units (plus the Appendix). We estimate this to be a time commitment of about two hours per day, five days a week.
- Students in the self-study module proceed at their own pace
Units 11-14 cover material generally studied in third semester of College level Italian and are suitable for those students at the intermediate level who have signed up in the self-study module.
Students may take the course for different reasons, i.e. to place at a higher level of Italian at their university or high school, for their personal enrichment or in preparation for a trip to Italy.
If you are an incoming Wellesley student, or a current Wellesley student, ItalianOnline is an excellent preparation for the courses we offer in the fall. We encourage you to continue your studies of Italian by choosing one of the many options we offer on campus. If you have any questions on how to continue with your studies of Italian on campus, please contact Daniela Bartalesi-Graf (dbartale@wellesley.edu) or David Ward (dward@wellesley.edu). As the course proceeds, we will be sure to remind you about your future options.
CERTIFICATE REQUIREMENTS
Students may obtain a Certificate of Completion for the Non-Intensive Module if:
They complete Esercizi and Tests up to and including Unit 5 with a score of at least 65%
Students may obtain a Certificate of Completion for the Intensive Module if:
They complete Esercizi and Tests up to and including Unit 10 with a score of at least 65%.
THE ORGANIZATION OF THIS COURSE
Each one of us has a different style of learning, especially when it comes to foreign languages. For this reason, we have designed this course so that each lesson presents the same Italian grammar content in multiple ways. These can be viewed, studied, or completed in any order you prefer.
Ciak! videos
“Ciak!” is the Italian word for the clapperboard used when shooting film scenes. These original videos were shot on our campus especially for this course. By watching them, you will follow the lives and interactions of eight Wellesley College students, some native speakers of Italian, others near native speakers. The Ciak! video will enable you to immerse yourself immediately in the content of each lesson.
Each Ciak! video is preceded by new vocabulary and followed by a comprehension activity. You may practice vocabulary related to each Ciak! by clicking on the link QUIZLET. Here you will find ungraded activities to help you practice new vocabulary.
You can also read and/or download the script in Italian or Italian with an English translation.
Timed transcripts
Each Ciak! video is accompanied by an optional timed transcript (click CCin the bar at the button of the video). When this feature is activated you will see the text of the dialog, highlighted in bold characters, as it is spoken. By clicking on any sentence in the timed transcripts the video will go automatically to that section of the dialog, allowing you to re-listen to any section you wish.
Voice comparison
This tool will allow you to compare your pronunciation of key phrases from the Ciak! videos to the pronunciation of a native speaker. This activity is ungraded and optional, but we hope it will be useful to you to refine your pronunciation skills.
Podcasts
The downloadable recordings contain dialogues adapted from the Ciak! video. The first part of each Podcast is in Italian only. The second part is another run through of the same conversation with included prompts in English followed by pauses to give you time to speak the line. This feature allows you to become a participant in the conversation!
Complete list of Ciak! videos (with descriptions)
Grammar charts
Grammar explanations, examples, and charts are available for review in downloadable PDF file format. They are also available in a version that contains audio files in Italian of each example sentence, verb conjugation and grammar chart.
Videos (Slide Shows with Narration)
You may wish to explore the content of the lesson guided by an instructor. For this, we have prepared videos of animated presentations, narrated by an instructor (most videos are about 3 minutes long). You can speed up the narration if you would like to move more quickly, or slow down the video if you would like to listen more closely to pronunciation. Some videos are marked OPTIONAL: this means that they contain oral exercises that repeat grammatical structures already explained in a previous video; you may want to watch them and repeat the sentences along the instructor's voice for extra practice.
Slide Shows
You can access the same slide show used in the narrated videos, and proceed through the material at your own pace. This is useful for review.
Again, you may review this content in the order it is presented, or choose the order that works best for you.
Esercizi (Exercises)
In each lesson you will find exercises to help you test your mastery of the material. These activities allow for more than one attempt before you submit. At the end, click the button Show Answer to get immediate feedback.
Note: The audio files in Esercizi will work best in Safari and Google Chrome. They will not work with Firefox at this time. Sorry about this, but an update will be available soon!
Vocaboli nuovi (Vocabulary)
At the end of each lesson, you will practice the most relevant vocabulary items you have learned. Like our grammar content, vocabulary is also presented in multiple ways: via a simple vocabulary list, slide show presentation, video with narration, and a short exercise at the end. Click on the QUIZLET link to find ungraded activities that will help you practice new vocabulary.
Discussione
The Discussion Board allows you to communicate with other students, and with the instructors. You can access this directly though the Discussion tab, but all lessons have "Discussione" prompts to provide some hints on how to use the material you have studied in the unit in simple conversations with your classmates in the discussion forums.
Cultural Content
Intensive Italian is not only grammar and vocabulary. We also want to expose you to Italy's rich and diverse culture!
At the end of each Unit, you will find material that allows you to explore different aspects of Italian culture: Lettura (reading) and Intervista (interview) with a native speaker. Both come supplied with transcripts in Italian and Italian with English translation. At the end of each Lettura and Intervista, you will find an ungraded activity to test your comprehension of this material.
Just like the Ciak! videos, our Interviste have optional timed transcripts (click CC in the bar at the button of the video). When this feature is activated you will see the text of the interview, highlighted in bold, as it is spoken. By clicking on any sentence in the timed transcripts the video will go automatically to that section of the interview, allowing you to re-listen to any sentence you wish.
COURSE OUTLINE AND SYLLABI
For those who are taking the intensive version of this course, follow the schedule here: 
Intensive ItalianOnline Syllabus
For those who are taking the non-intensive version of this course, follow the schedule here: Non-Intensive ItalianOnline Syllabus
Below is a Table of Contents of all online units.
|
Unit |
Lessons |
|
Unit 1 Le città italiane e la piazza |
1. Greetings and introductions (saluti e presentazioni) 2. Nouns (gender, singular and plural) 3. Articles (indefinite) and adjective "buono" 4. Verb essere, c’è, ci sono, articles (definite), adjective "bello" 5. Verb avere and idiomatic expressions with avere 6. LETTURA: Le città italiane e la piazza 7. INTERVISTA con Lucia Toppino: La città di Alba |
|
Unit 2 I giovani, la famiglia e l'università |
1. Aggettivi 2. Aggettivi e pronomi possessivi 3. Verbi in -are; domande, interrogativi, alcuni avverbi 4. Verbi irregolari in -are: andare, dare, fare, stare 5. LETTURA: I giovani, la famiglia e l'università 6. INTERVISTA con Mattia Acetoso: L'università in Italia e negli USA |
|
Unit 3 Attività, sport e vacanze |
1. Verbi in -ere, -ire 2. Verbi irregolari in -ere: dovere, potere, volere 3. Verbi irregolari: dire, uscire, venire 4. Conoscere e sapere, preposizioni articolate 5. LETTURA: Attività, sport e vacanze 6. INTERVISTA con Emanuele Capuano: Le mie vacanze in Italia 7. INTERVISTA con Isabella Perricone: Il cinema italiano |
|
Unit 4 La cucina e i ristoranti |
1. Passato prossimo con essere e avere 2. Imperfetto e contrasto imperfetto / passato prossimo 3. Trapassato prossimo 4. Espressioni negative 5. LETTURA: Le abitudini alimentari in Italia 6. INTERVISTA con Angelo Guida: la mia passione per la cucina |
|
Unit 5 La casa e la moda |
1. Verbi riflessivi 2. Verbi riflessivi (passato prossimo) e costruzione reciproca 3. Comparativi 4. Superlativi e comparativi irregolari 5. LETTURE: La casa e la moda 6. INTERVISTA con Eugenia Paulicelli: Il made in Italy e la sprezzatura |
|
Unit 6 L'arte italiana |
1. Passato remoto 2. Passato remoto e imperfetto 3. Pronomi relativi 4. Pronomi e aggettivi indefiniti 5. LETTURA: L'arte italiana 6. INTERVISTA con Franco Mormando: Rinascimento e barocco, arte e poesia 7. INTERVISTA con Sergio Parussa: Giovanni Pascoli e la poesia Lavandare 8. INTERVISTA con Emanuele Capuano: La Commedia dell’Arte e la maschera di Pulcinella |
|
Unit 7 La salute |
1. Pronomi oggetto diretto e indiretto 2. Pronomi oggetto diretto (accordo con il participio passato) 3. Verbi piacere, mancare, occorrere e servire 4. LETTURA: La salute e il sistema sanitario in Italia 5. INTERVISTA con Salvatore Mascia: La farmacia in Italia |
|
Unit 8 Fare la spesa e le spese |
1. Futuro semplice 2. Condizionale (presente e passato) 3. Pronomi "ne" e "ci" 4. Pronomi combinati 5. LETTURA: Fare la spesa e fare le spese in Italia 6. INTERVISTA con Teresa Alfarano: il mio negozio di scarpe e accessori ad Alba |
|
Unit 9 Il mondo del lavoro |
1. Congiuntivo presente 2. Congiuntivo passato 3. Congiuntivo dopo alcune congiunzioni, dopo il superlativo e i pronomi indefiniti 4. LETTURA: Il mondo del lavoro 5. INTERVISTA con Dante Roscini: L’economia e il mondo del lavoro in Italia |
|
Unit 10 Il sistema politico |
1. Congiuntivo imperfetto e trapassato 2. Condizionale con il congiuntivo 3. LETTURA: Il sistema politico italiano 4. INTERVISTA con David Ward: Come è nata la Costituzione Italiana 5. INTERVISTA con Giuseppe Pastorelli: L’Italia è una repubblica parlamentare |
|
Unit 11 L'ambiente |
1. Frasi ipotetiche con “se” 2. Imperativo 3. LETTURA: L'ambiente 4. INTERVISTA con Maurizio Marello, Sindaco di Alba: Lo straordinario patrimonio ambientale delle nostre colline 5. INTERVISTA con Massimo Scavino, Assessore all'Ambiente di Alba: Il moderno ambientalismo |
|
Unit 12 La musica italiana |
1. Gerundio (presente e passato), “stare” + gerundio 2. Si impersonale 3. LETTURA: La musica italiana 4. INTERVISTA con Stefano Marchese: Dalla musica tradizionale abruzzese al jazz 5. INTERVISTA con Mattia Acetoso: La mia passione per l’opera italiana |
|
Unit 13 Il divario fra nord e sud |
1. Participio passato; infinito presente e passato 2. Fare + infinito; lasciare e permettere di + infinito 3. LETTURA: 3. Il divario fra nord e sud 4. INTERVISTA con Stefano Vaccara: La mafia e le sue origini |
|
Unit 14 La musica italiana |
1. Voce passiva con essere 2. Voce passiva con venire e andare 3. LETTURA: La recente immigrazione in Italia 4. INTERVISTA 4. con Fred Kuwornu: La recente immigrazione e la battaglia per la “ius soli” |
|
Appendix |
1. Alphabet and pronunciation (alfabeto e pronuncia) 2. Numbers (numeri) 3. Days of the week, months, seasons (giorni della settimana, mesi, stagioni) 4. Telling time (che ore sono? che ora è?) |