The Italian Language and Culture Course - Intermediate Course: Level 2 (M2)
Summer courses in Italian language and culture for foreigners » 24th July - 18th August 2017

• Language course timetable: Monday to Friday from 8.45 a.m. to 12.15 p.m.
• Total hours: 80 lessons of 45 minutes of classroom teaching (including language laboratory activities)
• Timetable of seminars on reading and textual analysis (optional): Monday to Friday from 12.30 to 1.15 p.m.
• Total hours: 18 lessons of 45 minutes
• Lectures, workshops, films: approximately 60 lessons of 60 minutes
• Academic credits: 6 (course of four weeks)

First module

Forms and uses of all tenses of the subjunctive. Sequence of tenses with the subjunctive. Compound conditional to indicate future in the past. 1st, 2nd and 3rd type conditional sentences. Revision of combined pronouns. Lexis in common use and more formal use.

Development of oral comprehension of numerous types of texts with different language registers. Production and oral interaction on complex topics of everyday life and on not-so-complex scientific, technical and literary subjects. Written production of texts of a technical, scientific and literary nature referring to recurring situations in an ordinary person’s life. Written production relating to complex situations.

Book used on the course: lecture notes prepared by the teacher or A. De Giuli, C. Guastalla, C. M. Naddeo (2013), NuovoMagari, Firenze, Alma Edizioni.

Second module

Revision of prepositions, “passato remoto” v. “trapassato remoto”, relative pronouns, indefinite adjectives and pronouns, impersonal and passive si, passive form, notes on use of the gerund. Lexis in common use and more formal use.

Development of oral comprehension of numerous types of texts with different language registers. Production and oral interaction on complex topics of everyday life and on not-so-complex scientific, technical and literary subjects. Written production of texts of a technical, scientific and literary nature referring to recurring situations in an ordinary person’s life. Written production relating to complex situations.

Book used on the course: lecture notes prepared by the teacher or A. De Giuli, C. Guastalla, C. M. Naddeo (2013), NuovoMagari, Firenze, Alma Edizioni.

Lessons in Italian Culture

The programme runs over four weeks, includes a full series of activities - in the afternoon (from Monday to Friday), and in the evening (twice a week) - that together provide a rich introduction to several aspects of Italian culture. University lecturers, scholars and famous authors will hold conferences, seminars, laboratories (in Italian and lasting from one to three hours) open to everyone and diversified according to the linguistic level of competence of the students.

The afternoon programme foresees the pursuit of topics in the following cultural areas:

• Literature - 4 conferences on aspects and authors of Italian literature from its origins to the present day, 2 meetings (one in the first two weeks and one in the last two weeks) with successful authors.                 
• Cinema - 4 lessons on the history of Italian cinema, using some of the most important films from the 1940s to the present day. The lessons will also include the viewing of some of these films.
• Music - 4 seminars on moments and protagonists of the history of Italian music, both classical and popular, listening to songs and with live exhibitions.
• Art - 3 lessons (one in the first two weeks and one in the last two weeks) with expert Italian artists.
• Fashion - 1 lesson on a particular aspect of the history of Italian fashion
• History/tradition/current topics - 3 conferences on matters of particular socio-cultural interest.

Three laboratories will also be set up:

• Lexical laboratory - 4 workshops for elementary courses aimed at promoting socio-linguistic knowledge and skills in cultural contexts, such as gesture, cuisine and music.
• Cuisine laboratory - 3 workshops on Italian culinary art, from the Renaissance to the present day.
• Popular and Renaissance dance laboratory - 2 workshops for discovering and practising some traditional Italian dances.

The evening programme foresees:

• Film sessions - To add to the afternoon lessons and viewings, one evening a week will be dedicated to the showing of other key films for the history of the Italian cinema, together with explanations from lecturers and subtitled in the original language, to make them more easily understandable.
• Concerts-conferences - To add to the afternoon lessons and listening sessions, there will be 2 concerts (one in the first two weeks and one in the last two weeks) dedicated to Italian music, along with a critical presentation.
• Eno-gastronomic event - One evening at the beginning of the third week, a trip immersed in the local culture of wine and food will be offered, with a presentation and tasting sessions run by an expert.

Also, this year, Urbino Municipal Council has agreed its collaboration to organise additional activities, such as a visit to the Biological Producers Consortium “Terra Bio”, and the creation of a dedicated space as part of the traditional Festa del Duca whereour students are encouraged to take part in seminars on art for which Urbino has been famous for centuries, such as engraving, pottery, art printing or live drawing.

The detailed calendar of all afternoon and evening events will be published here as soon as possible.

Guided visits

• guided visit to the Ducal Palace of Urbino.The visit lasts around two hours and entrance is free. 
• excursions to some historic towns in the Marche or neighbouring regions (Gubbio, Assisi, San Marino, San Leo, Ravenna, Perugia, Gradara and the Frasassi caves). Excursions take place on Saturdays. The excursions require a minimum number of enrolments and are not included in the price of the course; relative fees may be paid directly on the premises. The detailed programme will be available a few days before each excursion.
• on the first Sunday a walk is organized through Urbino’s old town centre, with visits to some of the artistic monuments in the town.

Parties

On the first evening of the course, the Urbino E.R.S.U. – the organisation that manages the student accommodation services – offers refreshments to welcome all the course participants. At the end of the course a buffet will be organized to say farewell to all the students who are leaving.

The course management reserves the right to modify the programmes on the basis of number of students enrolled.

Those who want to obtain an official certificate of achievement with an indication of their grade and credits (4 or 6 credits) must attend the language and culture courses regularly (absences may not exceed 20% of the total hours of language teaching and no more than 30% of the lessons in Italian Culture) and must pass the final examination which will take place on Friday 18th August 2017.

Those who have not taken the final examination, but who have followed the lessons regularly, will be issued with a certificate of attendance on request.

For participants who are enrolled for the first two weeks of the course (2 or 3 credits) the final examination will take place on Friday 4th August 2017 at 3.00 p.m.

The dates of the final examinations cannot be brought forward.

In 2010 the Centro Linguistico d’Ateneo (CLA) of Carlo Bo University of Urbino became a centre for the “CILS-Certificazione di Italiano come Lingua Straniera” examinations. The CILS certificate (levels A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2) can be used, in particular from level B2 upwards, for the world of work, for teaching Italian and for enrolment at Italian universities. Foreign students who intend to enrol at an Italian university are exempt from the official Italian language test if they hold a CILS Level B2 certificate.

For information about CILS examinations at the University of Urbino CLA: www.uniurb.it/cla