Beginner Italian Courses in Auckland & Wellington (A1)

Learn Italian in Auckland and Wellington with our fun immersion Beginners Italian language courses (A1) taught by experienced professional Italian teachers from Italy. In this Italian A1 Language Course you will learn Italian Pronunciation, Greetings, Questions, Colors and Directions. Furthermore every lesson will include something about Italian Culture and People.

Our Italian Language Course Program follows the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and ranges from Level A1 to C2.

The formal CEFR objectives for A1 are :

• Can understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very basic Italian phrases aimed at the satisfaction of needs of a concrete type.
• Can introduce themselves and others in and can ask and answer questions about personal details such as where he/she lives, people they know and things they have.
• Can interact in a simple way provided the other person talks slowly and clearly in Italian and is prepared to help.

Italian Learning Outcomes:

Listening skills
Identify very basic information in very familiar situations provided the speakers talk slowly and clearly and are willing to help:

• Numbers
• Presentation of people (name, age, address, profession, nationality)
• Daily routines
• Simple questions in the present

Speaking skills

Interact in a very simple way in very familiar situations provided the other speaker is willing to repeat or rephrase and help them formulate what they are trying to say:

• Establish social contact: greetings and farewells; introductions; giving thanks.
  
• Introduce themselves and other people (first name, surname, age, profession, nationality);
  
• Count in Italian
  
• Ask simple questions in the present (who, what, where, when, how, how much)
  
• Initiate and respond to simple statements in areas of immediate need or on very familiar topics (make an appointment (day + time), apologize for coming late, accept or refuse invitations, ask and answer simple questions on very familiar topics)
  
• State that they don't understand, ask for repetition, and ask someone to speak more slowly
  
• Produce information about their immediate environment and their everyday life (place they live, describe their flat/house);
  
• Describe their daily routine using simple vocabulary

Reading skills

Read very short, simple texts picking up familiar names, words, basic phrases and simple sentences and rereading as required;

• Scan for information in simple text, such as a map, diagram, advertisement, chart, application form, ID card or calendar, bus schedule;
• Identify information about people and places (place of residence, age, etc.) in simple text when reading very slowly

Writing skills

Produce very short simple texts related to very familiar topics such as personal details:

• Fill in forms with personal details for example entering name, nationality and address, age,date of birth, on a registration form;
  
• write short simple texts related to familiar topics in the present (e.g. short autobiographical text)

Italian Course Content:

Students are familiar with most of the following grammar structures:

• Alphabet and pronunciation
  
• Nouns and adjectives, noun and adjective agreement
  
• Adjectives in –e
  
• Irregular plurals
  
• The auxiliary verbs (essere, avere)
  
• Definite and indefinite article
  
• Personal subject pronouns
  
• The three verb conjugations (-are, -ere, -ire)
  
• The polite form (Lei)
  
• Regular verbs in the present tense (il presente indicativo)
  
• Modal verbs in the present tense (potere, volere and dovere)
  
• Simple prepositions

They can identify and use vocabulary about the following topics and situations:

• Introducing themselves and others, personal details, describing what someone looks like and his/her personality, countries and nationalities, the time , the numbers, the days and months, the greetings, the colours, the house.
  

They are familiar with some aspects of the target culture(s):

• Some geography about Italy and its regions, getting around: means of public and private transport; tickets, ordinary daily Italian habits.
  
• They have started exploring cultural differences and similarities.

Learning Activities and Teaching Methods:

• Immersion language learning, Interactive lectures, multi-media techniques (audio/video/information technology), discussion with class participation, group/pair work

Course Textbook:

• Marin, T., & Magnelli, S. . Nuovo progetto Italiano 1 (2009) : Corso multimediale di lingua e civiltà italiana: Livello elementare (A1-A2). Roma: Edilingua. - Readily available at online bookstores and downloadable pdfs

Duration:

• Each evening course is made of 10 x 1 1/2 hour weekly classes running for over 2 1/2 months at the same time and day of the week as its listed course start date. There are no classes on Public holidays.

Benefits of taking your Italian courses with the Italian Institute:

• You will learn Italian with qualified and experienced professional Italian teachers from Italy
• Progress in a friendly Italian immersion environment
• Benefit from a small class sizes which maximises your student and teacher interactions
• Follow a structured curriculum following the Common European Framework of Reference A1-C2 (CEFR - www.coe.int)
• Work toward internationally recognised exams (Celi, Cils, Plida, & AIL)
• Use the recommended Nuovo Progetto Italiano textbooks used in Universities worldwide including Victoria University, University of York, Oxford, Latrobe, Brown, MIT...
• Back up your learning with resources from our media-library

Italian School Locations:

• Auckland Central - Level 10, Acrossia House, 155 Queen St, Auckland
• North shore - Northcote Memorial Hall, 2 Rodney St, Northcote
• Wellington - Aro Valley Community Hall, 48 Aro St, Wellington

Price:

• $199 includes 10 weeks of classes, an expert teacher from Italy and small class sizes, all for less than $19 a class. There are no hidden membership fees or contracts.

Italian courses start all year round - Enrol today!

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Lesson PLan

Week 1: greetings & Alphabet

Comunicative objectives: Presentation of some Italian words that are well known abroad. Calculation of words. Introducing others. Introducing yourself. Greetings, Nationality. Saying your nationality.

Grammar: Alphabet. Pronunciation (c/g). Nouns and adjectives. Nouns and adjectives agreement. Personal subject pronouns. Presente indicativo of essere. Pronunciation (s).

Vocabulary: Nationality

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WEEK 2: introducTIONS AND NUMBERS

Comunicatives objectives: Making the first complete sentences. Cardinal numbers (1 - 10). Asking and saying your name. Asking and saying your age. Numbers (11-30)

Grammar: Articolo determinativo. Pronunciation (gn/gl/z). Presente indicative of avere, chiamarsi. Pronunciation (doppie consonanti)

Vocabulary: Numbers.

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WEEK 3: on the phone, asking questions and professions

Comunicatives objectives: Speaking on the telephone. Speaking about something new. Asking how someone is and professions.

Grammar: The three conjugations (-are, -ere, -ire). Indicativo presente: regular verbs.

Vocabulary: The job

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week 4: writing emails, meeting new people and describing

Comunicatives objectives: Writing an e-mail. Getting acquainted. Asking for and giving information. Meeting someone. Greetings. Reply to greetings. Speaking to someone using Lei form. Describing what someone looks like and his/her personality

Grammar: Articolo indeterminativo. Adjectives in –e. Polite form.

Vocabulary: The face. The body.

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week 5 leisure activities

Comunicatives objectives: Leisure. Weekend activities. Inviting. Accepting or declining an invitation.

Grammar: Presente indicative: irregular verbs

Vocabulary: Free time

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week 6: directions, your home and telling time

Comunicatives objectives: Asking for and giving an address. Describing your home. Cardinal numbers (30 – 2.000). Ordinal numbers. Asking and saying what day it is. Asking and telling the time.

Grammar: Presente indicativo of modal verbs. Prepositions.

Vocabulary: The days of the week. The hours.

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week 7: at the post office & the household

Comunicative objectives: Sending a letter, a package. Asking and telling the opening time of an office, a shop, etc.

Grammar: Preposizioni articolate. Partitivo

Vocabulary: The house: furniture

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week 8: directions, calendar and prices

Comunicative objectives: Locating objects in space Expressing uncertainty, doubt. Expressing possession. Thanking, replying to thanks. Cardinal numbers (1.000 – 1.000.000). Speaking of price

Grammar: Expressions of place C'è – ci sono. Possessivi (mio/a, tuo/a, suo/a)

Vocabulary: Months and seasons.

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week 9: the past & daily activities

Comunicative objectives: Speaking in the past tense. Leisure activities. Using the past. Situating an event in the past.

Grammar: Participio passato:regular verbs. Passato prossimo.The auxiliary essere or avere?

Vocabulary: Expressions of time. Daily activities.

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week 10: eating out and meetings

Comunicative objectives: Works interviews. Ordering and offering at the café. Expressing preference.

Grammar: Ci. Time adverbs with the passato prossimo. Modal verbs in the passato prossimo.

Vocabulary: Bar. The price list at the cafè

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