B2.1 (25 hours)
Course Description
Topics – Unit 1: “School and Surroundings”; Unit 2: “Food, What a Passion!”
Grammar Aspects – Review of previous content; use of auxiliary verbs in the passato prossimo (present perfect); some pronominal verbs; review of past tenses in the indicative mood; indefinite pronouns; future perfect; passive voice with the particle si.
Course Objectives
By the end of this course, the student will be able to:
- Read texts, listen to and understand audiovisual sources dedicated to themes such as primary, secondary, and tertiary education in Italy, study techniques, education abroad, eating habits, culinary habits, and cooking techniques.
- Talk about memories related to school life, habits connected to education, their own training, their relationship with food, their culinary skills, share recipes, and describe a cooking procedure.
- Express opinions regarding education in a given country, describe and contextualize the educational system of their own country.
This course is intended for those who already have a knowledge of Italian sufficient to access this level, or for those who may benefit from a review starting here.
Textbook and materials
Maria Balì and Irene Dei, Nuovo espresso 4. Libro dello studente e esercizi. Corso di italiano B2. Con CD-Audio: B2 (Firenze: Alma, 2017). Units 1-2.
B2.2 (25 hours)
Course Description
Topics – Unit 3: “And You, How Do You Know That?”; Unit 4: “The World of Work”; Unit 5: “What an Emotion!”
Grammar Aspects – The adverbs allora (then) and un giorno (one day); numerals used as nouns; non perché + subjunctive; indirect interrogatives; use of the subjunctive in relative clauses and with the relative superlative; gerund with causal and hypothetical value; sequence of tenses with conditional and subjunctive moods; different ways of expressing hypothetical sentences; come se (as if) and senza che (without) + subjunctive.
Course Objectives
By the end of this course, the student will be able to:
- Read texts, listen to and understand audiovisual sources dedicated to the sharing of information, the world of news and its distribution, the channels used for sharing news, statistical data, themes related to emotions and their vocabulary, the world of work, evolving professional roles, working conditions, and the labor market.
- Talk about their own work, express desires and intentions, share information related to their profession, comment on and analyze statistical data, and discuss events that occurred in past centuries.
- Express opinions on channels of information distribution, on the role of social media, discuss preferred means of staying informed, express opinions about today’s world of work, professional roles, and working conditions, contextualizing their opinions with practical examples.
This course is intended for those who already have a knowledge of Italian sufficient to access this level, or for those who may benefit from a review starting here.
Textbook and materials
Maria Balì and Irene Dei, Nuovo espresso 4. Libro dello studente e esercizi. Corso di italiano B2. Con CD-Audio: B2 (Firenze: Alma, 2017). Units 3-4-5.
B2.3 (25 hours)
Course Description
Topics – Unit 6: “Tastes Are Tastes!”; Unit 7: “Around the Museums”
Grammar Aspects – Review of previous content; the position of adjectives within the sentence; subjunctive in a negative main clause; perché + subjunctive; fare + infinitive; relative pronouns il cui (whose) and che (that/which); sequence of tenses in the subjunctive mood; infinitive used as a noun.
Course Objectives
By the end of this course, the student will be able to:
- Read texts, listen to and understand audiovisual sources about films and film genres, visual arts, museums, Italian artistic heritage, art sites, and Italian visual art.
- Talk about emotions, describe films, discuss film genres, describe a painting, and focus on the details of a painting.
This course is intended for those who already have a knowledge of Italian sufficient to access this level, or for those who may benefit from a review starting here.
Textbook and Materials
Maria Balì and Irene Dei, Nuovo Espresso 4. Student’s Book and Exercises. Italian Course B2. With Audio CD: B2 (Florence: Alma, 2022). Units 6–7.
B2.4 (25 hours)
Course Description
Topics – Unit 8: “Sustainable Italy”; Unit 9: “Curiosities of Italy”; Unit 10: “One … a Hundred Thousand”
Grammar Aspects – Review of previous content; review of the use of the simple prepositions in and a; review of relative pronouns; pronoun placement with indirect moods and the imperative; review of adjective placement within a sentence; different uses of the future tense; concessive gerund; some expressions with pronominal verbs; nouns with two different plural forms; subjunctive in comparative clauses; subjunctive in consecutive clauses; review of the use of mica; some colloquial expressions with pronominal verbs.
Course Objectives
By the end of this course, the student will be able to:
- Read texts, listen to and understand audiovisual sources related to renewable energy, techniques aimed at environmental protection, curiosities about Italian geography and political history, regional cultures, dialects, and regional linguistic differences.
- Talk about renewable energy, different cultural and regional habits, recognize certain linguistic differences in their regional contexts, discuss dialects, and debate their use today.
- Provide suggestions on eco‑sustainable techniques to adopt in everyday contexts, present a critical point of view on renewable energy, express opinions on regional cultural diversity and the use of dialects in a nation, express doubts, and support opinions with contextualized examples.
This course is intended for those who already have a knowledge of Italian sufficient to access this level, or for those who may benefit from a review starting here.
Textbook and Materials
Maria Balì and Irene Dei, Nuovo Espresso 4. Student’s Book and Exercises. Italian Course B2. With Audio CD: B2 (Florence: Alma, 2022). Units 8–9–10.