Italian classes (general)

The Society engages and sponsors native Italian nationals from home Italy with language teaching qualifications or experience to take charge of all general Italian classes which run on regular and on-going basis all year round.

Classes are structured into courses of 30 hours each, spread over 15 weeks with weekly meetings of two hours each. Course fees start at HK$3,000 per student at Level 1, 2 and 3; fees increase to $3,300 for Level 4, 5 and 6 and for Level 7 and beyond fees remain at $3,600 per course. New classes begin every month as soon as a minimum number of six intending students is reached. Enrollment begins with applicants filling in the prescribed enrolment form (available from us by email, fax or post upon request) which is designed to give maximum flexibility in serving different needs of different students. As soon as a new class is confirmed, applicants will be promptly notified of the commencement date and other details with a request for payment of course fees.

Courses begin with Level 1 intended for complete beginners with no knowledge of Italian. After completing Level 1, students can move on to Level 2, Level 3, and so on. Teaching is based on the acclaimed BBC Italianissimo textbooks (Books 1 and 2) imported by us direct from London and are available for sale at cost to students. Currently at HK$350 for Book 1 and HK$400 for Book 2, book prices may fluctuate from time to time as new stock is bought subject to exchange rate movements. Book 1 is also available in package form with matching audio CD set at HK$650 per package.

For students who have exposure to the Italian language elsewhere or have studied the language for some time in years past and are unsure of their level of knowledge, we provide free assessment service and advice on the appropriate level for them to join. Students can contact us for an appointment without any obligation to pay or join any class. Subject to availability student requests for transfers between classes can be accommodated for good reasons, but withdrawl with refund of unused course fees is not possible.

For general guidance, a brief outline of the syllabus of the first five levels of courses are set out below. The courses continue beyond Level 5 to serve the needs of more advanced students. We have courses currently running above Level 10. The focus of our teaching is cultural rather than academic. We do not provide PLIDA or other government recognized examination status. But students have the option, at modest administrative cost, to sit for in-house examinations of the Society with a view to obtaining certificates issued by us verifying their respective levels of achievement upon completion of the courses. A condition of no less than 80% attendance in any course is required for students to be eligible to apply for these end-of-term examinations. The Society prides itself in offering Italian teaching which is practical, interesting and effective, designed to best promote the ability of students to hear, speak and read Italian with minimal delay and handicap. Our motto is "Italiano senza lagrima" (Italian without tears).

Level 1 outline
This is for complete beginners learning the language from A, B, C. We use the internationally acclaimed textbook BBC Italianissimo 1 which is heavily based on using Italian to converse in real life situations.  This course will quickly help students to understand and use basic Italian starting with phonetics.  Students will learn introducing themselves, the basics of Italian grammar such as articles and the infinitive forms of Italian verbs and their conjugations, most often used words and phrases of Italian and build up their knowledge of Italian vocabulary in order to commuicate effectively in plain, simple Italian in everyday life. Level 1 will finish covering the first 4 chapters of the book. At the end of the course, students can move on to level 2.

Level 2
This is for students who have completed level 1 with us or done some other equivalent study by other means. Students are expected to have some elementary knowledge of Italian such as getting along with very simple questions and answers of daily routine. Students will learn more prepositions, the use of definite articles and more prepositions, irregular nouns, reflexive verbs (peculiar to Italian with no counter-part in English), direct objects and indirect objects, object pronouns and the use of past tense and past participles. By the end of level 2, students will complete Chapters 5-7. Students will get to learn more Italian phrases and vocabulary through more real life situations centered on travelling and hospitality, telephone conversations, making plans and arrangements, saying what you like, inviting someone to visit, making apologies and excuses, requesting information and showing people around.

Level 3
As students arrive at this session, they should have acquired a very good foundation of the Italian language regarding grammar concepts. Student will reinforce themselves on the past tense and
past participles, the use of regular and irregular past participles and get to know the present progressive, more on negatives and object pronouns. In level 3, students will get to know more and more about Italy, the Italian countryside, the world of Italian food and fashion and will take up more conversational skills. Chapters 8-10 will be completed in level 3, which is when the student complete using Italianissimo 1 and move on to Italianissimo 2 as level 4 begins.

Level 4
Students will move on to BBC Italianissimo 2 and cover the first 3 chapters of the textbook. More advanced and interesting topics will be covered. Such as health and body functions, environmental
pollution, weather of Italy and Europe, travelling and holidays in Italy, Italy's artistic heritage, historical buildings; Rome architecture, lifetyle, people and contemporary social and economic issues as capital city. Italianissimo 2 features a lot of authentic reading and listening material closely linked in subject matter to the textbook so as to stimulate discussion and self-expression, both spoken and written.

Level 5
In this level chapters 4-6 will be covered. Students will pick up more advanced grammar: passive voice, making comparisons, imperfect tense, irregular future tense, irregular nouns, conditionals, irregular imperatives, combined pronouns, past perfect tense, Italian idioms, future perfect tense and
gerunds. Students can expect to emerge from this course with reasonable competence in reading, writing and speaking daily Italian.

Level 6 and beyond
The remaining chapters of the BBC 2 textbook will be finished before moving on to other more advanced materials from various sources answering the needs of students in professions or life situations. Emphasis on Italian conversation will grow while concurrently variety in reading and writing (such as Italian poetry) will be introduced.

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