Continue learning Italian in this lively course for near beginners. Starting with an introduction to Unit 9 of Nuovo Espresso 1, and then moving on to Units 1, 2, and 3, you will expand your vocabulary related to clothes, colours, animals, and childhood memories, while strengthening key grammar structures such as the passato prossimo, imperfetto, imperative forms, piacere, and comparatives.
You will practise practical communication through interactive activities and the cultural project Le nostre memorie, gaining confidence in describing people, talking about past habits, giving suggestions, and expressing preferences. This course focuses on real-life language and speaking skills. On completion, you can progress to Elementary Italian Part 2 (A2).
Course Outline
Course start date: Saturday 24 January
Course end date: Saturday 28 March
Time: 11:00 to 12:30
Location: Castlehaven Community Association
Price: £250
Topics
Colours, materials, clothings, size
Shopping shoes and clothes
The meaning of colours and sayings and expressions with colours
Animals and pets
Childhood
Sayings and expressions with animals
Giving a physical description of a person
Project: Our memories
Grammar
Revision of passato prossimo and pronouns
New tenses: imperfetto, presente imperativo – the use of passato prossimo and imperfetto
The structure of ‘piacere’ and pronouns
Questo and Quello
The use of the particle ‘ci’
Comparative (more than – less than)
Superlative (the most)
Né..né
Comparative with ‘quanto/come’
Pronominal verb: farcela
Learning outcomes (what you will be able to do by the end of the course):
Shopping for clothes and shoes
Giving suggestions (using the imperative)
Talking about childhood and describing habits in the past
Describing personal memories
Giving a physical description of a person
Info about the course and resources
This course is focused on spoken interaction and communication. Typical activities include pair work, group work, role plays and games. Your teacher will provide a range of activities to support your learning including presentations, hand-outs, and audio-visual material. After each session, you will be assigned homework which is highly recommended to consolidate learning.
About the textbook
Textbook:
Balì M & Rizzo G (2014) Nuovo espresso 2: Libro dello studente e esercizi Florence: Alma Edizioni
Books you may find useful:
Ziglio L (2015) Nuovo espresso 2: Esercizi supplementari Florence: Alma Edizioni
Adorni S – Primorac K (2011) English grammar for students of Italian: The study guide for those learning Italian Ann Arbor, MI: Olivia and Hill Press

