Learn Italian in Melbourne

Italian class with Laura

Buongiorno!

Italian was the first language offered at Lyceum, and has remained a popular choice. Our native speaking teachers provide a complete range of levels from Beginners through to Advanced.

Italian can be learnt very quickly because its vocabulary has a lot in common with English. It is actually one of the easiest foreign languages to learn, because it is phonetic – meaning that each letter of the alphabet is pronounced consistently in the same way. This makes pronouncing, spelling and reading Italian very easy by comparison with English.

Italian is the most widely spoken language after English in Victoria, and so many people choose to learn it to communicate on a deeper level with family and neighbours. Others have plans to travel to Italy or wish to learn purely for enjoyment.

At Lyceum, Italian is taught using the communicative method, meaning that there is a very strong focus on the spoken language as it is used in practical everyday situations.

We suggest a minimum of 60 hours of tuition (levels1-4) in our small group environment in order to manage basic conversation in a range of everyday situations such as:

• Social interaction
• Planning outings
• Getting about town
• Shopping and other transactions, such as the bank and post office
• Booking accommodation and talking about the home

This level is recommended to people who wish to travel to Italy, and also for those who plan to use Italian with their family and friends here in Melbourne.

As part of your course, our teachers will encourage you to seek out the Italian speaking community in Melbourne, in order to help you practice your speaking and listening skills. Melbourne has a large population of Italian speakers, which affords you great opportunities to practice the language and learn about the culture.
Teachers will give you information about the Italian radio and television programmes, and newspapers available in Melbourne, and also about Italian festivals & events in Melbourne.

As a group you will pool information about the best Melbourne Italian restaurants, Italian food stores, bookshops and Italian clubs to help you further immerse yourself in the culture. With Lyceum's help, groups often plan outings together.

If you follow through to the Intermediate level, you can expect to understand naturally spoken Italian on a wide range of topics, including all grammar. You will be able to respond with a good level of fluency. You will in fact have surpassed the VCE Year 12 standard, and be on an equal footing with 1st Year University students.

Each level of study at Lyceum corresponds to 15 hours of adult tuition, or twelve to eighteen months at high school. Check our course guide to see which level would suit you best, then call us to discuss and confirm.

 

Italian Language Course - Level 1

Learn Italian (Lessons from Ci Siamo chapters 1-2)

Content of Classes:

• Learn how to introduce and describe yourself and others. Become familiar with Italian geography and learn the importance of accents in the language.
• Begin describing your likes and dislikes and talk about what people are like.
• Learn how to order something to eat or drink!
• Learn how to ask for directions.
• Learn how to use the basic numbers.
• Discover about the region of 'Le Marche'
• Experience an Italian song!

See timetable for courses at:

Kew, Fitzroy, Malvern, Melbourne City (Flinders Lane)

Italian Language Course - Level 2

Learn Italian (Lessons from Ci Siamo chapters 3-4)

Content of Classes:

• Master how to tell the time in Italian.
• Learn how to organise appointments and arrange where and when to meet.
• Talk about sports and pastimes you like.
• Go beyond the basics with numbers.
• How to write a letter in Italian.
• Learn all about the present tense.
• Sample the past tense.
• Talk about and describe your family.
• Let's organise a party! A birthday perhaps?
• Learn about the importance of feast days.
• Shopping! How to buy food in Italy!

See timetable for courses at:

Kew, Fitzroy, Malvern, Melbourne City (Flinders Lane)

Italian Language Course - Level 3

Learn Italian (Lessons from Ci Siamo chapters 5-6)

Content of Classes:

• Talk about the weather and say what you do throughout the day.
• Perfect the past tense and the way you describe your favourite leisure activities.
• More shopping at the grocer's.
• Discover the growing popularity of 'agriturismo'.
• Getting around on public transport in Italy and organising a trip.
• Learn more about the Eternal City of Rome!
• Italian song lyrics.

See timetable for courses at:

Kew, Fitzroy, Malvern, Melbourne City (Flinders Lane)

Italian Language Course - Level 4

Learn Italian (Lessons from Ci Siamo chapters 7-8)

Content of Classes:

• How to talk about yourself in more depth - talk about careers and professions.
• What does Venice have to offer? Discover this medieval city.
• Learn about the importance of fashion and shopping for clothes in Italy!
• Have a conversation on the phone and plan a day or night out on the town - perhaps at a very fashionable Venetian restaurant?
• Discover how to write recipes and make Tiramisu.
• We're also visiting Florence and learning how to book a hotel room.
• Introduction to the 'imperfect' past tense.
• How to visit the doctor's and the pharmacist and say what's wrong with you.
• How to survive a trip to the bank!
• Brief introduction to the Renaissance and learn about the significance of the Italian flag.
• Learn the Italian anthem!

See timetable for courses at:

Kew, Fitzroy, Malvern, Melbourne City (Flinders Lane)

Italian Language Course - Level 5

Learn Italian (Lessons from Da Capo chapters 1-2)

Content of Classes:

• You have received an invitation; How to accept/refuse an invitation.
• Learn how to have a telephone conversation.
• The present indicative tense
• How to use verbs such as: to marry, to agree, to be wrong, to be right....
• Modal verbs: to have to, to be able, to want
• The subject pronouns
• Nouns: feminine, masculine, singular, plural
• The Italian contemporary author Luciano De Crescenzo and the Neapolitan philosophy
• Vocabulary and communication: talking about the things we used to do
• The imperfect tense
• The adjectives
• Talking about the weather
• The life of the Italian family Agnelli (founders of FIAT)
• How to use verbs such as to stop, to think, to walk

See timetable for courses at:

Kew, Fitzroy, Malvern, Melbourne City (Flinders Lane)

Italian Language Course - Level 6

Learn Italian (Lessons from Da Capo chapters 3-4)

Content of Classes:

• Vocabulary & Communication: in the lift
• The perfect tense versus the imperfect
• How to use verbs such as: to rise, to return, to ask
• Use of the articulated prepositions
• Interrogative adverbs: for example how (come), how come (come mai), where (dove), when (quando), why (perché)
• Interrogative adjectives: for example how much-how many (quanto, -a, -i, -e), what (che)
• Interrogative pronouns: for example who (chi), what (che cosa), which (quale)
• Telling the time
• Days, seasons, months, years
• How to conduct an interview
• Vocabulary and communication: shopping and fashion
• Introducing relatives and family
• Personal object pronouns (for example: "She buys cookies; I make them" ("lei compra i biscotti, io li faccio)
• Possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns
• The life of the writer Natalia Ginzburg
• Verbs: to steal, to rent...
• Communication: to wish; to congratulate, to express one's appreciation and to express one's regret

See timetable for courses at:

Kew, Fitzroy, Malvern, Melbourne City (Flinders Lane)

Italian Language Course - Lower Intermediate 1

Learn Italian (Lessons from Da Capo chapters 5-6)

Content of Classes:

• Lets talk about food. Useful expressions at the dining table.
• Reflexive verbs: for example "I washed (myself) this morning" (mi sono lavata questa mattina)
• How to use verbs such as: to like, to dislike, to be sorry, to miss, to need, to look, to seem...
• Indirect object pronouns
• Suffixes (for example, cugino = cousin, cuginetto = little cousin)
• Indefinite adjective and pronouns (for example: every = ogni, some = qualche, something = qualcosa)
• The partitive: some, any, a few
• The past absolute tense
• Past absolute versus past perfect
• The "trapassato prossimo" and "trapassato remoto" (they correspond to the English past perfectly)
• Combined personal pronouns
• The life of the Italian writer Gianni Rodari
• How to use verbs: to happen, to succeed, to try

See timetable for courses at:

Kew, Fitzroy, Malvern, Melbourne City (Flinders Lane)

Italian Language Course - Lower Intermediate 2

Learn Italian (Lessons from Da Capo chapters 7-8)

Content of Classes:

• Writing a letter. Useful written expression.
• The future tenses (simple and perfect)
• The conditional (present and perfect): for example "I would love" (amerei)
• How to use verbs such as: dovere (to have to, must), potere (to can, to be able to) and volere (to want)
• Reading: the non-European immigrants
• Communication and vocabulary: living by oneself
• The subjunctive (present and past): for example "that I love" (che io ami)
• Subjunctive versus indicative
• The Italian writer Carlo Cassola
• Communication: to offer help, to be worried, to persuade

See timetable for courses at:

Kew, Fitzroy, Malvern, Melbourne City (Flinders Lane)

Italian Language Course - Intermediate 1

Learn Italian (Lessons from Da Capo chapters 9-10)

Content of Classes:

• Vocabulary & Communication: the new car
• The subjunctive (imperfect and past perfect): for example "che io amassi", "che io avessi amato"
• The sequence of tenses in the subjunctive
• Questo (this) and quello (that) as adjectives and pronouns. Other demonstrative pronouns
• The relative pronouns: for example "who" (chi), "that" (cui)
• How to ask for and give information
• Vocabulary & Communication: searching for a job
• The imperative: for example "you answer" (rispondi (tu))
• Imperative + pronouns
• Exclamatory sentences; for example "how happy I am!" (come sono felice!)
• The stressed pronouns: for example "the director wants you!" (il direttore vuole te!)
• Reading: another story by Gianni Rodari
• Vocabulary & Communication: to express admiration, surprise, incredulity

See timetable for courses at:

Kew, Fitzroy, Malvern, Melbourne City (Flinders Lane)

Italian Language Course - Intermediate 2

Learn Italian (Lessons from Da Capo chapters 11-12)

Content of Classes:

• Communication about exams, schools and universities
• The hypothetical sentence (real, probable, impossible): for example if you study, you (will) learn" (se studiate, imparate); "if we found a restaurant, we would eat" (se trovassimo un ristorante, mangeremmo); if you had helped me, I would be rich now" (se tu mi avessi aiutato, ora sarei ricco)
• Others uses of "se"
• Adverbs: for example "suddenly" (improvvisamente)
• Comparisons of equality ("my house is as big as yours" = la mia casa e' grande quanto la tua"), and of inequality ("money is less important than health" = "I soldi sono meno importanti della salute)
• The relative superlative of adjectives and adverbs (most, least, -est) and the absolute superlative (for example "very intelligent")
• Vocabulary & Communication: expressions for university life
• Verbs: to introduce, to move, to fail
• Vocabulary & Communication: women and work in Italy
• Use of the infinitive
• The Italian gerundio (it usually corresponds to the English present participle instead than to the gerund): for example "reading your letter, I found many mistakes" (leggendo la tua lettera, ho trovato molti errori)
• The participle (present and past): for example "I saw many smiling faces" (ho visto molte facce sorridenti); "he went to mail them" (è andato a spedirle)
• Verbs: to expect, to pretend
• Vocabulary & Communication: expressions of affection, of happiness, of indifference, of resignation and acceptance

See timetable for courses at:

Kew, Fitzroy, Malvern, Melbourne City (Flinders Lane)

Italian Language Course - Upper Intermediate and Advanced

Content of Classes:

At these levels, teachers are free to bring in their own materials to stimulate conversation in class. Each teacher will have their own creative ideas, however here is a sample of what a typical class might include:

Role Plays

This is a common technique used by teachers to place topics in a realistic setting. For example: Students might study vocabulary related to renting a house. Following this, the teacher would give each student a role (such as real estate agent, landlord, share-house tenants) and ask them to enact a hypothetical situation.

Literature

A short story or poem is read by the class. Themes, characters and related issues are discussed in pairs and then shared with the other students.

News and current affairs

Students watch parts of the news in Italian. The class is then split into pairs, and each student prepares a set of questions to ask their partner.

Conversations are initiated centering on economic, political and social situations around the globe.

Debates

The class is split into those 'for' and 'against' and given 10 minutes to prepare an argument. The topic may either be serious and controversial, or comical.

Slides

The teacher brings in slides or photographs of Italy and describes them to the class. Students may also bring in their own materials and give a presentation.

Cultural themes

Traditions such as Carnevale, Valentine's Day, Christmas, and other festival celebrations are discussed and explored.

Revision of grammar topics as requested by students

See timetable for courses at:

Kew, Fitzroy, Malvern, Melbourne City (Flinders Lane)

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