Placement

The course description and placement guidelines that follow should help you choose the proper gateway course given your background. In addition, we can conduct a placement exam to help you select the most appropriate course for you. Please contact the Director of the Italian Language Program.

If you have this background and/or test scores:

You should take this course:

Elementary Italian - 100 level courses
  • You have never studied Italian before

Italian 101: Elementary Italian 1 - Introduction to the basic elements of Italian language and culture. Equal attention to listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Conducted in Italian. Not open to students with prior knowledge of Italian. Four class meetings a week.
  • You have taken Italian 101 or its equivalent at the university level
  • You are placed in this course by the Director of the Italian Language Program after a placement exam
 Italian 102: Elementary Italian 2 - Develops and expands on elements of Italian language and culture acquired in Italian 101 enabling stuents to build communicative abilities in all four modalities: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Conducted in Italian. Four class meetings a week.
  • You have never studied Italian before, but have studied another Romance language for 3 or more years and enjoy the study of languages.
 Italian 112: Accelerated Elementary Italian - Covers the elementary Italian Language curriculum (Italian 101-102) in one semester. Development of understanding, speaking, reading, and writing skills. Introduction to aspects of Italian life and culture. Four class meetings a week.

Intermediate Italian - 200 level courses
  • You have successfully completed Italian 102 or its equivalent at the university level
  • You are placed in this course by the Director of the Italian Language Program after a placement exam

 

 Italian 203: Intermediate Italian -

Content-based approach focusing on aspects of Italian culture and contemporary society enabling students to build communicative abilities in all 4 language modalities in Italian: reading, listening, writing, speaking. The courses incorporate a variety of activities that are based on a range of topics, text types, and different socio-cultural situations. Through diverse collaborative and individual tasks, students begin to find personal forms of expression.
  • You have taken Italian 113
  • You have taken Italian 102 and obtained consent of the Italian Language Program Director
 Italian 213: Accelerated Intermediate Italian - Covers the intermediate Italian Language curriculum (Italian 203 and 204) in one semester. Attention to vocabulary development and grammatical accuracy. Writing practice and development of reading abilities with emphasis on analysis of cultural and literary texts. Prepares students to enroll in courses at the 300 level. Four class meetings a week.

Advanced Italian - 300 level courses
  • You have taken Italian 204, 212 or 213
  • You have significant prior knowledge of Italian and was directed to take this course by the Director of the Italian Language Program after a placement exam.
  • You received an SAT II score of at least 600
  • You received a 4-5 in AP Italian (Language or Literature)

Italian 301: Writing Workshop in Italian - Development of composition tasks related to expository and other forms of writing. Focus on grammatical skills, conventions, and rhetorical techniques for organizing information. Substantial work on the development of writing strategies (vocabulary, editing, revising, and rewriting) through several short papers and a final long paper.

See the 'Courses' tab near the top of the page for a full listing of Italian courses beyond those mentioned here.