Italiano 2

Dale Edmund Verlingieri

dverlingieri@greenwichacademy.org

What are you going to accomplish this year?

• You will continue to develop your speaking, comprehension, and written skills and there will be an increased emphasis on reading the language.
• You will continue to work at perfecting the correct pronunciation of standard (Tuscan) Italian.
• You will review what you already learned last year and then build on that by learning the reflexive verbs, the possessive adjectives, object pronouns, the present conditional, the imperfect tense and how it contrasts with the passato prossimo, and the comparison of adjectives.
• You will learn vocabulary that will help you talk about a typical day; describe your family; describe your eating habits; go shopping for food and clothes; describe animals; talk about your childhood; describe someone physically and emotionally; make, accept or reject invitations; talk about an unpleasant experience.
• You will learn how to use that vocabulary to express yourself in real-life situations

How are we going to accomplish these goals?

• We will use the exercises in your textbook and workbook.
• We will use exercises I give you as well as exercises on the Internet.
• We will use Italian as much as possible in the classroom.
• You will perform skits.
• We will sample some typical foods.
• We will read two short novellas in Italian and watch at least one film.

What do you need?

• ItalianEspresso,your text from last year
• The ItalianEspresso workbook
• Il mistero di Veronica
• Il viaggio di Laurent
• Your laptop (please bring it every day).
• http://www.quia.com/pages/italiano1espresso.html This a website which will help you learn the vocabulary.
• A laptop

How will I evaluate you?

• a TEST after every chapter…….……………40%
• mini-quizzes (frequent)…………..………….25%
• project……………………………………..…10%
• participation…………………………………25%

The Project. Each of you will be assigned a region of Italy. The first semester presentation will be a general overview of the region: il capoluogo (capital), i prodotti,

il cibo tipico, le citta’importanti, centri turistici, feste, altre cose d’interesse. The second semester you can choose one aspect of the region to talk about –a city, a famous person from the region.

Laptops . You should come to class each day with your laptop charged and ready to use. The laptop may only be open before class begins, when we are practicing at some site, or when you are taking notes.

Participation. This class will depend heavily on group and paired work, you will not only be evaluated on your individual participation in class but also on how well you work with others. How active are you with your partner or group? How seriously do you take the work? When you finish an exercise with a partner, do you change roles and re-do it? The only way to learn to speak a language is by speaking it. Make up your mind that you are not going to be one of those adults who says "Oh, yeah, I had four years of Italian in high school and don't remember anything but "Buongiorno, come stai?."

Ink. Please do all work that you will hand in to me IN INK.

Absence.It is your responsibility to make up work that you have missed when you are absent. Most homework will be posted on the Italian 1 Conference. If you miss a test or a quiz, it must be made up within three days of your return to school. (There will be a copy of the test waiting for you in the library.)

Homework. I expect that you will do your homework every night. No assignment should take you more than 30-40 minutes. I will check each day to see that you have done it. Occasionally, I will collect it and count it as a quiz. If you miss three homework assignments, I will drop your average by one percentage point. For every assignment you miss after that, you will lose one point from your average.

Late Work . Assignments are due when they are due. You will lose one letter grade per day for every day an assignment is late.

Tests . In the interest of learning from one’s mistakes, you will be given class time when I hand back each test to correct your errors. You will receive 1/3 point for every correct correction.

How can you succeed in this class?

Repetition. Repetition. Repetition. Learning a language is a lot like learning math because one thing builds upon another. So it is important that you master each "block" of material as it is presented. For example, make your vocabulary learning tools the same day that it is introduced in class; then you can continue to review it every night as we complete the lesson.

It is also very important that you go back and review material that we have previously studied. So do your 30-40-minute homework assignment and then spend another 5-10 minutes reviewing old vocabulary or grammar.

REMEMBER: Study a little each night. Cramming before a test MAY get you a decent grade, but it will do little to help you really learn the language.

TIP: For some people, learning and retaining vocabulary is difficult. If you are so inclined, you can make a flashcard for every word we learn, but they become a bit unwieldy. I recommend you type up a sheet with English words in a column on the left and Italian words on the right. You can then cover either side and test yourself orally and in writing. You can also use the flashcards that I have made for you at the following site: http://www.quia.com/pages/italiano1espresso.html

For some people, making word associations to similar English words or learning words in related groups is helpful. Experiment with methods to find which one works for you.

How can you get help?

I am available during C, E, and G blocks. You'll find me in the Language Office or in our classroom. I'll be around until 4pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. (Wednesdays are faculty meetings.) I’m also here by 7:30 if we cannot find another time. I usually have my First Class on at home until 8pm. Feel free to drop me a note, a question, a doubt.

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