Language acquisition: Italian/italiano

Italian overview

This is the introduction of the MYP Italian language course. The students will develop skills in speaking, reading, writing and listening at a beginner level. Students will interact in simple social exchanges and structured learning situations, discriminate sound combinations, recognise questions and statements respond to and imitate models of speech including intonation, rhythm and pronunciation. The elements learnt will provide them with a strong foundation for continued success in the acquisition and use of the language. They will also begin to explore the distinctive elements of contemporary Italian culture and to make comparisons with their Australian experience.

Italian is a Romance language, of the Indo-European language family. It is the language of opera, good food, quality of life, commedia dell'arte and 'la bella figura' (making a good impression). It is in the top 10 most-spoken languages on the planet, with over 67 million speakers. Italian is an official language in Italy, San Marino, Vatican City, Switzerland and some areas of Slovenia and Croatia. Italian formerly had official minority status in Albania, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, and Greece. Expatriate communities in the Americas speak Italian, such as the United States, Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil, Paraguay, Costa Rica, and Puerto Rico. Each of these countries’ native languages heavily influences the Italian dialect spoken there.