Programs Marco Polo e Turandot

The Dante Alighieri Society, through the Schools of Italian for Foreigners of Rome, Milan, Florence, Bologna and Turin, organizes Italian language and culture courses reserved for Chinese students participating in the “Marco Polo” and “Turandot” programs.

The offer of the Dante Alighieri Society includes:

• 10 months (1000 hours): 3 November 2020 - 31 August 2021 € 5,900 *
• 11 months (1100 hours): 5 October 2020 - 31 August 2021 € 6,500 *

In the event that problems related to Covid-19 still persist, students will be able to continue the courses as well as in presence even remotely through the Zoom platform and upon arrival in Italy they will be able to enter classes in presence at the chosen school among the 5 of the Dante (Rome, Milan, Florence, Bologna and Turin).

Upon arrival of the students, a Chinese mother tongue tutor will take care of the reception and orientation of the students and will assist them in the procedures related to the residence permit, matriculation and accommodation.

The ** Italian language course** is aimed at taking the proficiency exam in Italian for foreigners [PLIDA] (/ it / certifications / certification-plida) of ** B1** or ** B2** level. The level varies according to the request from the universities or AFAM institutes in which the students will later have to join.
The courses, with a number of 18 effective students per class, provide for a frequency of 100 hours per month (80 frontal hours and 20 extra-class hours) of lessons, simulations, exercises, recreational and cultural activities, etc ...

Classes are held every day from Monday to Friday, in the morning or in the afternoon. Attendance is compulsory. At the beginning of the course, students will take an entrance test, based on which they will be placed in groups of a homogeneous level; subsequently, at the end of each level, their progress will be verified through a skill test, formulated according to the structure of the PLIDA certification exam. Where necessary, class groups can be redefined to ensure a more effective study path.

The ** didactic approach ** is substantially oriented to the development of linguistic skills (listening, reading, speaking / interacting, writing), to the knowledge of the functional mechanisms of language structures, vocabulary, linguistic functions, models and conventions cultural. Grammar is presented through a guided process of discovery of linguistic structures and is subsequently deepened through explicit grammatical explanations and the systematization of linguistic contents.

In the approach used, in addition to communicative teaching, the contributions of playful teaching, of various methods of the humanistic-affective approach (such as, for example, Suggestopedia, Total Physical Response), of the cooperative and sometimes even structuralist approach converge.

The course aims to offer students the linguistic-communicative tools also useful for insertion in the daily and life context in Italy, giving space to activities aimed ** at intercultural communication ** and the development of a ** socio-pragmatic competence **.

At the base, the educational path was designed with a modular structure to create spaces dedicated to the development and reinforcement of specific contents, skills and competences.
In the final part of the course, the teaching program is also dedicated to the ** study of sectoral languages ​​** to develop lexical competence oriented towards the disciplines studied by the students. Furthermore, in the same phase of the course the ** development of integrated skills ** is intensified, such as taking notes, orally presenting more abstract linguistic contents, summarizing, etc., to prepare students for the study requests of the various academic contexts in which they will be inserted.

Among the activities proposed during the course, students will also be involved in:

• Project work activities to be carried out in groups outside the classroom and with a final presentation of the work done by the students (with slides, videos, brochures or other);
• Educational outings (in person or virtual) to learn about monuments and places of historical and artistic interest;
• Viewing of Italian films guided by comprehension and focus activities on some of the film's contents, with final discussion and sharing with the teacher;
• The “library service” for graded readings in Italian;
• **Preparation and simulation of PLIDA exams up to level B2; **
• Meetings, seminars and lessons to prepare students for admission (or facilitate their insertion)** within academies, conservatories and Italian universities. **