Department of Foreign Languages JFT 414
The State University of New York
New Paltz, NY 12561
Phone (914) 257-3480

N.B. The sequence for language study proceeds from lower to higher.  You cannot receive credit for 101 if you have already received credit for 102.  You may not be allowed to receive credit for 101 if you have studied Italian before.  Please, consult the most recent issue of The Advising Handbook Sum & Substance.

Course Overview: In this course students will be introduced to some of the basic grammatical components of the Italian language.  They will have the opportunity to build knowledge of the language that will permit them to engage in basic conversation and will, by the end of the semester, be able to understand a variety of written texts.  Additional materials will be used to supplement the required texts that will open a window onto the culture and history of Italy.

Required Texts:

• Branciforte, Grassi, Parliamo italiano!, 1998.
• Branciforte, O’Connor, Parliamo italiano!, Workbook/Laboratory Manual, 1998.
• English-Italian/Italian-English Dictionary

Supplementary Materials: Students will need a good quality, blank, 90-minute audiocassette (for lab work).  They will need a good Italian-English dictionary.  I strongly recommend, both for the quality and for the money, the Melzi Bantam, pocketbook edition, available at the College Bookstore.

Method: Work in class is based on text material assigned for practice at home as well as new material introduced in class.  The approach is communicative, contextual and content-based.  The purpose of class work is to found and develop your ability to understand and speak Italian.  For this reason your participation in class is absolutely essential.  The class is performance in the language, at times with the professor, at times with another classmate, at times in small groups.

Oral Proficiency: The oral proficiency will be evaluated throughout the course and will particularly based, besides the criteria of clarity and correctness of the language, on how often a student speaks in class.  It will be considered part of the “class performance.”

Homework: Homework and daily home preparation for class participation are vital.  From time to time, I will collect your homework, so BE SURE TO BE PREPARED.  NO LATE HOMEWORK WILL BE ACCEPTED!  All textbook and handout exercises must be written as completed sentences.  All assignments must be typed and double-spaced, or NEATLY WRITTEN WITH A LINE SKIPPED or they will not be corrected.

Language Lab: During the course of the semester, students will spend a minimum of one hour per week in the language LAB [located on the first floor of the Humanities Building, rooms 111-115] working with Parliamo Italiano! Workbook/Laboratory manual: this book contains exercises that are relevant to the material covered in class.  All the lab exercises of each UNITÀ are due at the end of the UNITÀ.  Students can also watch (great!) Italian movies and write reviews about them or use other audio/video facilities for EXTRA-CREDIT.  Further, more detailed, information about how to do this will be given out as we go along throughout the semester.

Quizzes: There will be 4 quizzes.  The lowest grade will be dropped before calculating the average.  THERE ARE NO MAKE-UP QUIZZES.

Exams: There will be two exams, the mid-term and the final. THERE ARE NO MAKE-UP EXAMS.

Attendance: Required.  Attendance is taken at the beginning of class.  You are allowed to a maximum of two absences without an excuse.  Beyond two the final grade will be diminished of 1 % per each absence. Arrive ON TIME!  At least no later than ten minutes after the class has started.  Thrice late equals once absent.

Calculation of final grade:              Quizzes                          30%
                                                    Class performance         10%
                                                    Homework                    10%
                                                    Lab                               10%
                                                    Midterm                        20%
                                                    Final                              20%
 
A Final Word: A quick look at the syllabus will reveal that, due to time limitations, only about eight/nine class days are allotted to each unity.  Consequently, attendance is extremely important.  Luckily, however, it is a known fact that the more regular one’s attendance in a foreign language class, the easier it is to learn how to speak and write in it.  Try not to miss a day, but if you absolutely must, talk to me or a classmate immediately to find out what you missed.  The key to success in learning Italian is consistency.  Humans learn languages through repetition and familiarity (think about your baby brother or sister, if you have one): for adults, this means a meticulous attention to homework.  You’ll see that doing your homework regularly makes studying for quizzes much easier too.
 

Week  1:  Aug. 28, 30; Sept. 1.    Unità preliminare
 

Week  2:  Sept. 6, 8.                    Unità 1
Week  3:  Sept. 11, 13, 15.          Unità 1 (Primo quiz: 15 settembre)
Week  4:  Sept. 18, 20, 22.          Unità 1
 

Week  5:  Sept. 25, 27, 29.          Unità 2 (Secondo quiz: 29 settembre)
Week  6:  Oct. 2, 4, 6.                 Unità 2
Week  7:  Oct. 10, 11, 13.           Unità 2 (PRIMO ESAME: 13 ottobre )
 

Week  8:  Oct. 16, 18, 20.            Unità 2
Week  9:  Oct. 23, 25, 27.            Unità 3
Week 10: Oct. 30; Nov. 1, 3.       Unità 3 (Terzo quiz: 3 novembre)
 

Week 11: Nov. 6, 8, 10.                Unità 3
Week 12: Nov. 13, 15, 17.            Unità 4 (Quarto quiz: 17 novembre)
Week 13: Nov. 20.                        Unità 4 (Vacanze del Ringraziamento: 22-24 novembre)
 

Week 14: Nov. 27, 29; Dec. 1.      Unità 4
 

Week 15: Dec. 4, 6, 8.                   Unità 4 + RIPASSO GENERALE
 

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