Workshop on Intercomprehension among Romance languages

What is intercomprehension among Romance languages? It is the ability to partially understand a language because its vocabulary and grammar are similar to those of another language you already know. For example, Italian speakers can partially understand Spanish without ever having studied it, and viceversa. By leveraging this similarity, people speaking different languages can interact using their own language or a related one they know well.

The aim of the workshop is to harness this natural phenomenon through a specific teaching methodology that will enable participants to gradually understand written texts in the main Romance languages and to interact using their entire linguistic repertoire, including dialects.

Activities will be conducted primarily in Italian by two Italian L2 teachers, supported by teachers of various Romance languages who will alternate during the sessions.

At the end of the workshop, a certificate of attendance will be issued.

Target audience and prerequisites:
This workshop is aimed at anyone interested in exploring different Romance languages in a single course. The entire academic community of the University of Bologna—students, technical-administrative staff, and faculty—can participate free of charge. The workshop does not require specific proficiency in the Romance languages involved, such as a certified linguistic level, nor does it require knowledge of linguistics. The only prerequisite is a command of at least two Romance languages such as Catalan, French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, or Spanish, or alternatively, one of these languages combined with a basic knowledge of Latin.
It is important to note that the intercomprehension workshop is not a language course like those offered by the CLA. It does not include a final evaluation, nor will academic credits be awarded.

Maximum number of participants: 20.

Total hours: 22 (11 sessions of 2 hours each).

Format: In-person workshop sessions in Room 5 at the Language Center, Piazza San Giovanni in Monte, 4.

Schedule: The sessions will be held in person every Friday from 1 PM to 3 PM, from March 7 to June 6, 2025. The weekly session on Friday, May 2, will be suspended.

Workshop contents:

• Introduction to intercomprehension among related languages.
• Development of strategies for reading short texts in foreign languages.
• Enhancement of written and oral comprehension strategies in the main Romance languages, as well as interproduction strategies.
• Although the initial focus will be on receptive skills for written comprehension, the workshop will also provide opportunities for listening and oral production activities.

For information and pre-registration, write to: cla.intercomprensione@unibo.it