Academic Italian

In Bologna the Language Centre offers semester courses in Spoken Academic Italian and Written Academic Italian.  These courses are onsite for learners admitted to levels B2-C2. They last for 50 hours and take place twice a year over approximately 13 weeks (October-December and March-May).

The courses in Academic Italian are open to everyone who studies or works at the University of Bologna:

• International students at the University of Bologna who attend first and second-cycle degree programmes, single cycle degrees, PhDs, specialisation school courses, Professional Master’s, and Post-graduate vocational training programmes as well as individual course units.
• Personnel involved in teaching, research or administration at the University of Bologna.

If there are places available, you can also attend provided:

• You are on an international exchange at the University of Bologna and on a study programme such as Erasmus+, Erasmus Mundus, Overseas, etc., or if you work as a visiting fellow.
• You can participate thanks to institutional agreements (conventions with specific bodies, programmes for refugees etc).

It’s possible to attend two courses at the same time and in the same semester: one in Academic Italian and one in Italian language for international learners or Specialised Communication – if running.

The course focuses specifically on spoken language and on the forms of spoken communication at the university: from dialogues with your fellow students to those with teachers and administrative staff, but also on listening to spoken interactions as well as monologues. It also focuses on spontaneous spoken Italian such as ‘having a chat’ as well as planned speeches or presentations on field-specific topics that require the use of technical or specialised language. This involves speaking in / listening to argumentative, descriptive, expositive and narrative discourse.

Typically, the calendar of lessons involves one 3-hour class once a week (Mondays 2.30pm-5.30pm) and takes place onsite from March to May 2024. The course begins on the 4th March.

The course will run with a minimum of 7 and a maximum of 15 people enrolled.

How to apply

To enrol on the course you need to:

• Take the online test for Italian courses for international students. To find out how and when, please consult the timeline for Italian language semester courses.
• Send your application to cla.italiano-parlato@unibo.it by the 16th February 2024.

 In your application it is important to indicate your university course as well as any language certifications you have.

As long as you apply by the deadline you will receive an email with instructions on how to do the individual admission interview online. 

The course will guide you towards the acquisition and awareness of specific written genres in the context of the university and aid you in the development of the skills required for academic communication: from the analysis of the differences between spoken and written language to the in-depth analysis of different registers and their syntactical and lexical variations. The differences between genres that occur in academic communication will also be covered. Writing involves ordering your ideas as well as others’ opinions in a correct and cohesive text, so you will be required to summarise different sources and reconstruct texts from notes as well as write expositive and argumentative texts.

Typically, the calendar of lessons involves one 3-hour class once a week (Fridays 9:30am-12:30pm) and takes place onsite from October to December 2023. The course begins on the 1st March.

The course will run with a minimum of 7 and a maximum of 15 people enrolled.

How to apply

To enrol on the course, you need to:

• Take the online test for Italian courses for international students. To find out how and when, please consult the timeline for Italian language semester courses.
• Send your application to cla.italiano-scrittura@unibo.it by the 17th February 2024.

 In your application it is important to indicate your university course as well as any language certifications you have.

As long as you apply by the deadline, you will receive an email with instructions on how to do the individual admission interview in person on the 19th February. The test involves writing a text.

Typically, the first course is free while subsequent courses have an enrolment fee, but some students are required to pay for the first course as well, as outlined below.

For the first course there is no enrolment fee (€ 0,00) for:

• for students on international exchanges at the University of Bologna (study programmes such as Erasmus+, Erasmus Mundus, Overseas, etc.)
• for students at the University of Bologna on first and second-cycle degree programmes, single cycle degrees, PhDs, specialisation school courses, and individual course units.

Courses with an enrolment fee of € 210,00:

• from the first course for students on Professional Master’s Programmes or Post-graduate vocational training programmes at the University of Bologna
• from the first course for participants from affiliated institutions (Conservatory etc)
• from the first course for people who work at the University of Bologna (teaching staff, research fellows, tutors, IT specialists, administrative staff and visiting fellows etc)
• from the second course for students on international exchanges at the University of Bologna on study programmes like Erasmus+, Erasmus Mundus, Overseas etc.
• from the second course for students at the University of Bologna on first and second-cycle degree programmes, single cycle degrees, PhDs, specialisation school courses, and individual course units.

Courses with an enrolment fee of € 150,00:

• from the third course (if taken in the same academic year) for everyone who works and studies at the University of Bologna either permanently or temporarily with no exceptions.
• from the second course for students who are covered by the "No Tax Area" (please see the ISEE - Indicatore della Situazione Economica Equivalente – indicated on your application in order to receive UNIBO student contributions)
• from the second course (if taken in the same academic year) for students on Professional Master’s or Post-graduate vocational training programmes at the University of Bologna
• from the second course for participants from affiliated institutions (Conservatory etc.)
• from the second course (if taken in the same academic year) for people who work at the University of Bologna (teaching staff, research fellows, tutors, IT specialists, visiting fellows etc).

You can only ask for the enrolment fee to be refunded for matters connected to the Language Centre administration (for example, the cancellation of a course)

To check whether CFU are recognised, you need to contact the Student Office for your course of studies and ask if it is possible to recognise free credits for the course.

Anyone on international exchange programmes can receive the 5 European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits. The final course evaluation is "idonea/o" (pass) o "non idonea/o" (fail): there are no grades. In order to receive the 5 ECTS credits you must have the minimum attendance (70% of the lessons) as well as pass the final test(s). You can receive another 5 ECTS credits for a second or third course if the course is at a higher level (for example, 5 ECTS credits for an A2 course and 5 ECTS credits for a B1 course) or for a different type of course (Academic Italian or Specialised Communication). The Student Office records the course on your study plan.

At the end of the course you can request a certificate.

• Spoken Academic Italian cla.italiano-parlato@unibo.it
• Written Academic Italian cla.italiano-scrittura@unibo.it