Chelmsford County High School for Girls

Subjects

Italian

Italian at CCHS

Italian was first introduced at CCHS in September 2006 as an additional language in the Sixth Form. From September 2009 an Italian ab initio course will be offered as part of the International Baccalaureate. This will be available both to IB students as part of their Diploma and to A level students to complement their other Sixth Form studies. At the end of the course, they will receive a Standard Level IB certificate in ab initio Italian. Those wishing to learn Italian will not require any previous knowledge of the language but they will be encouraged to exploit their previous experience of language learning and their understanding of the structure of language to support their learning of Italian. There will be five lessons a fortnight. All students who take the course will have the opportunity to visit Italy as part of our exchange programme with the Liceo Canova in Treviso near Venice.

The Course

Throughout the course, we will be establishing proficiency in the language, oral, aural and written, and will be building a systematic understanding of Italian grammar. The IB course covers the following seven broad topic areas: the individual, education and work, town and services, food and drink, leisure and travel, the environment and health and emergencies. We will be using Amici as our main textbook but this will be supplemented with texts drawn from a variety of contemporary Italian sources.

The Examination

The IB ab initio final examination comprises two written papers (text handling and essay) and two oral tests (individual and interactive). Students will take part in three interactive orals during Year 13, the best of which will be submitted. All sections of the examination require a clear understanding of grammar, and texts will be drawn from the topic areas listed above.

Why study Italian?

To broaden your horizons and support your knowledge of modern foreign languages.

To add Italian to your knowledge of Latin and French if you wish to specialise in Romance languages.

To show that you are a very competent language learner, by successfully completing an accelerated language course. This is particularly important if you are contemplating starting a language at university that you have not studied at school.

As the language component in the International Baccalaureate.

To provide a balance with your other A level subjects.

Because you love Italy and would like to get more out of your visits there.

For further details please see Mrs K Adams, Teacher of French/Italian