Objectives and Methodologies


Enjoy Learning Italian

This is the first of Piccolitalia’s courses and it aims to introduce Italian to those children who have had little or no previous exposure to the language. It is so important that children be introduced to a modern language at a young age. Studies show that students with 4 or more years studying a foreign language perform almost 20% better in school. It also ensures the best opportunities for your children and as citizens of the EU, having a modern European language is key to so many of these opportunities.

Our methodologies are drawn not only from our academic backgrounds, but also from our many years of experience spent teaching Italian including in Irish primary schools with the MLPSI project

All our teachers are native Italian speakers and classes are small in order to ensure students’ full participation and interaction during classes. At the end of each class enough time is left to have a chat with the teachers and they will be happy to answer your questions and keep you updated on your child’s progress.

Methodologies:

Children will learn Italian in an enjoyable way through games, songs or nursery rimes (depending on age), videos, arts and crafts, drama, role playing and other interactive and engaging activities. During the whole course we will use a Communicative Approach which will put students at the centre of the educational experience and will develop a greater sense of learning and awareness than they would receive in a Teacher Centred Approach.

Objectives

Children will develop skills under three main strands (a strand is the principal division of content in a subject):

  • Communicative Competences

    • Children will be encouraged to use their newly learned language to communicate effectively through role playing in real life situation, such as introducing themselves to Italian children or shopping. This enables learning different Italian greetings and their different registers. They will be able to talk about themselves, to express their likes and dislikes.
    • Depending on the age, grammar will also be introduced. All groups will explore those aspects which are more related with communicating and being understood.

  • Cultural Awareness

    • Students will learn about Italian traditions, festivities, foods, songs and so on. This will enhance their natural curiosity and interest towards different cultures and peoples. Every real life situation used in role playing will be exquisitely Italian and, occasionally, references will be drown with Italian history and geography.

  • Language Awareness

    • Students will develop the ability to see patterns and links within different aspects of the Italian language. Subsequently, they will learn to transfer this ability to English, Irish and any other language they will ever learn. Developing Language Awareness enhances language and literacy skills.

 The three strands will always be explored during our lessons which will include the following: Introducing oneself, talking about family and school, feasts and holidays, investigating numbers, animals, days of the week, months, seasons, weather, pastimes, birthdays and hobbies. These may be replaced with others, depending on the needs and interests of age group.

 Different strand units (a strand unit is a subdivision of the strand), such as speaking, listening, reading and writing will be also explored, depending on age group.

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