Italian: Beginners - Part 1



Overview

Join this interactive course to learn Italian language and explore its culture. For complete beginners as well as those who have learnt some Italian expressions and phrases through travel or socialising.

To help develop your fluency in the language, the course will focus primarily on speaking and listening skills, but will also include practice in reading and writing.

You will have plenty of opportunities to practise the target language through hands-on collaborative class activities such as conversations and role-plays.

The course is pitched at level A1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), and completion of the course will help you meet some of the level requirements. 

Is this the right level course for you?

This course is for complete beginners as well as those who have learnt some expressions and phrases through travel or socialising.

Programme details

Course starts Wednesday 1 October 2025

This is an in-person course which requires your attendance at the weekly meetings in Oxford on Wednesdays, 4.30-6.30pm.

The weekly schedule below is intended to give an indication of the main topic(s) likely to be covered in each session. Please note that these may sometimes change according to the tutor’s discretion to reflect the interests of course participants.

Week 1: Come ti chiami? Introducing oneself and finding out about other people

Week 2: Di dove sei? Asking for and providing information about one's place of origin; countries and nationalities

Week 3: Vorrei un caffé! Ordering in a café and a restaurant

Week 4: Che lavoro fai? Work and professions

Week 5: Ti presento il mio amico…  Giving and asking for personal details

Week 6: Che cosa fai nel tempo libero? Discussing free time and leisure activities

Week 7: Mi piace!  Expressing likes and dislikes

Week 8: Cosa c’è nella tua cittá?  Travelling in Italy

Week 9: Che ore sono?  Asking for and giving directions; asking  and telling the time

Week 10: Buone feste!  Traditions and festivities

Key grammar points

  • The basic sentence structure and word order
  • Present tense of the regular and irregular verbs
  • Verb piacere
  • Adverbs of frequency
  • Simple and compound prepositions

Key functions

  • Introducing oneself in social situations and asking about other people
  • Giving basic information about the self and others
  • Expressing likes and dislikes
  • Asking for and giving basic directions
  • Telling the time

Textbooks

To participate in the course fully, you will need access to the following textbook:

  • Alma Edizione; New Italian Espresso-Beginner and Pre-Intermediate-Italian course for English speakers- textbook, Gruppo Italiaidea- February 2020, ISBN 978-88-6182-354-9

Digital Certification

Digital badge

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be issued with an official digital badge from the Department for Continuing Education, University of Oxford. In order to be issued with your badge, you will need to have attended at least 80% of the course.

After the course, you will receive an email with a link and instructions on how to download your digital badge. You will be able to add this badge to your email signature and share it on social media if you choose to do so.

Fees

Description Costs
Course Fee £300.00

Funding

If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, you are a full-time student in the UK or a student on a low income, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. See details of our concessionary fees for short courses.

 

Tutor

Mrs Stefania Nini Nini

Stefania holds a Bachelor Degree in Educational Sciences from the Catholic University of Milan and a PGCE in Philosophy, Psychology and Sociology. She has been teaching Italian language and culture for 30 years in Italy and in the UK: her teaching experience spans all age and level ranges. She joined OUDCE's Italian language team in September 2017.

Course aims

To enable participants to communicate at a very basic level with speakers of the target language in a limited range of practical, real-life settings.

Course objectives

  • To help students develop the language skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing for very basic routine communication in the target language.
  • To enable students to use a range of high frequency vocabulary and grammar structures for very basic routine interaction in the target language.
  • To equip students with an initial appreciation of the culture and civilisation of the country (or countries) in which the target language is spoken.

Teaching methods

You will learn through a communicative teaching approach with the emphasis on actively engaging in classroom activities in the target language. These are likely to include role-plays, pair- and small-group work, and conversational practice conducted in a supportive, friendly and informal learning environment.

The course has been structured to help you primarily to develop your speaking and listening skills and to gradually gain an insight into the culture and daily life of your target language. You will also learn and practise new grammatical structures in a communicative context and will be encouraged to develop your reading and writing skills in your own time.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, participants will be better prepared to:

  • use very simple phrases and utterances to provide basic personal information, such as name, address, family members and nationality;
  • interact in a very simple way provided the other person talks slowly and clearly;
  • understand the gist of very short, simple written texts and audio/video excerpts containing the highest frequency vocabulary items and basic grammar structures;
  • produce simple phrases and very short texts using basic structures and vocabulary items.

Assessment methods

You will be set optional assignments to consolidate your learning and to allow you to progress at your own pace.

Application

Please use the 'Book now' button on this page. Alternatively, please complete an enrolment form.

Level and demands

This course is for complete beginners as well as those who have learnt some expressions and phrases through travel or socialising.

Pitched at level A1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

Find out more about our language levels.

Terms & conditions for applicants and students

Information on financial support