Italienisch

Why Study Italian?

Italy is renowned for its beauty, history, food, fashion, literature and music. Italian is the mother tongue for over 70 million people around the world and is important as a language of civilization, culture and business. Italian is a rarity amongst applicants for top employment opportunities and will set you apart from the rest. Annually Italy provides £30.9 billion in imports to the UK economy and is therefore a language in demand. Furthermore, on average successful language learners can expect an 11-34% pay difference in their future careers compared to their monolingual colleagues. It is also well known that employers value communication skills very highly. They find people who have learnt languages are articulate, flexible and adaptable.

Subject content:

Identity and culture: Relationships, family and friends; daily life; cultural life
Local area, holiday and travel: Holidays; travel and tourist transactions; town, region and country
School: what school is like; school activities
Future aspirations, study and work: using language beyond the classroom; ambitions; work
International and global dimension: bringing the world together; environmental issues

How are you Assessed?

Paper 1: Listening - Understanding and responding to different types of spoken language.
Paper 2: Speaking – Role play, a discussion of a photo and a short conversation.
Paper 3: Reading - Answers in Italian and English + translation from Italian into English. Understanding and responding to different types of written language.
Paper 4: Writing - Two writing tasks + translation English into Italian.

Each paper/assessment is worth 25% of the total GCSE.

Reisen, Möglichkeiten, Fortschritt

Every other year we organise a study trip to Tuscany, where the students attend a language school and stay with host families. On previous trips, we have climbed the tower in Pisa, spent a day exploring renaissance Florence, attended an intimate opera concert, visited renowned galleries and completed a cookery workshop, where students have made fresh pasta and other Italian delights.