Italian for Beginners 1: Meeting, Greeting and Eating - The Open University

Learn how to order food and drink, greet people, and introduce yourself, in this first Italian for Beginners course.

This free online course is the first of six in the Italian for Beginners program. It will introduce you to the basic language so that you are able to:

• Order snacks and drinks in a café;
• Greet people and introduce yourself and others;
• Talk about where you live and where you come from;
• Talk about the languages you speak;
• Talk about what you do.

Start to speak, listen, read and write in Italian.

During the four weeks of the course, you will learn some of the vocabulary and phrases you need to help you interact with people at a basic level.

You will start to develop the four language skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing through a range of activities, which will introduce the language in authentic settings, and audio resources, which will let you hear the language in action.

There are some activities where you will also practice your speaking skills, as it is important that you start speaking as soon as possible.

You will also learn some essential Italian grammar, including some basic verbs, such as essere (to be) and chiamarsi (to call). Finally, you will get some tips and advice on how to develop your study skills, so that you can become a successful language learner.

Take your Italian learning offline by purchasing two hours of downloadable audio files and transcripts made by the course creators at The Open University. These MP3s are a great way to practise your Italian listening and speaking wherever you are. They cover examples and exercises on the same topics as the course.

When would you like to start?

• Date to be announced.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to:

• Develop skills in basic Italian for interacting in common communicative situations.
• Engage in simple communication in Italian.
• Apply the language introduced in order to greet people, talk about where you live and what you do.
• Apply the language introduced to talk about languages you speak and order drinks and snacks.

Who is the course for?

This course is aimed at people with no prior knowledge of Italian, who want to learn the basic language and find out about Italy and its regions and culture. This course is taught in English.

Who will you learn with?

Who developed the course?

The Open University

The Open University (OU) is the largest academic institution in the UK and a world leader in flexible distance learning, with a mission to be open to people, places, methods and ideas.

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What topics will you cover?

• Order snacks and drinks in a café;
• Greet people and introduce yourself and others;
• Talk about where you live and where you come from;
• Talk about the languages you speak;
• Talk about what you do.