IT 140Italian Language & Culture for Study Abroad

3 credits · Italian · Penn State

IT 140 prepares students for study abroad in Italy through contact with language and customs and through the inclusion of pragmatic information and cultural intelligence/sensitivity. IT 140 splits equal classroom time between developing basic language skills and providing important cultural information. Pronunciation, key vocabulary terms and scenario-based instruction form the basis of the language portion. Vocabulary sets include travel (emphasis on public transportation), cuisine (cafe and restaurant settings), navigation (using maps, giving/receiving directions), health (pharmacy and doctor's office settings) and shopping (open air market and boutique settings). These areas of content naturally overlap with cultural lessons as does learning to use formal and informal registers. Accordingly, cultural lessons deal with these topics as well as geography (including regional variations), history and safety. Italian 140 is both GH and IL. This course does not count for the Italian major or minor.