The speaking seminars and the writing seminars often share a theme, and the variety of topics changes weekly and is far reaching. From aspects of Italian politics, to crime thrillers, to the treatment of women in Italy to innovative ideas coming from bright Italian minds, the range of subjects I found to be interesting as often we would look at an aspect of Italian culture that I had seldom previously considered. The range of work for this course ranges from translations to compositions. The style of translations changes, starting off with general 'gist translations' and ending up with proper 'full' translations. One of the key elements of this part of the course is to attempt to make it as idiomatic as possible, rather than to translate the Italian as it is written. Compositions are often 'opinion pieces,’ asking for a response to a question, yet on occasion some creative writing is involved, though the content is often less important than the quality of the language.
The oral/aural side often revolves around a video or an article followed by questions to answer, with the seminar being a discussion of the broader topic raised in the viewing or reading. Furthermore, the synchronisation of the topics means that the week's work is often more focused, leading to a more effective and interesting learning process overall.
All in all, the language part of the course in first year I have found to be interesting, with the variety of the course, in both style of presentation and weekly topic, attributing to the interest, as it adds another dimension to the course.
lingua
The topics range From Italian politics, to crime thrillers, to the treatment of women in Italy and to innovative ideas coming from bright Italian minds
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