Course content

In this course, participants will gain a first insight into the characteristics of Italian pronunciation and intonation. Particular attention will be paid to those aspects that generally cause learners difficulty, and especially to those that pose particular challenges for German-speaking learners. These include the pronunciation of individual sounds (such as the difference between /b/ and /p/ or the Italian ‘tongue-tip r’) as well as the correct intonation of a question as opposed to a statement. Through listening exercises, participants develop an awareness of these specific phenomena and are guided through exercises on correct pronunciation. The final module also provides an insight into the regional variations of Italian and takes learners on a journey across the Italian regions.

Learning goals

• I can distinguish between voiceless and voiced consonants.
• I can pronounce voiceless and voiced consonants.
• I can stress questions and statements correctly.
• I can recognise a long consonant.
• I can pronounce a long consonant.
• I can hear the difference between open and closed vowels.
• I can pronounce open and closed vowels.

Prerequisites

Participants should have a basic knowledge of Italian.

Course schedule

The course is divided into eight modules. Each module includes several videos focusing on different aspects of Italian pronunciation. In addition, there are reading recommendations in the form of further learning resources (including videos, documents and links) that offer a deeper exploration of the content covered in the eight modules. Furthermore, a quiz is provided for each course module, which participants can complete to assess their individual progress.

For actively participating in the course you will receive an automatic confirmation of participation (certificate) which includes your username, the course title, course duration as well as the hours required to complete the course. We want to point out that this certificate merely confirms that the user answered at least 75% of the self-assessment questions correctly.

This work by Martin Ebner is licenced under CC BY-SA 4.0.