Italian

Entry Requirements: A minimum grade 6 in GCSE Italian | Exam Board: Edexcel

Why Study Italian?

Italy and its enchanting culture, landscapes and histories require a whole lifetime to explore. Arguably one of the world’s most beautiful languages, it is also greatly beneficial in many career fields. Italy is the seventh biggest economy in the world, with many of the world’s leading businesses choosing to operate in Italy. Italy is also a prominent global leader in design, the culinary arts, robotics, engineering and construction. Studying a language at A level opens up a wide range of subjects you could study at university. Furthermore, the knowledge of another language in our global society makes the difference when applying for a job and the discipline acquired from the study of a foreign language is well regarded by both employers and universities. They know that a linguist will have strong analytical and communication skills.

Did you know...

Italy

Draws over 50 million tourists per year?
Is renowned for its beauty, history, food, fashion, literature and music?

Italian

Is the mother tongue for over 65 million people?
Is important as a language of civilization and culture?
Is a rarity amongst applicants for top employment opportunities and will set you apart from the rest?

The Course

This well-rounded course will heighten students’ cultural awareness, while also continuing to develop their command of the Italian language. Students will also research an aspect of Italian society of their choice, to delve deeper into an area of particular personal interest.

The main themes we will cover are:

Italian society: family, work and education
The mass media, music and arts in the Italian speaking world
Italy’s changing society, politics, Mafia and controversial issues
Fascism in Italy

Students will have the opportunity to study a film which tells a powerful story of love and suffering as a Jewish Italian family’s life is threatened by World War II. They will also explore a fascinating work of modern Italian literature, which offers a poignant insight into the oppressive society of provincial Sicily.

Exam structure

Paper 1: Listening, reading and translation (40% of the qualification)

Paper 2: Written response to works and translation (30% of the qualification)

Paper 3: Speaking (30% of the qualification)

Opportunities

Language learning at JCG is not confined to the classroom. You will have the opportunity to take part in a home stay study visit to Tuscany and organise your own work experience trip in Year 13.

Each year, JCG linguists go on to study university courses ranging from Languages to Law, Politics to Medicine. Studying a language at A level provides excellent preparation for a wide range of careers including journalism, law, finance and teaching. Studying A level Italian will broaden your horizons and open up a whole host of careers and opportunities to you.