Italian

In Year 9, a beginner’s Italian course is offered as a second Modern Language. Students are quickly introduced to the basics of this beautiful, musical language, spoken by about 70 million people natively and around a further 150 million worldwide as a non-native language.

This course is particularly suitable for strong, keen linguists, who already have a foundation in the romance languages. An intensive but enjoyable first year can lead to study of the language as an IGCSE in the Upper School, although at present no A level is offered. Grammatically, Italian shares roots closely with French and Spanish, however studies of Latin also help significantly, particularly with recognition of vocabulary. Lessons are taught over six periods per fortnight and students will have gained a good grasp of the language by the end of Year 9. Additionally, we have a native language assistant who works closely with the group on a fortnightly basis.

Learning Italian, knowing a language different from the more typical foreign languages taught at schools, allows students to stand out from the crowd, and will enable access to a fantastic country, culture and people.

A study trip to Italy of four or five days is offered during February half-term.

Head of Department: Mrs S Rugge-Price srp@kes.hants.sch.uk