Future Students

Italian

It is the most widely spoken language in Australia after English because of the on-going migrant, intellectual, cultural and commercial links between Australia and Italy.

The Italian program offers units aimed at developing competence in Italian language, both spoken and written, Italian culture, and literature. We have developed a flexible, multi-streamed course catering for beginners, TEE students and those with a background in Italian.

It is possible to study a Diploma of Modern Languages concurrently with UWA undergraduate courses that do not otherwise allow language study. If you would like to study a Diploma of Modern Languages you must meet the University’s entry requirements for the degree you plan to study. After being admitted to the Faculty concerned you may then apply to the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences for entry to the Diploma with the approval of your home Faculty.

To enter the post TEE or the near native speaker Italian streams, you must have studied TEE Italian or maintain a suitably strong background in the language. If you would like guidance on which stream is right for you please contact us.

You should have an interest in learning an important world language of commerce, education, research and culture. We encourage you to participate in our exchange programs at approved European universities such as Bologna, Siena, Milan or Perugia.

ITALIAN FOR BEGINNERS aims at giving you a solid grounding in the fundamental aspects of standard Italian and an introduction to modern Italy. Students reach the level of TEE Italian, or better, in one year and are then able to continue with studies in Italian the following year. The course consists of five hours spread throughout the week and comprises grammatical, conversational and multimedia activities carried out in small tutorial groups.

POST-TEE ITALIAN has two aims: firstly to expand and consolidate previous knowledge of the written and spoken language; secondly to enrich and deepen your contact with the Italian language and to establish new links with the culture of modern Italy.

NATIVE OR NEAR-NATIVE ITALIAN allows students who are already native or near-native speakers to pass into the second year post-TEE stream. This accelerated beginning provides a challenging programme in language and cultural studies for students with a strong background in Italian.

In Levels 2 and 3 you will continue to develop your language skills and have a choice of elective subjects in the areas of literature and cultural studies. The literature units cover major Italian writers from the fourteenth to the twentieth century. The cultural studies units cover Italian social, cultural and artistic developments from the Middle Ages to the present. In the linguistic units, language developments from the Middle Ages to the present, both in Italy and the Italian community overseas, are studied in their social and historical context.

Career opportunities

Knowledge of a foreign language is particularly helpful for career prospects in international relations, commerce, banking, journalism and communications, travel consultancy, social work, nursing/medical areas and music and the arts. Italian is also a valuable major or minor subject for secondary school teaching in both government and private schools. Italian industry and other commercial interests are currently making inroads into Australia and the Eastern and South Eastern Asian regions, resulting in great interest in the language and culture of Italy in countries such as Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia and South Korea. Graduates in Science, and in vocational course like Commerce, Law and Engineering find that Italian is a useful complement to their professional qualifications, giving them an interesting and valuable second ''string to their bow''.