The best aspects of this course included the consistent speaking opportunities, the instructor’s enthusiasm for the course material, and the cumulative coverage of vocab, history, literature, culture, and grammar. One student felt that grammar was not taught enough. Another student felt the unit themes were strange and applied very little, if at all, to important facets of the Italian language. Suggestions included incorporating more of an emphasis on grammar and assigning less “busy work” as homework. Prospective students should know that participation is crucial in order to receive a passing grade in this course.

Students from this course gave high marks to the instructor, the emphasis on Italian culture and history, and the small class size. However, many students found the activities and homework repetitive. A better variety of reading material and more time on conversational Italian were both suggested improvements for the course. Prospective students should know that this course wil give good practice in writing and speaking Italian, but be prepared for a fairly heavy workload.

The best aspects of the course were the engaging instructor who gave helpful feedback to students and the strong conversational elements of the course. Students felt that there were not enough assignments to practice concepts and that there was a large learning curve from Intermediate to Advanced courses. Suggestions for improvement included creating opportunities for more informal discussions and increasing the amount of grammar exercises. Prospective students should be aware of the heavy workload and challenging course material.