L’Università per Stranieri di Perugia (University for Foreigners in Perugia)
The “University for Foreigners” of Perugia represents the oldest and most prestigious Italian institution specialized in the instruction of the Italian language. Founded in 1921 as a school offering culture courses with the aim of transmitting the history, institutions, and natural and artistic beauties of Umbria and Italy, today the Stranieri is an important center for both the teaching of Italian and the development of new educational methodologies for instructors of Italian as a foreign language. It hosts approximately 5000 students from over 100 different nations each term.
The Università per Stranieri’s principal location is in the beautiful Gallenga Palazzo located in the heart of the city, opposite the 2000-year-old Etruscan arch of the ancient city and only a short walk from the Umbra Institute. Over time the Università has expanded to include three other buildings, the Palazzi Lupatelli, Prosciutti and Orvieto, which are located in a lovely green zone that borders the city’s historical center and which is within walking distance of Palazzo Gallenga.
The Umbra Institute works closely with the Università per Stranieri di Perugia to create a study abroad program that incorporates this stimulating international environment. Full-Immersion Italian Language and Culture participants are registered as students at both the Università per Stranieri di Perugia (USP) and The Umbra Institute.
Program Structure
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There are two key components to the Italian Language and Culture Program: a full-time, intensive course at the Università per Stranieri and two-hour weekly tutorial sessions held by an Umbra Institute language professor. Both components are essential to successful completion of the program. Along with these curricular requirements, Full Immersion students may also enjoy a wide variety of extra- and co-curricular activities at the Stranieri and the Umbra Institute.
The weekly academic calendar that students follow is that of the Università. Thus, while students often have classes Mondays through Fridays, they enjoy time off for Italian holidays and a two-day break after course exams at the Università. (There is not, however, a “semester break” as part of the program.)
Università per Stranieri Courses: The Full-Immersion Program essentially inserts the traditional American four-month semester into the Italian academic calendar as organized by the Università per Stranieri. For this reason, course organization follows two different models, depending on the American semester in which students enroll: the fall semester is comprised of a one-month course followed by a three-month course, and the spring semester is a three-month course followed by a one-month course.
FALL SEMESTER
September One-Month Program
October - December Three-Month Program
SPRING SEMESTER
January - March Three-Month Program
April One-Month Program
The one-month program tends to introduce the course material rapidly, while the three-month program moves at a slightly slower pace, repeating usage and facilitating in-depth understanding and proficiency as each new topic is introduced.
Course Selection: There are six levels of instruction from which each student may choose. The levels are organized and structured according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages:
Level A1 Course (Beginner) Level A2 Course (Advanced Beginner)
Level B1 Course (Intermediate) Level B2 Course (Adv. Intermediate)
Level C1 Course (Advanced) Level C2 Course (Mastery)
At each level the curriculum is fixed and may not be modified. At the lower levels (A1-B1) the Stranieri offers exclusively courses in the Italian language, whereas courses at the B2 level and above introduce a separate component on Italian culture and society. Advanced courses, at the levels of C1 and C2, also include topics in advanced linguistic studies, including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, dialects and historical linguistics, and supplement the linguistic program with up to three elective courses chosen from a variety of offerings in the humanities and social sciences.
Students complete their first course in a given semester at a particular level (e.g., A2) and then, upon examination, move up to the next level in the second course (e.g., B1). In some cases, a student may be required to continue at the same level in the second course if they have not achieved sufficient proficiency to pass to the next level. It is not unusual, for example, for students taking the first course in the fall term to continue at that level for the second course as well. Since in the spring term students initially participate in a three-month course, they often will have achieved the requisite proficiency to pass to the next level for the final month of the semester.
Weekly Tutorial sessions with Umbra language professors: For some students the full-immersion experience can be overwhelming, while others, particularly at the beginner level, may find it difficult to follow fully classes taught entirely in Italian. The Umbra Institute provides each student with a weekly tutorial and special office hours for additional assistance when needed. Umbra instructors are experts in the fields of teaching Italian and assessing language acquisition. Their role is to guide, assist and assess the performance of students throughout the learning process.
Tutorial Structure: Students will cover grammatical and conversational topics and prepare their exams at the Institute. Tutorials are also a relaxed moment of consultation, where students are invited to speak about their experience, ask questions and/or report possible problems. Tutors will provide each week the necessary learning materials and may ask students to organize a weekly update of their Stranieri activities. Students will be given regularly assigned exercises, including short essays, and the students’ midterm and final oral presentations and exams will take place at the Institute. It is the Umbra instructor who is ultimately responsible for assessing the performance of all students and assigning the final grade for all students.
Contact Hours: The Full Immersion program is intensive. Each week includes a total of 26-28 contact hours of class time (roughly 375 hours of instruction during the semester), plus co- and extra-curricular activities offered in Italian.
Extra-curricular Activites: As a student at the Università per Stranieri, program participants have access to all social and sports activities offered by the University. These include: The Chamber Music Group; University Musical Association of Perugia (Agimus); University Social Center (concerts, shows, plays, exhibitions and Italian films are shown; students can participate free of charge in the events and can also exhibit their artistic works); Excursions (weekend trips are organized by the university to important Italian cities, as are guided visits to historical and artistic monuments of Perugia and Umbria); and Sports (all students have access to the University Sport Centre of Perugia which organizes athletics, baseball, basketball, football, swimming, judo, karate, tennis, cycling, volleyball, etc.).
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Transferable Credits with an Umbra Transcript
All Full-Immersion students receive a transcript issued through the Umbra Institute for coursework at the Università per Stranieri di Perugia. These transcripts bridge the gap between the US and EU systems of education and convert the Stranieri program into course equivalents and semester credits based on the American system of higher education. Specifically, the coursework and performance of students at each level of language proficiency are interpreted and re-configured into 4 principal “lines” of study. Each line (or course) is worth 4 credits. (Transcripts of the C1 and C2 programs include the elective courses on Italian culture, linguistics, or business economics. These are indicated under “special topics.”)
Courses Offered Each Semester
For a detailed description of the semester programs available to Full Immersion students please click the link here.
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Each description includes the structure of weekly instruction at that particular level of language proficiency, the course material covered, and a sample transcript that each student will earn on successful completion of the program.
Certificates
At the end of each three-month program students are eligible to take a CELI (Certificato di Lingua Italiana) exam and receive a certificate of proficiency from the Università degli Studi di Perugia. The CELI is recognized internationally and may be useful for those students who hope to work in fields which require knowledge of Italian. The examination dates, however, are set by the Centre for Assessment and Language Certification (CVCL) of the Università and often fall outside the semester schedule for Umbra students. (The exams are generally offered twice a calendar year.)
See More!
To see a short video about Umbra students doing the Full Immersion program, click here.
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