GUIDES TO THE UNIVERSITY

The educational activities designed to assist students in learning foreign languages offered by the Language Centre includes:

• International language certifications (only for English, first language)
• Bocconi exams (for curricular first and second foreign languages)

B. guided individual study.

A. teaching
The educational activities are organized by the Language Center and are offered only when an adequate number of students is reached.

Teaching for preparing the students to English certifications
For English, in addition to the teaching for the preparation of the Bocconi exam, the Language Center proposes courses for preparing the students to the following certifications, recognised as an alternative to the Bocconi exam:

• IELTS, International English Language Testing System, general language, B2 and C1 levels, Examination Center British Council, IDP - IELTS Australia, University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations
• BEC, Business English Certificates, specialized language/business, B2 and C1 levels, Examination Center University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations.

Each course lasts a semester with a total number of hours equal to 48 hours, except for IELTS C1 with a total number of hours equal to 24. The offer is scheduled in the 2nd semester of the first year and in the 1st semester and 2nd semester of the second year.

The courses are addressed to students with an adequate level of language knowledge verified through an appropriate online test and they are offered to a limited number of students.

Students who are not admitted in a course have the allocation of a class group of preparation to the Bocconi exam corresponding to their level if this has already been included in the educational offer of that semester.

Periods and methods to sit for the test and for enrolling in the course are communicated via yoU@B student Diary before the start of each semester (further information is available at www.unibocconi.eu/languagecenter in Language Laboratory).
Each course is started when the minimum number of enrolled students is reached.

Teaching for the preparation of Bocconi exams of curricular language courses(*)
The aim of the foreign language course is to provide the students with adequate language knowledge for an appropriate use of the language in a general/academic context.
(*) Please note that the portoguese is no longer included in the educational offer. Materials for the guided individual study is available at www.unibocconi.eu/languagecenter in Language Laboratory.
First language
Lessons last 2 years, and are structured in the two years and includes the following paths on the basis of the student’s initial preparation (see Initial evaluation of English and Italian)

Class Teaching specifically:

(*) In the second year the Path 1 elementary flows into the Path 2 intermediate as it has the same contents and prepares for the same exit level B2.

 For English at the beginning of the first semester of the first year the path 1 is automatically assigned only to students enrolled in class groups taught in Italian with elementary initial language preparation. Starting from the second semester of the first year all students (also those already assigned to Path 1) choose, via the yoU@B Diary, to attend a course for the certifications or a course for the Bocconi exam, from among those which can be accessed on the basis of one’s study plan and initial language preparation.
For French, Spanish and German, at the beginning of the first semester of the first year Path 1 is assigned automatically. For these languages no initial language evaluation is required, but at least an A2/B1 initial preparation (pre-intermediate/intermediate)is strongly advised.

For Italian at the beginning of the first semester of the first year the following paths are assigned:

• Path 1 (exit level B2) to students enrolled in class groups taught in English.
• Path 3 (exit level C1) to students enrolled in class groups taught in Italian.

All different paths have a total of number of classroom teaching hours equal to 48 for each semester.

Class groups are activated if the minimum number of enrolled students is reached.

Second language
The classroom activities last one year and involve one single path only which is assigned automatically when students choose languages for a total of 128 hours of lessons.

The class timetable can be viewed on the yoU@B student Diary after the teaching starts.

Attending first and second language courses is strongly recommended: attending courses is considered the most effective way of learning the language and preparing for the final exam.
For courses aimed to prepare the students to the Bocconi exams, active participation and individual study may be considered into the calculation of the grade awarding up to 2 extra points (detailed information is presented in the exam requirements and in courses syllabuses for every language and they are available  at www.unibocconi.eu/languagecentre in Exams-Certificates>Bocconi exams).

The general course profiles are available on the website www.unibocconi.eu/courses.


B. Guided individual study
The study of foreign languages requires students to be committed to individual study  in addition to regular attendance of lessons.

The Language Centre also offers a service which provides information and guidance on language study and suggests ways for utilizing different tools (multimedia library) for exam preparation, which are available at the Language Labs and online. (See www.unibocconi.eu/languagecentre in Language Laboratory).

Guided individual study involves students carrying out a series of activities based on the specific instructions given by teachers in class. These instructions may include the use of student's own materials (e.g. exercises in books specified in the course syllabus and exam program), assistance which is available at the Language Lab (e.g. multimedia courses) and recommended materials which are available online.

The detailed course programs (course syllabuses) are available at www.unibocconi.eu/languagecentre in Exams-Certificates. In addition to information about classroom teaching they also provide information about guided individual study. Study exercises are also indicated for the related topics covered during lessons.

As a general guide the recommended number of hours per week that should be dedicated to individual study is 3-5 hours.