1. The course aims at developing the four linguistic skills (oral and written comprehension plus oral and written production) foreseen by the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for Foreign Languages. Moreover the student will be guided in self study in order to develop (also independently) their own skills of understanding (spoken and written) of French- in particular for the specialist language (business sector) – by using skills already developed in their mother tongue and strengthening them.
2. Applying knowledge and understanding: the subject intends to put the student in the conditions to “know-how”, understand and know how to express themselves, thus communicate in French using a specialist language, know how to move in a company and in the working world.
3. Making Judgements: the course pushes development in two directions i.e. the practical use of written and spoken French and the study of French grammar aimed above all at using logical skills; all this is created with the view to developing a mentality of precision in expressing concepts of a different nature.
4. Communication skills: in the age of telecommunications, communicative skills are considered by the European Framework as the “fifth” skill (besides spoken and written understanding and spoken and written expression). Knowing how to communicate includes the development of expressive ability but, without interaction, the simple production of a message is meaningless. The course aims therefore at developing this skill too, supplying food for thought targeted at acquiring an indispensible savoir-faire in the working world.
5. Learning skills. The course aims at developing the learning skills of each student in order to make them independent in respect to the Community Action Plan in the field of permanent learning, or Lifelong Learning Programme (LLP), set up by the European Parliament and by the Counsel in 2006. (The Strategy of Lisbon).
Presentations - Making Appointments on the phone-Exchanging information- job applications -job offers -making contact - Dealing with matters concerning business and enterprise in general- meaning of the specialist language - general organization of a company - marketing of products-how to make contacts- Documents relating to orders- certification of the quality of goods - trade transport - the rules - the bank- deals- Business letters in general : lay-out and elements Letters of supply and demand of goods and services- Enquires and replies - letter of complaint - the covering letter + CV curriculum vitae - the job interview.
Grammar: general notions about grammar – Elements of basic grammar (sentence structure, use of pronouns, verbs, etc) – Elements of contrastive grammar- Theory and practice for translating from Italian into French, from French into Italian and for direct production in French (level B1/B2).
Civilisation: Le travail, la protection sociale, loisirs et modes de vie, la presse, l'économie et les institutions.
Text 1 : Berthet – B. Tauzin, Affaires à suivre, Hachette, Paris, 2002.
Text 2 : F. Ponzi - J. Greco, Commerce Express, Edizioni LANG.
Text 3 : E. De Gennaro, La grammaire par étapes, Il Capitello.
Il Nuovo Garzanti della Lingua Francese – Vocabolario francese-italiano ed italiano-francese, Garzanti.