At school reception
- Buongiorno, come sta?Formal greeting using Lei.
- Potrebbe ripetere più lentamente, per favore?Polite request for slower repetition.
SIOC Language Labs · A1–B2
Italian
A practical, structured language workspace for study, travel and everyday life. Use the filters, open one section at a time and practise aloud.
Practice system
Daily practice, arrival and memory system
Add a structured daily routine to the grammar maps, dialogues and situation vocabulary already in this Lab. Use the system before departure and alongside your course.
Daily practice →A0–C1 vocabularyArrival packRepair & classroomAfter classExam tasksPDF checklistPrintable pack
The placement tool is a self-check, not an official CEFR or school placement result.
01
Your learning route
Do not try to memorise the whole page. Work in short, repeated blocks and use the language in complete sentences.
- 1
Learn 8–12 useful items.
- 2
Say every example aloud.
- 3
Write three personal sentences.
- 4
Use the material in a short dialogue.
02
Grammar map
Open one point at a time. Read the rule, say the examples aloud and make one new example of your own.
A1Lei e tu
Rule
Use Lei with staff, professors and unfamiliar adults; use tu in informal relationships.
Example
Potrebbe aiutarmi? / Puoi aiutarmi?
Watch out
Lei takes third-person singular verb forms.
A1Articles and gender
Rule
Learn the article with the noun. The initial sound affects the form of the article.
Example
il corso / la lezione / gli studenti
Watch out
Do not choose the article only from the final letter of the noun.
A2Essere, avere and agreement
Rule
The passato prossimo uses essere with many movement and change-of-state verbs and avere with many transitive verbs.
Example
Sono arrivato/a. / Ho perso la chiave.
Watch out
With essere, the past participle agrees with the subject.
A2Prepositions
Rule
Simple and articulated prepositions depend on the noun and the intended relation.
Example
a Rome / in Italy / al corso / dalla scuola
Watch out
Learn frequent combinations as complete chunks.
B1Ci and ne
Rule
Ci often replaces a place or a phrase with a; ne replaces a phrase with di or a quantity.
Example
Ci vado domani. / Ne vorrei due.
Watch out
Place the pronoun before the conjugated verb.
B1Passato prossimo and imperfetto
Rule
Use the passato prossimo for completed events and the imperfetto for background, habits or ongoing past situations.
Example
Ho chiamato la scuola. / Pioveva quando sono uscito/a.
Watch out
Choose the tense by narrative function, not only by duration.
03
Vocabulary by situation
Learn words in groups that match real situations. Every item includes a practical example.
School and study
| Italian | Meaning | Audio |
|---|---|---|
| Buongiorno, come sta? | Formal greeting using Lei. | |
| Potrebbe ripetere più lentamente, per favore? | Polite request for slower repetition. | |
| Non ho ancora capito bene l’ultimo punto. | I have not understood the last point properly yet. |
Accommodation
| Italian | Meaning | Audio |
|---|---|---|
| A che ora comincia la lezione? | What time does the lesson start? | |
| Vorrei pagare con la carta. | I would like to pay by card. | |
| Dove si trova la fermata? | Where is the stop? |
Transport
| Italian | Meaning | Audio |
|---|---|---|
| Devo cambiare linea? | Do I need to change lines? | |
| Ho perso la chiave. | I have lost the key. | |
| Devo parlare con la reception. | I need to speak with reception. |
Food and shopping
| Italian | Meaning | Audio |
|---|---|---|
| Ci vediamo più tardi. | We will see each other later. Ci refers to us/there depending on context. | |
| Ne vorrei due. | I would like two of them. Ne replaces a quantity introduced with di. | |
| È il progetto di cui abbiamo parlato. | It is the project we talked about. Di cui links back to a phrase with di. |
04
Useful sentence bank
These are flexible sentence frames. Replace the details with your own name, time, course, address or problem.
In accommodation
- Non ho ancora capito bene l’ultimo punto.I have not understood the last point properly yet.
- A che ora comincia la lezione?What time does the lesson start?
In a shop
- Vorrei pagare con la carta.I would like to pay by card.
- Dove si trova la fermata?Where is the stop?
During a group project
- Devo cambiare linea?Do I need to change lines?
- Ho perso la chiave.I have lost the key.
At school reception
- Devo parlare con la reception.I need to speak with reception.
- Ci vediamo più tardi.We will see each other later. Ci refers to us/there depending on context.
In accommodation
- Ne vorrei due.I would like two of them. Ne replaces a quantity introduced with di.
- È il progetto di cui abbiamo parlato.It is the project we talked about. Di cui links back to a phrase with di.
05
Dialogue practice
Read both roles, then repeat the dialogue without looking. Change at least two details.
At school reception
A: Buongiorno, sono un nuovo studente. Dove devo registrarmi?
B: Si presenti alla reception con la conferma.
A: Potrebbe indicarmi quali documenti servono?
Try this: Change the time, place and problem. Add one clarification question and one polite closing.
In accommodation
A: Ho perso la chiave e non posso entrare nella stanza.
B: Possiamo preparare una chiave temporanea dopo aver verificato la sua identità.
A: Grazie. Potrebbe spiegarmi anche l’eventuale costo?
Try this: Change the time, place and problem. Add one clarification question and one polite closing.
In a shop
A: Mi scusi, dove posso pagare?
B: La cassa si trova in fondo a questo corridoio.
A: Perfetto. Vorrei pagare con la carta.
Try this: Change the time, place and problem. Add one clarification question and one polite closing.
During a group project
A: Possiamo concordare il prossimo passo?
B: Io svolgo la ricerca e invio i risultati domani.
A: Bene. Io mi occupo della presentazione.
Try this: Change the time, place and problem. Add one clarification question and one polite closing.
06
A simple way to practise
Shadowing
Listen to or read one sentence, pause, repeat it with the same rhythm, then say it again without looking.
Substitution
Keep the grammar pattern but change the person, time, place, object or problem.
60-second speaking challenge
Try explaining one school, housing or transport problem for 60 seconds. If you get stuck, pause, rephrase and keep going.
Come back to it
Review after one day, three days and seven days. Move the easy items aside and spend your time on the ones that still need a little practice.
Original SIOC learning material. The supplied social-media examples were used only to identify useful themes; wording, structure and exercises below are newly written.