Intermediate Italian II · Italian
tests every couple of weeks in the class but online on courseworks. midterm online. final presentation 5 mins. really fine and easy to get an A!!
Basically standard Italian work. Homework for every class, Supersite only on the weekend. Doesn't take much time at all, and it isn't taken up but is gone over in class. 4 quizzes, which as I said, she writes herself, and she gives you a list of what will be on it - drop 1 midterm, final 4 small writing pieces ~500 words 1 small presentation at the end of the semester
Daily assignments, 7-8 compositions, two in-class presentations, midterm and final
extremely doable; a quiz every two weeks or so that she more than prepares you for, about six 250-300 word compositions (she's not at all picky on your topic as long as it generally relates to the theme or article we've discussed in class), maybe 6 total very short exercises from the workbook over the entire semester that aren't graded, and 1 midterm and 1 final that are essentially just long quizzes (that she, again, prepares you well for).
I have taken intermediate italian I with prof Palumbo and chose to take intermediate italian II with her again because it is so great! she is super nice and chill, interesting class and content. we learn the grammar together and she goes through the material but gives us time to discuss and talk. very interactive. nice atmosphere and space to make mistakes without judgement. it is really not difficult because she is not strict ... I do not think I am intermediate II but I can still do the class very well and get an A. I really recommend any class taught by her!!!
Nicola was the best and most engaging Italian professor I’ve had during my four semesters of Italian at Columbia. He didn’t give us any unnecessary work, and in class made sure to cater each and every lesson to our individual needs. He didn’t stop until everyone understood exactly what he was teaching, and encouraged us to all ask questions. He is such a nice guy and he is always helpful. He made class fun and a great learning environment It was a treasure having him as a professor!!!
Take Federica. She's funny and makes it easy to come to class, even on Fridays. Honestly, in the four semesters I've taken Italian, hers has been the easiest and the one in which I learned the most. She writes her own quizzes, which are shorter, but just as effective. And there were only listening and writing sections on the midterm and final. I wish I could go back and take all my semesters with her.
It was a pleasure being in Julie's class this semester. I was originally a little disappointed since I had hoped to enroll in Steve Baker's class, but ultimately Julie was kind, a little silly, and her bubbly personality made learning italian really enjoyable. She expects participation and expects you to have done the assignments and will call on you in class. Homework is about the same as it was for intermediate italian 1, maybe a little more writing but overall there is not a steep curve between this course and the last. My only issue and something I know people worry about is that she is NOT a native speaker, and I believe Italian is her 3rd language. There were a few times when I felt that she was struggling to speak along with the student. However, this did not hinder my learning of the language.
Contrary to what the review below says - Valentina is beyond decent, she's 100% incredible. I took 4 years of Italian in high school and even with that background I still felt like I learned more in one semester than all of those 4 years combined. First of all, the atmosphere in her classroom is so conducive to learning because of the "no-speaking-English" rule, which, especially with a native, is exactly the kind of practice you need for fluency. And practically every day class would reach a point where I was nearly crying with laughter because of her wild mannerisms and/or jokes, basically she's just freakin' adorable. Not to mention her hilarious lack of computer skills that she admits, a huge accomplishment for her was finally making a facebook Class discussions work very well, in my opinion, because once we finish reading an article or watching a short clip online she'll ask a few questions to get the discussion going and once people start talking she just let's us discuss/debate among ourselves (which is nice - we can give her a break from lecturing in order to hold interesting conversations) while she stands there, "interrupting" only if we need help with some words; I can't think of any instance where she purposefully cut off a discussion with a good flow - she WANTS us to contribute and express our thoughts as much as possible. She's literally bubbling over with so mu…
Small quizzes every few weeks, about 6 one-page compositions for homework. Midterm and final.