HSC Italian Continuers study guide
HSC Italian Continuers · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
HSC Italian Continuers is a New South Wales Higher School Certificate course and external examination for students who have already studied Italian for several years and want to keep it as a formal subject in Years 11 and 12. It suits learners who can already handle everyday conversation and short texts and who want to move toward genuine fluency, cultural understanding and independent use of the language. The HSC Italian Continuers study guide has 5 sections and about 2,189 words.
01The Personal World: Talking About Yourself and Others
The personal world covers family, friends, school, daily routine, leisure, health, future plans and relationships. You need vocabulary for people and relationships ( il patrigno , la matrigna , il fratellastro , la sorellastra , i nonni materni/paterni ), for routine and time ( svegliarsi , alzarsi , vestirsi , fare colazione , nel pomeriggio , ogni tanto ), and for feelings and opinions ( mi sento , sono preoccupato per , secondo me , a mio parere , trovo che ).
468 words, about 2 min02The Italian-Speaking Communities: Culture, Society and Change
This domain tests knowledge of Italian-speaking communities in Italy and abroad: regional identities, migration history, family structures, food culture, education, work, youth issues, the environment, media and traditions. You should be able to discuss the north–south economic divide, internal migration to industrial cities such as Turin and Milan, and emigration to Argentina, Brazil, the United States, Australia and Switzerland.
458 words, about 2 min03Listening and Responding: Strategies for the Audio Section
Listening tasks in this course use short dialogues, announcements, interviews and messages in Italian, followed by questions in Italian or English. You must identify main ideas, specific details (times, prices, names, places), the speaker's purpose and attitude, and implied meaning.
415 words, about 2 min04Reading and Responding: Extracting and Using Information
Reading tasks use authentic-style Italian texts: articles, letters, emails, advertisements, brochures, blogs, reviews and short stories. You must locate specific information, understand gist and purpose, infer meaning from context, and respond in Italian, often by summarising or giving an opinion.
406 words, about 2 min05Writing in Italian: Register, Structure and Accuracy
Writing tasks require you to produce a text of roughly 100–200 words in a specified format: an email, a letter, a diary entry, a notice, an article or a short story. You are assessed on relevance to the task, range and accuracy of language, and organisation.
442 words, about 2 min