WACE Italian Second Language ATAR cheat sheet

Listening tasks in Italian are delivered at natural speed; key information is often signalled by discourse markers such as 'allora', 'dunque', 'prima di tutto', 'in conclusione'.

Register matters: 'tu' is used with peers, family and children; 'Lei' with strangers, officials, teachers and in formal service encounters.

Common listening text types: annuncio in stazione, messaggio telefonico, intervista radiofonica, istruzioni del medico, conversazione al mercato; each has predictable formulaic openings and closings.

Numbers, times and prices are frequent distractors: 'le tre e un quarto' (3:15), 'le tre meno un quarto' (2:45), 'ventuno' vs 'ventitré' (stress on the final syllable marks '-tré').

Speaking assessment criteria typically cover communication of ideas, range of vocabulary and structures, accuracy, pronunciation and fluency; circumlocution ('cioè', 'come si dice', 'quello che intendo') maintains fluency when a word is missing.

Italian pronunciation rules: 'c' before e/i is /tʃ/ (ciao), 'ch' is /k/ (chiave); 'g' before e/i is /dʒ/ (gelato), 'gh' is /g/ (ghiaccio); 'gn' is /ɲ/ (gnocchi); 'gli' is /ʎ/ (famiglia).

Double consonants are phonemic: 'pala' (shovel) vs 'palla' (ball), 'casa' (house) vs 'cassa' (cash desk); vowel length is not distinctive but consonant length is.

Polite interaction formulae: 'Mi scusi', 'Per favore', 'Grazie mille', 'Prego', 'Ne vorrei un etto' (100 g at a deli), 'Basta così'.

Skim for gist using title, headings, first and last sentences of paragraphs; scan for specific data (dates, prices, names) only after the gist is established.

Cognate traps (falsi amici): 'attualmente' = currently (not actually), 'eventualmente' = if necessary (not eventually), 'magazzino' = warehouse (not magazine), 'parente' = relative (not parent), 'burro' = butter (not donkey).

Passage types in the WACE context include articolo di giornale, lettera formale, email, pubblicità, racconto, blog di viaggio, ricetta and orario/biglietto; each has distinct layout cues.

Text cohesion markers: 'tuttavia/però' (however), 'quindi/perciò' (therefore), 'inoltre' (moreover), 'invece' (instead), 'mentre' (while), 'poiché/dato che' (since/because).

Pronominal verbs and particles change meaning: 'andarsene' (to leave), 'farcela' (to manage), 'cavarsela' (to get by), 'volerci' (to be needed) - 'ci vuole un'ora' = it takes an hour.

Passato prossimo auxiliary choice: 'avere' with most transitive verbs; 'essere' with movement/state verbs (andare, venire, partire, nascere, restare) and all reflexive verbs, with past participle agreeing in gender and number.

Impersonal and passive forms are common in journalistic prose: 'si dice che', 'si vendono biglietti', 'è stato deciso che', 'vengono pubblicati'.

Inference questions require locating the sentence that supports the answer rather than relying on general knowledge; the correct option paraphrases the text, not repeats it.

Text types and their conventions: lettera formale opens 'Gentile Dott.ssa Rossi' and closes 'Cordiali saluti'; email amichevole opens 'Ciao Marco' and closes 'A presto'; racconto uses passato prossimo/imperfetto; articolo has headline plus lead paragraph.

Imperfetto vs passato prossimo: imperfetto sets scene, habitual actions and description ('da bambino giocavo'); passato prossimo reports completed single events ('ieri ho giocato').

Congiuntivo is triggered after verbs of opinion and emotion ('penso che sia', 'mi dispiace che tu non possa'), after 'benché', 'affinché', 'prima che', and in impersonal expressions ('è importante che').

Accordance rules: adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun; articles contract with prepositions (di+il = del, a+la = alla, in+il = nel, su+i = sui).

Written connectives raise cohesion: 'innanzitutto', 'in primo luogo', 'd'altra parte', 'di conseguenza', 'in sintesi', 'per concludere'.

Word count and planning: allocate roughly 10% of time to a plan (bullet points of content per paragraph), and check verb endings and agreements last as an editing pass.

Punctuation follows Italian norms: no space before a colon or semicolon; 'virgolette' are « » or “ ”; numbers use a comma as decimal separator (3,5) and a full stop for thousands (1.000).

Formal writing avoids contractions and colloquialisms: prefer 'non è possibile' over 'non si può', 'vorrei' over 'voglio', and avoid 'roba', 'un sacco di', 'figo'.

Italy is a republic with a President (Presidente della Repubblica) as head of state and a Prime Minister (Presidente del Consiglio) heading the government; Parliament has two houses, Camera dei Deputati and Senato.

Regional diversity: standard Italian derives from Tuscan; recognised minority languages include German (Alto Adige), French (Valle d'Aosta), Slovenian (Friuli-Venezia Giulia) and Ladin; many regional dialects remain in everyday use.

Key national dates: 25 aprile (Festa della Liberazione), 2 giugno (Festa della Repubblica), 1 maggio (Festa del Lavoro), 15 agosto (Ferragosto), 8 dicembre (Immacolata).

Food culture conventions: 'primo' (pasta/risotto), 'secondo' (meat/fish), 'contorno' (vegetables), 'dolce'; cappuccino is drunk at breakfast, not after a meal; 'in bocca al lupo' is answered 'crepi'.

Gestures carry meaning: pinched fingers upward ('ma che vuoi?'), hand under chin ('non me ne importa'), and the 'corna' gesture are culture-specific and not literal translations of words.

Education and society: 'liceo' (classico/scientifico/linguistico), 'istituto tecnico', 'università'; 'laurea triennale' (three years) and 'laurea magistrale' (two years); 'maturità' is the final upper-secondary exam.

Geography basics: 20 regions, of which five have special autonomous status (Sicilia, Sardegna, Trentino-Alto Adige, Valle d'Aosta, Friuli-Venezia Giulia); capital Rome; major cities include Milano, Napoli, Torino, Firenze, Venezia.

Formality and titles: 'Dottore/Dottoressa' for graduates, 'Ingegnere', 'Avvocato', 'Professore'; 'Lei' capitalised in polite written correspondence is a recognised convention.