Welcome to the Italian Department at Schiller-Gymnasium!

We are a small but distinguished department that enjoys great popularity among students starting their elective courses from Grade 8 onwards.

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This comes as no surprise as Italian is a language of art, culture and music – melodic, captivating, and inspiring. When you step into the department’s classroom, you are surrounded by photos of Italy, souvenirs from exchange trips, and student-created posters on various topics, so it’s easy to feel (almost) like you’re in Italy.
Students who choose to learn Italian don’t just gain skills in another foreign language, they also develop their overall linguistic intuition. It’s a joy to see how, in our Italian classes, connections to other familiar languages, particularly French, are naturally established. Students quickly recognize linguistic similarities and differences, using them to accelerate their mastery of Italian.
Our focus from the very first year is on speaking, ensuring students feel confident in using the language from the start. Beyond the classroom, exciting extracurricular activities, such as our annual student exchange or even longer school stays in Italy, offer students incredible opportunities to fully immerse themselves in both the Italian language and culture.

Italian is offered as an elective subject (3rd foreign language) from Grade 8 with three lessons per week. Students typically reach a level of proficiency that enables them to speak freely about simple topics in Italian.
Many students choose to continue Italian in upper secondary school as a basic course. Italian can be selected as a written or oral examination subject (3rd/4th PK), a special learning achievement (BLL), or a presentation examination (5th PK) on a topic related to Italy and a suitable reference subject.

• a large selection of different textbooks, which usually can be borrowed.
• a pleasant learning atmosphere in the department’s classroom.
• approximately 20 students in introductory classes, with small class sizes continuing into the upper grades.
• a one-week exchange program in Grade 10 with the Europa-Gymnasium Foscarini in Venice (www.liceofoscarini.it)
• the chance for individual students to participate in multi-month exchanges at partner schools in Verona, Venice, or Padua.
• an impressive selection of Italian books for the middle and upper school, which can be used in class or borrowed individually by students.
• a wide range of media (music, DVD, Internet) to make lessons more engaging and bring Italian culture to life.
• opportunities to enrich Italian lessons through Berlin‘s cultural offerings, such as theater and opera visits (Italian Theatre Autumn), Italian-language films (Italian pre-Christmas cinema visit to Babylon), visits to exhibitions and participation in events hosted by the Italian Cultural Institute (IIC) and the Italian Embassy.

We look forward to welcoming you to our department!