Prepare for the Italian IT EXAM with this guide
Italian is the mother tongue of more than 63 million people and is the official or co-official language in 6 countries in Europe. Find out below what the Italian IT certificate consists of and how to obtain it.
What is the IT Italian exam and who is it for?
The IT exam is a diploma that guarantees knowledge of the Italian language as a second language. The University of Roma Tres is the institution that certifies this title, together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, which is in charge of applying, administering and qualifying the certification tests.
The exam is divided into five levels according to the classification of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR): A1, A2, B1, B2 and C2.
The IT exams are designed for foreign students who must present the certificate as a requirement to obtain a residence permit (A2), as well as applicants to study at an Italian university (B2), and foreign Italian teachers or workers who work in fields Italians (C2).
Structure, duration and content of the Italian IT exams
The A1 . This is the first of the exams according to the CEFR levels, which certifies basic skills in Italian as a second language. It is divided into three parts that must be done in a single session:
1- Basic oral comprehension (listening).
2- Comprehension and creation of basic written Italian texts (reading and writing).
3- Oral expression through a short interview (speaking).
It is designed for beginners (at the 'contact' level) for those who are beginning to learn this language and are able to understand and use familiar everyday expressions to meet specific needs. Its duration is 2 hours, plus 5 minutes of interview.
The cost is around 750 Mexican pesos. Exam sessions are in spring (May / June) and fall (September / November).
The A2. It is the second of the exams according to the CEFR levels, which certifies the basic competences of the Italian language as a second language. It is also divided into three parts that must be done in a single session:
1- Comprehension of brief oral communicative exchanges (listening).
2- Understanding and producing the most frequent uses of written Italian (reading and writing).
3- Short interview (talk).
It is designed for beginners who are beginning to learn Italian and are capable of maintaining communication in simple and common activities, whether foreigners who must certify their knowledge as a requirement for the residence application, or for those who want to study in schools or educational institutes Italian top coming soon.
It lasts approximately 2 hours, plus 5 minutes for the short interview. Registration for the A2 exam has a cost of approximately 850 Mexican pesos.
The B1. It is the third of the exams according to the CEFR levels. Certifies the linguistic knowledge of Italian as a second language. This test is divided into four parts that must be presented in a single session:
1- Comprehension of oral texts (listen).
2- Comprehension of short written texts (read and write).
3- Understanding of the uses of the Italian language in everyday communicative contexts and production of simple and short written texts (Uses of Italian).
4- Face-to-face communication (talk).
The B1 - Cert.it is an evaluation designed for those who are learning Italian and have achieved initial independence in various situations, for those who aspire to apply for Italian citizenship, and foreigners who work or want to work in an Italian context.
It lasts 2 hours and 30 minutes, plus 10 minutes for the conversation test.
The B1 - cert.it exam costs around 1700 Mexican pesos.
The B2. Also known as Livello B2 according to the CEFR, it is the fourth of the intermediate proficiency exams in Italian as a second language. It is divided into four parts:
1- Comprehension of oral texts (listen).
2- Comprehension of short written texts (read).
3- Production of short written texts for formal and informal contexts (writing).
4- Face-to-face conversation (short interview).
It is designed for those who have achieved good communicative autonomy, for students who want to enter an Italian university, and for foreigners who work or want to work in an Italian context.
Listening and reading tests must be taken in the same exam session. If not all skills are taken or passed, it is possible to capitalize on passed skills within one year of passing the first skill. The certificate will only be issued when the candidate has passed all skills.
The test lasts 3 hours, plus 10 minutes for conversation.
The approximate costs vary according to the test: 1700 Mexican pesos for the comprehension and reading tests, 650 for the text production, 650 for the conversation test. In total 3000 pesos approximately
The C2. It is the exam that grants the certificate of Italian as a second language and is divided into five parts:
1- Comprehension of oral texts (listen).
2- Comprehension of written texts (read).
3- Uses and forms of Italian (Analytical knowledge of the morphosyntactic system and the uses of the Italian language).
4- Written expression (composition of written texts).
5- Oral expression (production of oral texts).
The C2 - cert.it is an exam designed for those who have reached advanced linguistic proficiency in Italian, university students, non-Italian teachers of Italian, and foreigners working in an Italian context.
The exam lasts according to the type of test: oral comprehension (40 minutes), reading comprehension (90 minutes), uses and forms of Italian (90 minutes), written expression (90 minutes), oral expression (15 minutes).
The cost for the C2 exam varies according to the tests to be taken, each one costs around 850 pesos and in total they can add up to 4,250 Mexican pesos on average.
Recommended bibliography
- «Nuova grammatica pratica della lingua italiano», by Susanna Nocchi. For foreign students from level A2 to B2.
- «I verbi italiani». Recommended for studying verb tenses and modes, very useful for foreign students who want to reinforce grammar.
In addition to this basic information about the IT exam to obtain an Italian degree , it is convenient to know that the evaluations are carried out several times a year at the Ateneo Linguistic Center of the University of Roma Tres and at other official institutions. In other countries they are held in the Institutes of Italian Culture.