AIL organizes preparation courses for passing Italian language exams at the Italian language school Scuola Leonardo da Vinci.

Florence, Tuscany -- (SBWire) -- 03/06/2012 --Accademia Italiana di Lingua (AIL) is a professional association of schools, institutions and experts in the field of teaching Italian as a foreign language. The association guarantees its members high standards of education and represents a variety of institutions in Italy and abroad. Its main office is located in Florence, Italy.

The Accademia Italiana di Lingua issues the first certificate of modern Italian that effectively tests the language skills of the candidates. The exams in written and spoken Italian cover various ability levels and are scheduled four times a year in each of the centers of Scuola Leonardo da Vinci – Rome, Milan, Florence and Siena.

AIL offers a wide choice of examinations (respectively diplomas) reflecting the very different students’ needs and skills. AIL certificates (Diploma di Lingua Italiana Firenze) include both basic exams for those beginning to learn Italian and advanced certificates for those who already have fluency. The AIL exams are internationally recognized by schools and institutions (such as Bildungsurlaub program, Germany) as proof of ability to use Italian. These certificates never expire and do not require to be renewed — they are an achievement for a lifetime.

All AIL exams are aligned with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, an internationally recognized benchmark of language ability. The framework uses six levels to describe language ability from A1 to C2. Once passed one of our exams, there is a clear pathway ahead as your abilities and confidence improve. AIL tests are also based on real language skills, such as writing a complaint letter or understanding a radio announcement, which give confidence in using Italian in real situations.

Scuola Leonardo da Vinci offers five out of six general Italian language exams:

DELI (A2): by passing this Italian language examination, the candidate shows he/she’s able to understand the main structures of the Italian language and read simple texts and communicate in elementary everyday situations.

DILI (B1): by passing this Italian language examination, the candidate shows that he/she’s able to communicate, both orally and in writing, in all everyday situations, such as conversations concerning topics of everyday life. The candidate shows also to be able to take part in such conversations and to understand texts dealing with these topics, expressing also his/her own written opinion.

DILC (B1) Business: by passing this Italian language examination, the candidate is able to take an active part in everyday conversations, to understand articles of a general business content and to write about topics of a general business content. The AIL DILC - B1 Examination has been recognized by the UFFT (Swiss Federal Office for professional Education and Technology) as final Exam of Italian as second national language for all the professional and commercial schools of Helvetic Confederation.

DILI (B2): by passing this Italian language examination, the candidate shows to be able to interact, both in oral and written way, on common elaborate subjects that are familiar to the candidate. It is an upper-intermediate level, the ideal exam for students who wish to use Italian especially for study purposes (i.e. attending courses in an Italian university).

DALI (C1): by passing this examination, the candidate shows that his/her knowledge of Italian language enables him/her to express correctly, both in speaking and writing, with the complexity expected of everyday language skills. In addition, the candidate can understand and compose written texts.

DALC (C1) Business: by passing this exam, the candidate shows the ability to communicate in any situation requiring a strong knowledge of business Italian; correspondence, public relations, specialized literature, secretarial work, business meetings, etc.

DALI (C2): by passing this examination, the candidate shows that he/she understands with ease virtually everything heard or read in Italian. He/she can summarize information from different spoken and written sources, reconstructing arguments and accounts in a coherent presentation. The candidate can express himself/herself spontaneously, fluently and precisely, with finer shades of meaning even in more complex situations.

The Preparation Course for all levels of exams lasts four weeks and is held four times a year in all the Scuola Leonardo da Vinci centres - Rome, Florence, Siena and Milan.

The last day of each Preparation course is the actual exam. The total number of lessons during the four weeks is 120 (30 lessons per week). From Monday to Friday 4 lessons (Standard course) help candidates to improve their general knowledge of Italian language and 2 lessons are specially focused on mock examinations, exam drills and such. The Preparation Course for all levels with exam fee included costs 1,345 Euros.

Preparation course dates AIL Certificates in 2012:

05 Mar – 30 Mar
04 Jun – 29 Jun
03 Sep – 28 Sep
12 Nov – 07 Dec

Candidates who wish to take just the exam, can submit their applications 30 days before each exam date in the corresponding centre where they wish to be tested together with the examination fee which depends on the level:

DILI B2 - 105 euros
DALI C1 / DALC C1 - 125 euros
DALI C2 - 125 euros
DELI A2 - 85 euros
DILI B1 / DILC B1 - 105 euros.

The examinations are standardized and carried out according to the Examination Regulations of the Accademia Italiana di Lingua (AIL), on the basis of the tasks as developed by the AIL Expert Commission. The examinations are valued according to objective criteria with maximum scoring 100 points. A successfully-passed exam is considered when the candidate has achieved at least 60% of the total scoring:

100-90% = A (Excellent)