I have prepared a pdf file with all the Italian words and phrases you’ll find in this post. You can find it in Your Italian Toolbox, a section of Instantly Italy where you’ll find Italian learning materials. You can get access to it by subscribing here.
It’s September and school is about to start again, here in Italy.
The air is getting chillier and everybody is getting ready for a new school season, you can really feel it in the air even if you have no kids. It’s that time of the year when you wish your only thought was to go to the nearest stationery store and buy all you need for the new year.
Unfortunately, most of us have to work and take care of all our daily responsibilities but I thought that this time of the year and its back-to-school feeling could be a very good inspiration to learn some Italian school vocabulary. You might not be in school anymore, but you may need to talk about it sometimes, won’t you?
This is why this blog post is all about Italian words and phrases that are related to school. Moreover, as I always do with this kind of posts, I have created a pdf file containing all the Italian vocabulary mentioned in the post, so that you can download it and keep it for future reference.
As usual, you will find the file inside Your Italian Toolbox, the private page on my site where I upload all Italian language study material. You can get access to the page by subscribing to my newsletter, which by the way is full of more stuff about Italy and Italian culture – and language, of course!
But it’s time to focus on some Italian school vocabulary now!
September has arrived and it’s time to go back to school (ritornare a scuola). Here in Italy, school begins again sometime in September but the exact date changes every year and is different from region to region. I have just checked the school calendar (calendario scolastico) for Liguria, my region, and it says that school this year will begin on September 16th to end on June 10th.
After school begins, students (studenti) have to wait until Christmas to have some proper holidays (vacanze di Natale). Usually, kids are at home from school from the 23rd of December until the 7th of January. Then, the next holidays are at Easter, when the kids usually get a week off or so. Something that kids really look forward to is the annual school trip (gita scolastica), which can be just a day trip or can last longer and which usually takes place in spring.
Each school has the opportunity to choose some more holidays during the school year (anno scolastico). Some schools close for a week after the end of the first term (it is usually called quadrimestre, as it lasts four months) for what is called fermo didattico. Some others organize what is called a settimana didattica alternativa, which is a week during which students attend some types of courses that are different from their usual ones.
In Italy, kids begin school when they are 6 years old. They go to elementary school (scuola elementare, now called scuola primaria), which lasts five years. In that school, they have three different teachers (maestro) who rotate in the classroom (classe), which has usually around 20 pupils (allievi or scolari).
Before going to elementary school, kids may attend kindergarten or preschool. In Italy, the official way of calling it is scuola dell’infanzia, but it is most commonly referred to as scuola materna or asilo. Those schools can be public or private and parents (genitori) can choose the ones they prefer. In very busy areas, popular schools may have a waiting list (lista d’attesa) for new pupils.
After elementary school, kids go to middle school (officially called scuola secondaria inferiore but commonly referred to as scuola media). Middle school lasts three years. Each student belongs to a classroom, which he or she shares with other 25 students or so. Those students will be his schoolmates (compagni di scuola) for all three years of school. He or she might lose schoolmates if someone must repeat a year (ripetere l’anno or essere bocciato) or get new ones if someone has failed the year before (ripetente).
As I said, in middle school the students go daily to the same classroom, where they spend five hours every morning. Actually, we used to go to school five hours daily from Monday to Saturday, but I think that nowadays students attend lessons in the afternoon and don’t go to school on Saturday anymore. The bell rings (la campanella suona) at 8.20 every morning, lessons (lezioni) last 50 minutes each and after three hours there is a break (intervallo). Kids who stay for the afternoon might go and eat in the school canteen (mensa scolastica) or go back home for lunch (tornare a casa per pranzo).
Students in middle school have more or less 10 different professors (professori), who rotate in the classroom to teach kids standard subjects (materie) like Italian, Maths (matematica), History (storia), a foreign language (lingua straniera), Geography (geografia), Sciences (scienze), Music (musica), Arts (arte), Physical Education (educazione fisica) and Tecnology (tecnologia).
In Italy, school is mandatory (obbligatoria) until 16 years old, so kids must attend (frequentare) two more years of school after middle school. After middle school, students go to high school (officially scuola secondaria superiore, usually just called scuola superiore) and they have a wide choice of schools. In general, there are two big types of school: liceo and istituto tecnico. Usually, liceo is for those kids who want to go to university afterward, while istituto tecnico is for those who just want to get a diploma and look for a job. Both of them last for five years. In addition, there is a wide variety of istituti professionali, where they teach you a specific job or profession.
Liceo is not just one, you have quite a few of them: liceo classico, liceo scientifico, liceo artistico, liceo linguistico, liceo musicale, just to name a few, each of which has a focus on a specific set of subjects. Similarly, there is not just one istituto tecnico but many of them, each one focused on a specific profession or set of subjects. For example, ragioneria is a type of istituto tecnico where they teach you how to become an accountant.
As I said, high school lasts five years and ends with the scariest moment for all Italian students: la maturità. This is the final exam students have to take at the end of their career at school and it is a very scary exam. Tests last more or less a month, with an Italian composition (tema d’italiano) as the first test, a math test (prova di matematica) and a final oral exam (esame orale) covering all subjects of the final year. It is very important because the final mark is vital to be accepted in certain university courses or for certain types of public sector jobs.
But it’s only September now and it’s too early to be scared. September is the time for the nicest activities, which are getting school books (libri di scuola) and choosing all stationery supplies for the new year. The most important choice is the school diary (diario di scuola), the planner you need at school to write down all tasks and important notes, which usually turns into a visual diary of all the things you like and enjoy, with collages, scrapbooks, and notes from your friends.
Other things you need to buy are a pencil case (astuccio), a notebook (quaderno), a ring binder (quaderno ad anelli), pencils (matite), pens (penne), markers (pennarelli) an eraser (gomma da cancellare), a pencil sharpener (temperino), a ruler (righello) and at least an highlighter (evidenziatore). These are all the most important things you need, I think, plus a schoolbag (cartella) or a backpack (zaino).
When I was a kid, in elementary school you needed a smock (grembiule) which was pink for girls and light blue for boys. Even earlier, it used to be black for all pupils with only a pink bow for girls and a blue one for boys. However, I don’t think they are needed anymore nor are uniforms in any case.
But no matter if you go to elementary school or high school, when you come home your parents will always ask you: “Cosa avete fatto a scuola?” or “Com’è andata la scuola?” when you are only willing to forget about it.
But now tell me: is Italian education similar to the one in your country? I’d love to know!
[In order to make this post more useful for you, I have created a downloadable pdf file, so that you can keep it for future reference, and an audio file for pronunciation purposes.
If you want to get it, you simply have to subscribe to my newsletter. By doing so, you will get access to Your Italian Toolbox, a library of Italian-related materials that includes the above-mentioned pdf and audio files as well (you’ll find it in the Miscellaneous section). I hope you’ll find it useful and interesting!]
If you are interested in improving your Italian language skills, I’d suggest you check Chiacchieriamo, your way of chatting with an Italian without moving from home.
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The Italian word istruzione, in its singular form, generally translates as education, schooling or training in English. You can use it to talk about a) the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, generally carried out in school, or b) that which is learned or studied.
It comes from the Latin instructio-onis, a derivative of the verb instruere (to instruct).
Istruzione is a feminine noun, and the plural is istruzioni.
l’istruzione
un’istruzione
le istruzioni
delle istruzioni
Some of the most common types of education include:
- istruzione pubblica = public education
- istruzione privata = private education
- istruzione obbligatoria = compulsory education
- istruzione speciale = special education
- buona istruzione = good education
- cattiva istruzione = poor education
- istruzione elementare = primary education
- istruzione secondaria = secondary education
- istruzione superiore = higher education
L’istruzione superiore non è un privilegio. È un investimento essenziale per il futuro.
Higher education is not a privilege. It is an essential investment for the future.
In its plural form istruzioni, however, the meaning changes to instructions, directions or orders. A few verbs you’ll often see paired with the plural form include:
- ricevere istruzioni = to receive instructions
- dare istruzioni = to give instructions
- attenersi alle istruzioni = to adhere to the instructions
- seguire le istruzioni = to follow the instructions
- fornire istruzioni = to provide instructions
- leggere le istruzioni = to read the instructions
You will also come across the longer istruzioni per l’uso which translates as instructions for use.
Questo articolo fornisce istruzioni dettagliate su come connettersi a una rete Wi-Fi.
This article provides step-by-step instructions on how to connect to a Wi-Fi network.
Finally, in legal terms, istruzione means inquiry whereas in computer terminology, it refers to the code in a programme that defines and carries out an operation.
September is already here and, as everyone knows, school begins and students love it! To celebrete this happy (happy?) event, I’ve decided to provide you, in this video, with a series of expression to use in the school context, perfect for whatever kind of school you want to attend.
Expressions to be used in the School Context
Here’s a list of the essential italian expressions you need to know to talk about school:
- Iscriversi/Immatricolarsi Mollare/abbandonare gli studi means joining an istitution or an organisation by registering one’s name and following the required formalities. The first enrollment of a student to a high school or a university is called immatricolazione. And the person who enrols there for the first time is called matricola (freshman).
- Essere una matricola means being a student in the first year of high school or the first year of university.
- Mollare/Abbandonare gli studi means interrupting studies without completing them.
- Seguire le lezioni – L’orario delle materie means attending different classes following a pre-established timetable, which lists the various subjects you have to attend on different days of the week, hour by hour.
- Assegnare i compiti (insegnante) – Svolgere/Fare i compiti (studente) happens when the teacher assings homework and tell the students what they have to do at home before the next lesson. They then have to follow those instructions, which means they have to do the homework.
- Fare l’appello means calling several people by name, in a set order (mostly alphabetical), to make sure they are present.
- Essere presente/assente: if the student answers with “Present!”, it means that he/she is in class. Otherwise, if he/she has stayed home for any reason, he/she is absent.
- Essere bocciato/promosso: if speaking about a single exam, it means failing it. Not being promoted to the next class (usually because of too low grades) and having to repeat the year means instead flunking out. If, on the other hand, you successfully complete the year and are admitted to the next class, you have passed.
- Essere rimandato: A student can fail one or more subjects (maximum 3) at the end of the year. This means that he/she is not repeating the year, but that there is no grade in those subjects, because he/she will have to take extra exams at the end of the summer, before school starts. If he/she passes those exams, he officially passes, otherwise, he has to repeat.
- Prendere/Beccarsi una nota sul registro: the register log is the notebook in which the teachers write the “history” of the class. Only teachers can fill it out and they have to enter their signatures, the absences, the homework they assign, the work done during the lesson and the general data of the pupils, day by day. There, among other things, warning letters are written. A warning letter is a memo written by the teacher concerning misbehaviour by one or more students. Each warning letter “taken” by the student influences his or her final grade. If a student misbehaves frequently or does something very very serious, he or she may be suspended from school activities for up to 15 days.
- Fare sega/fare filone/marinare la scuola/bigiare means not going to school for a day (or more) without your parents knowing it. It is a problem with the “giustifica” ( a document that the parents have to sign stating that they are aware that their child is absent from school, usually for health or personal reasons). It stops being a problem when you turn 18 years old and you can sing you own “giustifica”.
- Andare alla lavagna means being called by the teacher and having to go to the blackboard to do some excercises that the teacher has assigned.
- Fare il compito in classe means that the whole class, generally once a month, takes written test that helps the teacher cheacking the knowledge that the students have acquired in his subject
- Sostenere un’interrogazione: “interrogazione” is an oral test that takes place once or twice a month for each individual student, during which the teacher asks the student several questions, and he/she has to answer them. No, it is not an interrogation (which is what takes place in a police station with an alleged criminal).
- Fare scena muta means remaining silent, not speaking, not answering the questions asked.
- Assegnare / Ricevere un voto means to give/receive a teacher’s judgment on the student’s performance, written or oral, in his/her subject.
- Diplomarsi, laurearsi means to complete one’s studies at high school (one receives a diploma) or at university (one receives a degree).
- Primo/secondo quadrimestre/semestre refers to the division of the school year into two parts. At school we talk about terms (4-month period), at university we talk about semesters (6-month period). At school you receive a report card at the end of each term. The report card is a document that the school issues to each student which contains the final grades that the student has received in the various subjects, obtained by averaging the various grades collected over the months. The report card of the first term is important but not decisive, it is only a reference point to understand what to concentrate on to avoid repeating the year at the end of the second term.
- Fare il lecchino means behaving in an excessively servile way towards someone, in order to get into their good graces and benefit from them.
- Essere un secchione means studying hard and consistently, without necessarily having any special skills or abilities.
- Copiare durante un compito it means to copy the answers you don’t know by all means and from all possible sources.
- Suggerire a un compagno means offering the answers to a classmate who, during an oral test, doesn’t know them.
- Imparare a memoria means fixing concepts in one’s mind: it is fine for lists, but it is wrong for broader, discursive things. It means learning mechanically, without real, deep understanding, repeating word by word what is written in the book.
- Un 10 per l’impegno means appreciating effort and commitment. However, you hardly ever hear this sentence at school. Even if you are praised for your effort (receiving a good grade), that grade will never be a 10, which is the maximum.
- Buttarsi sui libri / Mettersi sotto means putting in a lot of effort to study. These expressions are often used when you have little time left before an exam or an oral text or at the end of the year and you study a lot because you don’t want to risk repeating the year.
If you want to become a real expert on Italian schools, be sure to check out our video about the Italian school system.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:51 — 29.2MB)
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