Preparatory course for the CILS exam

Get the CILS with us!

This course has been especially created to prepare students to pass the CILS (Certificate in Italian as a second language) exam from the University for foreigners of Siena.

Individual lessons will allow you to

● train trough exercises and practice tests
● become more familiar with the particular methods needed for the CILS exam
● concentrate on the areas you have most difficulty.

The Course"MC" is planned in the following way:

25 lessons a week (20 group hours and 5 individual hours a week)
5 lessons a day
Hours: group lessons 09.00- 13.00 (Pisa) / 09.00- 12.15 (Viareggio) Individual lessons 14.00-15.00

The Course"SC" is planned in the following way:

30 lessons a week (20 group hours + 10 individual hours a week)
6 lessons a day
Times group lessons 09.00- 13.00 (Pisa) / 09.00-12.15 (Viareggio) Individual lessons 14.00-16.00

CILS Exam

The Istituto Linguistico Mediterraneo is a center recognized by the University for foreigners of Siena and offers preparation courses for the CILS exam.
In the morning students will follow lessons focused on

the guidelines of the CILS exam
the Common European Framework for Languages

In the afternoon students have individual lessons having the opportunity to practice exams from previous years.

Moreover learners can

work together with a teacher on the areas where they have most difficulties
highlight problems before facing the exam
contact the school before enrolling for the exam

CILS - Certificate of Italian as a second language

CILS is an official qualification recognized by the Italian state thanks of an agreement with the foreign ministry. This document shows a students ability in the Italian language.

The CILS certificate is useful for

those who want to do further study
those who has professional contacts with Italy
those who would like to measure their own language skills.

The different levels of the certificate attest a certain ability to communicate in Italian in different situations and contexts.

More detailed information can be found in the document "Sistema coordinato delle Certificazioni dell'italiano per Stranieri, Roma, 1998".

The "CILS" centre of the University for Foreigners in Siena

The certificate has been drawn up and carried out at the CILS centre, a centre for research and service of the University for foreigners of Siena.
You will discover that

all the office staff are highly qualified for both the theoretical and practical uses of the language as well as for teaching,
The office keeps in contact with other universities and associations like ILTA, (International Language Testing Association); EALTA, (European Language Testing Association) and with native and foreign professors who are highly qualified in the field of linguistics and communication,
all these elements assure you that the test is always at the highest level.

The different levels of the CILS certificate

The different levels of the CILS certificate have been determined on the basis of the Common European Framework for Languages and they work in this way:

The different levels determine certain linguistic and communicative skills
The certificate of each level confirms the ability to communicate appropriately in a specific social and professional environment.

The following ones are the different levels established by the Common European Framework for Languages and the corresponding level of the CILS certificate:

Level established by the Common European Framework for Languages		Level of the certificate CILS
Basic	A1 A2	CILS A1 CILS A2
Medium	B1 B2	CILS UNO- B1 CILS DUE- B2
Advanced	C1 C2	CILS TRE- C1 CILS QUATTRO- C2

Level A1 and A2

Level A1 and A2 are for beginners who are at the initial steps in learning the Italian language,
Level A1 testifies the initial process of the linguistic acquisition,
Level A2 testifies an initial, but still not autonomous ability to communicate.

Exams A1 and A2 have a modular structure to suit the different starting points of the pupils:

There are tests for foreign adults living in Italy,
for adults whose mother tongue is completely different from the structure of Italian language like Japanese, etc,
for children and teenagers of Italians who have emigrated.

Level UNO- B1

Level UNO- B1 determines basic skills:

This level testifies the ability to communicate appropriately and autonomously during the most frequent situations in everyday life.

Level DUE- B2

Level DUE- B2 is the medium level of the linguistic and communicative ability acquisition.
This level

testifies a higher ability of the fundamental use of the Italian language
allows the student to continue to improve communication in everyday life
allows learners to effectively communicate during their stay in Italy.

Thanks to this certificate, students who don't belong to the European Union can directly enrol in an Italian University without having to pass a language test.

Level TRE- C1

Level TRE- C1 testifies a higher linguistic and communicative ability acquisition.

This level

enables the extension of linguistic and communicative abilities
allows the student to successfully communicate in everyday life contexts
allows learners to speak correctly even in formal and professional situations

Level QUATTRO- C2

Level QUATTRO- C2 is the advanced level of the linguistic and communicative skills acquisition.

This level

aims at widen the previously acquired linguistic and communicative skills
allows the student to perfectly communicate both in personal and professional situations
is required for professors at Universities and interpreters at consulates.

Enrolment

All foreigners and Italians living abroad can enrol for the CILS exam:

There is no age limit or any other conditions
For the higher levels it is not required to have already passed an exam of a lower level.

Exam and valuation

In order to obtain a certificate of one of the six levels it is necessary to pass the exam:

This examination consists of five individual tests.
The duration of these tests depends on the corresponding level of the exam.

The five individual tests are the following ones:

Listening to a text (student listen to a text on a cassette and than they have to answer questions on that text in written form),
grammar test,
understanding of a text (students have to read a text and to answer questions on that text in written form),
written and stylistic skills (there will be a choice of about 3 topics; you will have to choose one topic and write about it),
communicative skills (there will be a choice of about 3 topics; you will have to choose one topic and speak about it).

In order to obtain the CILS certificate a student has to get at least 11 out of the 20 possible marks for each section.

If the student doesn't obtain the necessary marks in only some of the five sections, it is not necessary to repeat the whole exam: it is enough to repeat just the part of the exam that the student did not pass.

The section that has been not passed by the student have to be repeated within one year.

How can you enrol for the exam?

The exam takes either place at the University of Siena or at another institution which has a corresponding agreement with that University.
Required papers are:

the enrolment form
a copy of your identity card

40 days before the date of the exam, you have to send these papers to the following address.

University of Siena, Via Pantaneto, 45 - 53100 Siena

A fee has to be paid at the place where you will take the exam
Those candidates, who have already taken the exam having only passed parts of it, have to pay just the corresponding amount of the fee.

What you have to know is this:

the fee will not be refunded
in specifically documented cases (such as health or grave family reasons), the examination fee can be postponed to the following date of the exam.

Dates of the exam

The CILS exam takes place twice a year
it take places simultaneously all around the world
The CILS exam can be done at the beginning of June and at the beginning of December.

For further informations please contact:

Istituto Linguistico Mediterraneo Via Cesare Battisti 3- 56100 PISA Tel. +39 050 500399 Fax +39 050 48157

http://www.ilm.it

info@ilm.it

or:

Università per Stranieri di Siena Centro Certificazione CILS Via Sallustio Bandini 35 - 53100 SIENA Tel +39 0577240467 Fax +39 0577240461
Sito http://www.unistrasi.it/pages/1.asp?cod=2681
e-mail: cils@unistrasi.it

Look at the Calendar for all course's dates. Click here