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Day 23 Premium

University, up close. up close

Day 4 got you onto campus and through the segreteria. Today you go inside the academic life: building your piano di studi with CFU credits, asking a professor a question in class and over email, surviving the exam sessions (the famous voto out of 30 — and 30 e lode), and organising group work in the library. This is the Italian university most international students only half-understand — by tonight you'll speak its language.

Estimated time25 minutesGoalNavigate Italian academic life — courses, professors, exams and group work — in confident Italian
Day 23 · 4 focused lessons

Your four lessons today

  1. Enrolling in courses

    Build your Italian study plan and talk about it.

    Start lesson 18–10 min
    Enrolling in courses
  2. Talking to professors8–10 min
  3. Exams & grades8–10 min
  4. Group work & library8–10 min
India bridge

Stay formal with professors, like with a senior teacher in India

An Italian professor stays on Lei (formal 'you') however young or friendly — much like the respect you'd give a senior teacher or guru in India. Use 'scusi' (not 'scusa'), open emails with 'Gentile Professore', and soften every request with the conditional: 'vorrei' (I would like) not 'voglio' (I want). And watch the false friend: 'biblioteca' is the library where you study, while 'libreria' is the bookshop where you buy — the opposite of what the English word suggests.

Open Day 23 cheat sheet 1-page PDF
Next upDay 24 — Getting things done: the imperative