Studying for an Italian Language Certificate (The CEL/CIC/DILS-PG)

Certificates in Italian language skills aren’t as widespread as those of other languages, but they are still an excellent way to broaden your curriculum and demonstrate your level of Italian.

If you’re already studying for one of these certificates, you’ve surely realized the best ways for you to study or if you’re doing them properly. If you would like some background information on the exams or some advice to get the most out of your study sessions, we invite you to read the following.

Studying for an Italian Language Certificate (The CEL/CIC/DILS-PG)

The Various Italian Language Certificates:

– Before we go on, we’ll fill you in the different types of certificates so you can get an idea of which one best suits you.

CELI (Certificates for the Italian Language): This certificate is targeted at educated adults. It’s composed of six levels going from basic, CELI Impatto (CELI 1) to the most advanced, CELI 5 (c2). The Certificato di Conoscenza della Lingua Italiana covers general Italian language proficiency.

CIC (Certificazione dell’italiano commerciale): These exams are geared for Italian speakers who work, or  who want to work, in a corporate environment and need to have proof of specialized Italian language knowledge. There are two levels for this one: The Intermediate CIC and the Advanced CIC- C1.
DILS-PG (Roughly the equivalent of the TOEFL exam): This certificate is for current or prospective instructors wishing to teach Italian to students as a second language.

Our Advice on Studying for an Italian Language Certificate:

– Once you know which exam you need to pursue, it’s important to know your current level. To find this out, I suggest connecting with an institution or university which teaches Italian and offers a proficiency exam to determine your level. If you’re a current student, be sure to check with your school or university first!

– Another important factor is knowing the exams’ enrollment periods. By visiting this link, you can obtain information on locations in which you can take the exam. You can also view the full exam schedule for 2015.

-The next step is where the real work begins: studying and preparing to get your certificate. Luckily, there a plenty of books for each level of each certificate. In any bookstore that has language learning materials, you can ask for a specific book to prepare for the CELI, CIC or the DLS-PG. Also, you can check your public libraries. Some books come with a CD, making this route even more useful and easier to practice for your Italian language certificate.

– Try downloading a sample exam from the year before. You can choose the best one according to your current level and the exact certificate in Italian you are going for.

– Another helpful choice is downloading our application to learn Italian. Thanks to our memorization system, you can improve your vocabulary and practice through the dialogues that come included.

– If you would like to practice Italian in your free time, don’t hesitate to read our articles on the best movies, tv series and podcasts to practice Italian. We also have a page devoted to free resources to learn Italian, which will direct you to books and other tools for practicing the language.

– For more information about Italian language certificates, head over to the CVCL‘s website, the institution that regulates Italian language certificates.

We hope this article has been helpful and wish you happy learning! If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to talk to us in the comments section, and we’ll do our best to help you.

Thanks for reading!