AP Italian

AP Italian Language and Culture

Read, listen, argue, and present in Italian, from family life in Napoli to climate policy in the Alps.

Category: World languages
Units: 6 units
Exam: Exam May 3, 2027 (in 218 days)

Unit 1 is free with an account. No card, no trial clock.

What the course covers

An upper-intermediate course taught entirely in Italian, organized around six themes: Families and Communities, Language and Culture, Art and Creativity, Science and Technology, Contemporary Life, and Global Contexts. You build interpretive skill with authentic articles, charts, literary excerpts, ads, interviews, and audio reports, then speak and write for real audiences. The revised exam (first given in May 2027, fully digital in Bluebook) adds a year-long course project: you research a cultural topic released in January, deliver a 3-minute Project Presentation, and answer 4 unseen questions in a Project Q&A. You also write a source-based Argumentative Essay and answer 55 multiple-choice questions in listening and reading sets. Every unit trains the move the readers reward most: explaining how Italian cultural products and practices reflect cultural perspectives.

6 units

Unit 1
Families and Communities
Free
Famiglie e comunità. What counts as family in Italian-speaking societies, how family values and daily routines are changing, and how neighborhoods, towns, and volunteer networks hold communities together. Interpretive focus: finding supporting details (1.A.1) and the main idea or purpose (1.B.1) in audio with charts, articles, and promotional material. Speaking focus: first steps toward the Project Presentation and Project Q&A (grammar and vocabulary range, circumlocution, self-correction, pronunciation, expressing opinions). CED pacing: about 19-21 class periods.
4 topics
1. 1.1Community Activities (Iniziative nella comunità)
2. 1.2Family Relationships (Rapporti familiari)
3. 1.3Social Interactions and Relationships (Interazioni e rapporti sociali)
4. 1.4Urban and Rural Communities (Comunità urbane e rurali)
Unit 2
Language and Culture
Lingua e cultura. How language and culture shape each other: regional dialects and standard Italian, holidays and customs, and the Italian language beyond Italy (Switzerland, San Marino, emigrant communities, learners worldwide). Interpretive focus: intended audience (1.B.2) and point of view, tone, or attitude (1.B.3) in audio reports, articles with charts, and literary texts. Writing focus: a first, two-source version of the Argumentative Essay (thesis plus relevant evidence). CED pacing: about 19-21 class periods.
3 topics
1. 2.1Customs and Celebrations (Tradizioni, costumi e festività)
2. 2.2Linguistics (Linguistica)
3. 2.3Italian in the World (Italiano nel mondo)
Unit 3
Art and Creativity
Arte e creatività. How art and creativity shape daily life, record history, and both challenge and reflect cultural perspectives: architecture, heritage, beauty, fashion and design, literature, and the visual and performing arts. For 2026-27 the course project is drawn from this unit and uses music as its lens, so this is the unit that most directly prepares the exam-day Project Presentation and Project Q&A. Interpretive focus: data points and trends (1.A.2) and organizational or rhetorical strategies (1.B.4). Speaking focus: idioms, register, pacing and intonation, research, cohesive devices, and describing products, practices, and perspectives. CED pacing: about 19-21 class periods.
6 topics
1. 3.1Architecture (Architettura)
2. 3.2Artistic Heritage (Patrimonio artistico)
3. 3.3Beauty and Aesthetics (Bellezza ed estetica)
4. 3.4Fashion and Design (Moda e design)
5. 3.5Literature (Letteratura)
6. 3.6Visual and Performing Arts (Arti visive e dello spettacolo)
Unit 4
Science and Technology
Scienza e tecnologia. What drives innovation and discovery, how technology changes communication, and the social impact of scientific advances, from Italian research and industry to screens in daily life. Interpretive focus: meaning of words from textual cues (1.B.5) and connecting information within or across sources (1.C.1), with instructional guidance, interviews, presentations, and articles with charts. Writing focus: the Argumentative Essay scaffolded toward full exam complexity (integrating evidence, citing every source, organizing around claims). CED pacing: about 19-21 class periods.
4 topics
1. 4.1Innovations and Emerging Technologies (Innovazioni e tecnologie emergenti)
2. 4.2Personal Technology and Communication (Tecnologia personale e comunicazione)
3. 4.3Science in Everyday Life (Scienza nella vita quotidiana)
4. 4.4Societal Impacts of Science and Technology (Impatto sociale della scienza e della tecnologia)
Unit 5
Contemporary Life
Vita contemporanea. How daily life in Italian-speaking communities has changed in the last twenty years and how values and traditions still shape it: school and work, media and entertainment, food and health, pop culture, sport and leisure, travel and tourism. Interpretive focus: synthesizing to draw conclusions (1.C.2) and inferring implied meaning (1.C.3), including interviews with several speakers. Speaking focus: the full Project Presentation and Project Q&A skill set, including comparing cultures and reflecting on the significance of products and practices. CED pacing: about 19-21 class periods.
6 topics
1. 5.1Education and Career (Istruzione e carriera)
2. 5.2Entertainment and Media (Intrattenimento e media)
3. 5.3Food and Health (Alimentazione e salute)
4. 5.4Pop Culture (Cultura pop)
5. 5.5Sports and Leisure (Sport e tempo libero)
6. 5.6Travel and Tourism (Viaggi e turismo)
Unit 6
Global Contexts
Contesti globali. How global phenomena affect Italian-speaking communities and how individuals respond: communication across borders, the natural world and climate, history and memory, public policy and planning, and transportation. The capstone unit: every interpretive learning objective is in play with audio reports, presentations, and articles with charts, and students write a full three-source Argumentative Essay at exam level. CED pacing: about 19-21 class periods.
5 topics
1. 6.1Global Communication (Comunicazione globale)
2. 6.2Natural World (Mondo naturale)
3. 6.3History (Storia)
4. 6.4Policy and Planning (Strategie e pianificazione)
5. 6.5Transportation (Trasporti)

The exam, part by part

4 parts, 2 h 30 min in all.

Exam parts with questions, time, weight, and calculator policy
Part	Questions	Time	Weight	Calculator
Section I, Part A: Speaking (Project Presentation and Project Q&A) Format details Task types: Project Presentation, Project Q&A The exam opens with the free-response section. Question 1, Project Presentation (20% of the score): 3 minutes to prepare, then a 3-minute recorded presentation on the January project prompt, supported by the student's Personalized Project Reference. Question 2, Project Q&A (15%): a recorded interlocutor asks 4 questions the student has not seen; each question is heard twice and the student has 40 seconds to answer each. The CED times the whole speaking part at about 15 minutes. Responses are recorded in Bluebook with a wired headset and microphone.	2	15 min	35%	Not applicable
Section I, Part B: Writing (Argumentative Essay) Format details Task types: Argumentative Essay One essay for a college-course audience that takes and defends a position using all three sources (print and audio, typically an audio source, an article, and a chart). The 55 minutes include two plays of the audio; a 6-minute countdown before the audio lets students read the instructions and written sources first. Typed in Bluebook, so accented letters must be entered correctly.	1	55 min	15%	Not applicable
Section II, Part A: Listening Format details Five 5-question sets, one of each task type: Audio and Chart, Audio Report, Instructional Guidance, Interview, and Presentation. Each set has an Italian introduction that states the topic, the source, and who is speaking. Four answer choices (A-D), all in Italian. Sets may appear in any order.	25	40 min	25%	Not applicable
Section II, Part B: Reading Format details Six 5-question sets drawn from four task types: Article, Article and Chart, Literary Text, and Promotional Material (1-2 sets of each; the mix varies by year but always totals 30 questions). Four answer choices (A-D), all in Italian. Sets may appear in any order.	30	40 min	25%	Not applicable

Section I, Part A: Speaking (Project Presentation and Project Q&A)
Questions
2
Time
15 min
Weight
35%
Format details
Task types: Project Presentation, Project Q&A
The exam opens with the free-response section. Question 1, Project Presentation (20% of the score): 3 minutes to prepare, then a 3-minute recorded presentation on the January project prompt, supported by the student's Personalized Project Reference. Question 2, Project Q&A (15%): a recorded interlocutor asks 4 questions the student has not seen; each question is heard twice and the student has 40 seconds to answer each. The CED times the whole speaking part at about 15 minutes. Responses are recorded in Bluebook with a wired headset and microphone.
Section I, Part B: Writing (Argumentative Essay)
Questions
1
Time
55 min
Weight
15%
Format details
Task types: Argumentative Essay
One essay for a college-course audience that takes and defends a position using all three sources (print and audio, typically an audio source, an article, and a chart). The 55 minutes include two plays of the audio; a 6-minute countdown before the audio lets students read the instructions and written sources first. Typed in Bluebook, so accented letters must be entered correctly.
Section II, Part A: Listening
Questions
25
Time
40 min
Weight
25%
Format details
Five 5-question sets, one of each task type: Audio and Chart, Audio Report, Instructional Guidance, Interview, and Presentation. Each set has an Italian introduction that states the topic, the source, and who is speaking. Four answer choices (A-D), all in Italian. Sets may appear in any order.
Section II, Part B: Reading
Questions
30
Time
40 min
Weight
25%
Format details
Six 5-question sets drawn from four task types: Article, Article and Chart, Literary Text, and Promotional Material (1-2 sets of each; the mix varies by year but always totals 30 questions). Four answer choices (A-D), all in Italian. Sets may appear in any order.

How the 1 to 5 score is set

The exam is about 2 hours 30 minutes and fully digital in Bluebook. Section I (free response, 3 questions, 50%) weights the Project Presentation at 20%, the Project Q&A at 15%, and the Argumentative Essay at 15%; the two project questions together (20 rubric points) are 35% of the score. Section II (multiple choice, 55 questions, 50%) weights Listening (25 questions) and Reading (30 questions) at 25% each. Multiple-choice answers are scored by computer with no penalty for wrong answers; the free responses are scored by AP Readers on analytic rubrics (11, 9, and 10 points). The weighted section scores form a composite that is converted to the 1-5 AP scale using criterion-referenced cut points set each year.

What you bring and get

Fully digital exam in the Bluebook app; students record their spoken answers in Bluebook and need a wired headset with a microphone. During the Project Presentation the student may use their Personalized Project Reference (PPR), a word- or character-limited outline submitted as final through AP Digital Portfolio by April 30, 2027, 11:59 p.m. ET. No dictionaries or reference sheets are provided. Students are encouraged to take notes while listening to the essay audio. Essays are typed, so students should practice entering Italian accented letters (à, è, é, ì, ò, ù) in the digital platform before exam day.

Skills the exam scores

1.ARecognize explicit meaning
Skill Category 1 (Interpretive Communication). Locate the details that support or matter in a text or audio source (1.A.1), and read specific data points, patterns, and trends in charts, tables, and graphs (1.A.2).
1.BInterpret meaning
Skill Category 1. Determine the main idea, theme, or purpose (1.B.1); the intended audience (1.B.2); the point of view, perspective, tone, or attitude (1.B.3); how the source is organized or which rhetorical strategies it uses (1.B.4); and what an unfamiliar word or phrase means from textual cues (1.B.5).
1.CSynthesize and infer meaning
Skill Category 1. Connect information within one source or across two sources (1.C.1), draw logical conclusions by synthesizing what the sources say (1.C.2), and infer what is implied but not stated (1.C.3), including which follow-up question or action would make sense.
2.AUse language that fits the purpose and context
Skill Category 2 (Interpersonal and Presentational Communication). Use a variety of grammatical structures (2.A.1) and vocabulary (2.A.2), idiomatic and culturally relevant expressions (2.A.3), and a register suited to the audience and situation, such as Lei versus tu (2.A.4).
2.BMake communication comprehensible
Skill Category 2. Use circumlocution and paraphrase when a word is missing (2.B.1), monitor output and self-correct while speaking (2.B.2), pronounce clearly for a range of Italian speakers (2.B.3), keep an effective rate of speech and intonation (2.B.4), and follow written conventions such as accents, apostrophes, capitalization, and punctuation (2.B.5).
2.CShare ideas, information, and opinions
Skill Category 2. Express ideas, preferences, and opinions (2.C.1); gather information and evidence through research (2.C.2); use examples to advise, inform, or explain opinions and emotions (2.C.3); integrate information from several sources to build and support a position (2.C.4); and reference and cite sources appropriately (2.C.5).
2.DApply organizational and rhetorical strategies
Skill Category 2. Choose an organizational structure that fits the task, with an introduction, developed body, and conclusion (2.D.1), and connect ideas with a variety of cohesive devices such as relative pronouns, pronoun reference, conjunctions, and transitions (2.D.2).
3.AMake connections within and across cultures
Skill Category 3 (Cultural Understanding). Describe cultural products, practices, and perspectives (3.A.1); compare them across distinct communities (3.A.2); and reflect on their significance, explaining how a perspective is expressed in a product or practice (3.A.3).