'Italian for Gamers' Holds First Gaming Session in World Languages & Digital Humanities Studio

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"Italian for Gamers" (ITAL 1013) students playing Assassin's Creed II.

"Italian for Gamers" (ITAL 1013-002) held its first gaming session of Assassin's Creed II in the World Languages & Digital Humanities Studio (JBHT 207) on Feb. 28. "Italian for Gamers" is a new concentration of Elementary Italian launched by the Italian Program in the Department of World Languages, Literatures and Cultures that began for first semester speakers in fall 2023 and is continuing this semester with the second level of Elementary Italian (ITAL 1013) commencing this semester.  

During the "Italian for Gamers" session, Claudia Devich's students played Assassin's Creed II on PlayStation 5 consoles in small groups. Students were given a glossary of Italian terms that would assist with the gameplay and basic controls and spent half of the class time playing the game. Assassin's Creed II was released by Ubisoft in 2009 and is the sequel to 2007's Assassin's Creed and was remastered in 2016 as part of The Ezio Collection.

The setting of the game is the height of the Renaissance in Italy (1476-1499). The game follows Ezio Auditore da Firenze's journey as an assassin while seeking revenge against those responsible for the death of his father and brothers. Crucial for language learning, the game has been localized in Italian so that all dialogue and text throughout the gameplay experience is delivered in the target language, Italian. Although the plot is mostly fictional history, real-world locales and events are centered throughout the game.  

Students practiced the imperative in Italian (i.e. giving commands) by working through the game's opening tutorial. They also followed dialogue in Italian, identified gameplay hints (such as what controls cause specific actions) and completed several missions as they advanced the story. The 50-minute class began with an overview led by Ryan Calabretta-Sajder, head of the Italian Program, who, along with instructors Claudia Devich and Valentina Morello, as well as Curtis Maughan, studio director, and Michael Hall, studio researcher, assisted groups of students as they played through the game. 

"Italian for Gamers" will hold additional gaming sessions in the World Languages & Digital Humanities Studio later in the semester as the course progresses. Students were eager to continue playing and practicing Italian!