Studying in Italy from Cameroon: the role of language and certification

Italy has become a credible study destination for many Cameroonian students: public universities with moderate tuition fees, regional scholarships, and a labour market open to certain profiles. But an Italian application turns largely on language, and that is where many candidacies stall.

Why language is the tipping point

Two routes exist. Programmes taught in English require an English certification. Programmes in Italian — the majority of the public offer, particularly at bachelor level — require a certified Italian level, generally B1 or B2 depending on the institution and the course.

The second route is often the more accessible in terms of places and costs, but it imposes a calendar constraint: reaching B1 or B2 from scratch cannot be improvised in the weeks before a deadline.

This is why Italian has to be started avant the rest of the application, not alongside it.

The CILS certification and the others

Several bodies certify Italian as a foreign language. The ones most commonly named in applications are:

• CILS — awarded by the Università per Stranieri di Siena, structured on the CEFR scale.
• CELI — awarded by the Università per Stranieri di Perugia.
• PLIDA — awarded by the Società Dante Alighieri.

As with German or French, the rule stays the same: it is not your preference that decides, but the list of certifications accepted by the university you are applying to. Check it on the institution’s admissions page, not on a forum.

What an Italian certification tests

The four usual skills: listening and reading comprehension, spoken and written expression, sometimes with a structures section. A minimum score is required in each paper, which rules out offsetting weak speaking with excellent writing.

How long does it take to reach B1 or B2?

Italian offers a real advantage to a French speaker: lexical and grammatical proximity is strong. Vocabulary is often transparent, verb tenses follow a logic close to French, and pronunciation is regular — what is written is what is said.

That advantage is real but it has a limit: proximity makes comprehension easier and correction slower. False friends and calques from French settle in quickly and are hard to undo. Guided learning from the start avoids fossilising those errors.

In practice, a structured intensive track progresses markedly faster than scattered study. PVT Institut offers Italian from A1 to B2, with an intensive format of one month per level; details are on the page language courses and fees.

Build the calendar backwards

This is the method that prevents incomplete applications. Start from the university’s application deadline, then work back:

1. Date limite du dossier — set by the institution.
2. Time to receive the certificate — an exam result is not immediate.
3. Date of the exam session — sessions are periodic, not daily.
4. Time needed to prepare for the format of the test.
5. Time needed to learn up to the required level.
6. Translation of diplomas and civil status documents.

This last step is regularly forgotten. Transcripts, diplomas and certificates often have to be translated, and that translation takes time. PVT Institut provides translation of administrative and academic documents between French, English, German, Italian and Chinese.

What language gives you after admission

A point often overlooked: the certificate gets you in, but your real level keeps you there. Following lectures, writing assignments, sitting orals and living day to day demand more than a score scraped by.

Students who arrive with a genuinely consolidated level — not just a piece of paper — settle in faster, understand their courses from the first semester and find student work more easily. That is an argument for not aiming at the bare minimum.

Three common mistakes

Leaving the language until last

It is the longest step in the application: it has to start first.

Assuming that “Italian is like French, it will be fine”

Proximity helps you understand, not produce. The exam assesses production.

Not checking which certification is accepted

Sitting a test the target institution does not recognise means starting again, with a session lost.

In summary

A plan to study in Italy is built around language: identify the level required and the certification accepted, start Italian before the rest of the application, and work the calendar back from the deadline, factoring in exam and translation delays.

PVT Institut teaches Italian in Rails-Bonaberi and prepares candidates for the CILS, PLIDA, CELI, CERT.IT and DITALS exams. To discuss your calendar, contact the institute.