ITALIAN
Italian Is The Most Studied Language In The World For Culture And Pleasure!
In US colleges and high schools, the enrolment rate for Italian classes is growing 20% faster than for any other language.
Study art history in the land that inspired Michelangelo. Read La Divina Commedia in the words of Dante. Walk the streets where Archimedes ran naked shouting Eureka!
A recent UNESCO report states that over 60% of the world’s art treasures are to be found in Italy. Italian language is key to study and research in the fields of art history, literature, archaeology and philosophy.
WHERE IS IT SPOKEN?
ITALY
San Marino
Switzerland
Vatican City
NUMBER OF SPEAKERS
66 MILLION
LANGUAGE FAMILY
INDO-EUROPEAN
THREE FUN FACTS ABOUT ITALIAN
1. 1861 WAS THE YEAR ITALIAN BECAME AN OFFICIAL LANGUAGE
In early 1861, national parliament convened and proclaimed the unification of Italy. Apparently, back then, today’s Italian was such a little-known language that it was only spoken by less than 3–5% of the population living in the newly unified country. Although there were many dialects at the time, prominent Italian writer Dante and linguist Petrarch paved the way for the Tuscan dialect to become the national language of Italy.
2. ITALIAN IS THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF CLASSICAL MUSIC
If you play an instrument or are familiar with music, you’ve probably come across classical music scores with terms like crescendo, soprano, alto, and tempo. But, you might not have known that all of these words have Italian origins; so it’s no wonder why this language has such a powerful influence on the art of music! This phenomenon is largely due to Italian music notation becoming popularised during the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Thus, Italian became more universal as the standard for music compositions, with many prominent composers at the time being Italian themselves.
