Why Italian Is Important
Buon Giorno! Many people deem Italian this to be the most striking spoken language in the world. Visiting Italy is truly enjoyable, due to several of its features: the finest historical spots in Europe, museums, sculptures, paintings, monasteries, circuses and cathedrals. Italian cuisine is among the most delicious and enticing in the world. It is often regarded so highly that it is spoken of in the same way as the beautiful architecture! Italians are gorgeous and elegant as Italy has the world’s first class designers. Italy is judged in the top three in regards to health care. Italy is also among the top 10 tourists’ destinations in the globe.
The Italian language is intensely linked to art, specifically in regards to renaissance paintings, literature, sculpture, architecture. There are associations also with music, such as Verdi, Rossini for piano, Pavarotti (the renowned tenor), design (graphic, interior, furniture and fashion), and not forgetting the culinary arts and their delectable dishes.
The largest Italian speaking society outside of Italy is found in Toronto, Canada
- Why did Mozart compose the majority of his pieces in Italian instead in German? Answer: Italian is a beautiful, romantic language to learn.
- Italian has the greatest number of terms for describing food. You too can create more of an involvement with your own cooking or appreciation for good cooking. Italian is an excellent language to learn for chefs and cooks.
- You will not need subtitles when watching films by such renowned directors as Pasolini, Visconti and Fellini. Similarly, if you’re a film fan, specifically of Italian cinema, then this is invaluable.
- Italy has over half of Europe’s Unesco-secured monuments.
- Italians are notoriously friendly individuals, very enthusiastic and chatty to showcase you their nation, and will be enthusiastic to simply converse with you in their native tongue.
- Italian is the nearest language to Latin, the common antecedent of the entire romance languages.
- If you adore food, opera, design and arts, then this is a good reference language.
Probably you have appreciated Tuscany’s rolling hills on your initial visit to the il bel paese, or possibly you are attracted to an Italian person. Perhaps your grandparents are migrated to Italy and you want to discover your family roots. Maybe you are a hopeful musician who desires to study andante mean, allegro, adagio, or you are an opera performer who desires to enhance their pronunciation. Or possibly you have heard that learning Italian is one of the easiest languages to learn.
Regardless of your inspiration – the chance to work abroad, or engage in a cultural switch in a location steeped in culture and history, discovering your genealogy, or learning other subjects like Italian literature or their art history – you will be able to explore new and exciting environments when studying Italian. Therefore, raise a glass of Montepulciano and celebrate as you embark on a new endeavor. Buon viaggio!
Top 10 Fun Reasons to Learn Italian
Italian is a language packed with contradictions; its history goes several thousands of years back, yet, it has been the sole official language in Italy only since the 19th century. So why should one study Italian?
- You will be able to comprehend Luciano Pavarotti whenever he belts a phrase in high C!
- You can order Italian food with confidence at a genuine Italian restaurant.
- Enhance your cultural comprehension and international communication.
- Quit depending on subtitles when viewing Italian films.
- Acquire directions in Italian during your next travel to Rome.
- Speak with your Italian family.
- Select the correct size when you are at an Armani Boutique in Florence with no guessing!
- Discover your family background and interpret aged documents.
- Learn art history in the area where Michelangelo was from.
- Comprehend La Divina Commedia as written by Dante.
I feel it is such a shame that Italian is not offered in many schools. It was an Italian that discovered America and America was named after an Italian – Amerigo Vespucci.
Why this trend for Spanish? Because Mexican Immigrants are pouring into the country? So now every time we get an influx of immigrants from a certain country we have make THAT language important and primary in schools? It makes NO sense to me.
Also, not to mention the MANY contributions Italy has made to the world.
*One story is REALLY important: ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL DID NOT DISCOVER THE TELEPHONE!
In 2002, Congress passed a resolution crediting little-known Italian immigrant Antonio Meucci as the phone’s rightful originator.
These are just things to think about…
The people native to the Americas did not need to be discovered to have an established identity.
Italian is spoken by anywhere from 75 – 150 million people and is an official or significant language in 25 countries, including: Italy (official), Vatican City (off.), San Marino, (off.) Switzerland, (off.) Malta (formally official, 67% of Maltese speak Italian), Eastern France (form. off. in Corsica, Nice, and Savoy), Slovenia (co-off.), Croatia (co-off.), Austria, Albania (Italian is 1st foreign language, form. off.), Montenegro (form. off.), U.S (about 5 million speakers), Canada (3rd most spoken), Brazil (over 1.5 million), Argentina (over 2 million), Venezuela, Uruguay, Australia (3rd most spoken), Romania, Tunisia (form. off.), Ethiopia (form. off.), Somalia (form. off.), Libya (form. off.), Eritrea (form. off.), Egypt (form. off. in Western half). form. off. = formally official.
Sicilians and Sardinians also all speak Italian, as do all other regions of Italy.
For those who say Italian is only official and significant in Italy and that Italians are complete strangers to colonization, look at this (I deleted the citations to save space, but Wikipedia has the citations/research in this article on the Italian language):
Official:
European Union
Italy (including Sicily and Sardinia. In Corsica, a very closely-related dialect of Italian is spoken unofficially.)
San Marino
Sovereign Military Order of Malta
Switzerland
Vatican City
Slovenia (only in Slovenian Istria)
Croatia (only in Istria County)
[edit] Secondary
Somalia (Transitional Federal Parliament)
Eritrea (Although Eritrea has no official language, Italian is still well-diffused among older people and in administrative, commercial and teaching-related areas.)
Libya (Although not official, Italian is still widely known among older populations and is used in the commercial and education sectors.)
Malta
Kosovo
Montenegro
Historically significant:
France (in Corsica, Savoy, Nice and some valleys)
Albania
Croatia (Istria, Rijeka, Kvarner, Dalmatia)
Slovenia (Slovenian Littoral)
Malta
Monaco
Montenegro
Greece (in Dodecanese 1912–1943)
Ukraine (in Crimea)
Historically official:
Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946 and until 1861 in all the former Italian states before the unification; also in Italian Social Republic 1943–1945 and in Free Territory of Trieste 1947–1954)
Croatia (in Istria X century-1797, Dalmatia XII century-1797, Rijeka, Zadar, Lastovo and Palagruža 1919–1947, and in the Governorship of Dalmatia 1941–1943)
Trieste (Free Territory of Trieste 1947-1954)
Fiume (Free State of Fiume 1920–1924)
Eritrea (1890–1941)
Somalia (Italian Somaliland 1895–1960, British Somaliland 1940–1941)
Ethiopia (Abissinia 1936–1941)
Cyprus (1489–1571)
China (in Tientsin 1901–1944)
Libya (1911–1943)
Egypt (in Western part 1940–1942)
Montenegro (Kingdom of Montenegro (1941–1944))
Slovenia (in the Slovenian Littoral, western Inner Carniola 1919–1947, and in the Province of Ljubljana 1941–1943)
Greece (in Crete XIII century-1699; in the Venetian Ionian Islands 1204-1797 and 1941–1943; in Chios 1261-1566; in the Dodecanese 1912–1943 and in many other islands and cities under the Venetian and Genoese domination between the XII and XVI centuries)
Albania (in Venetian Albania 1420-1797; in Sazan Island 1920–1947 and in all the country 1938–1945)
Malta (until 1934)
France (in Tende, La Brigue and other small valleys until 1947, in Corsica until 1895 and between 1942–1943 and in the territory of Nice X century-1860 and 1942–1943)
Tunisia (in Tabarka 1540-1742 and in all the country 1942–1943)
Ukraine (in Crimea under the Genoese domination between the XIII and XV centuries)
Austria-Hungary (in the Austrian Littoral, Fiume, Dalmatia and Trentino until 1918)
Turkey (in the district of Pera 1204-1453 and in Territory of Antalya 1919–1922)
Used by some immigrant communities:
Brazil 1,500,000
Argentina 1,500,000
Uruguay 1,500,000
United States 1,008,370
France 500,000–1,000,000
Canada 661,000
Germany 548,000
Switzerland over 500,000 (mentioned here because related to the German and French speaking areas)
Venezuela 400,000
Australia 353,605
Belgium 250,000
Mexico 220,000
United Kingdom 200,000
Egypt 72,400
Colombia 2,250
Man, Italians love to toot there own horns. \italian language is really not that important anymore – maybe during the renaissance. Today, it still enjoys a place in cuisine and music and the pope live in the Vatican.
But Spanish and Portuguese, which are almost the same languages, together have about 700 million speakers in the world. In 50 years the number will approach 1 billion. These are much more important languages in the world today. Spanish and Portuguese speakers don’t even need to learn each others language to almost perfectly understand one another. Huge advantage!
Portuguese speaking gigantic Brazil for example, is becoming a global economic superpower – 6th biggest economy in the world. This is a big, important world language. Spanish which is spoken in one half of South America, is a real important world language too. Portuguese is spoken in the other half of South America (Brazil). Plus, Spanish is spoken in Central America, Mexico and the biggest Caribbean Islands. Portuguese is a big language in Africa too, particularly in Angola and Mozambique. Angola is becoming, if not already, the richest African country in terms of resources re: oil, diamonds, gold, coffee, etc.. Even the Chinese are doing tons of trade with them and are learning Portuguese.
Italian, while it sounds really nice, is not an important world language today in an economic and global sense the way that Spanish and Portuguese are.