Why Study Italian?
One of the most frequently studied languages in the world, Italian is an unmistakable language of culture and remains highly important in fields as varied as art, fashion, culinary arts and engineering. It is considered the Romance language that has remained closest to Latin, and as such offers an exceptional window into other Romance languages like French and Spanish.
Italian in the World
Italian's incomparable cultural value (both contemporary and historical) along with its melodic beauty, which seems almost universally pleasing to the ear, make it a favorite choice for a second language. Its purity in relation to Latin also explains its popularity, since knowledge of Italian greatly facilitates the learning of other Romance languages like Spanish, French and Portuguese.
UNESCO has estimated that over 60% of the world's most valuable art is located in Italy, while Italian literature and sciences are widely understood to have left a profound imprint on Western civilization and thought. This makes Italian an especially relevant language in the worlds of history, art, music, technology and business.
Modern Italian evolved from the Tuscan dialect, which is still spoken to this day and has remained closer to its Latin roots than other Romance languages. The language also borrowed from numerous foreign vocabularies, some of the most surprising of which are Greek, Arabic, Hebrew and English.