Italian: Fifth Most Studied Language in the US

According to the MLA’s (Modern Language Association) recent statistics, in 2009, students who enrolled in Italian courses were more than one million (1,0008, 370). This is significant since it reveals that the Italian language is still showing signs of interest and appreciation among college students. Italian language and literature courses in the US in 2009 were approximately 80.752, with a 3% increase in comparison to 2006 (Last MLA’s survey). Since 1998 the study of Italian has increased 63% which makes it the 5th most studied language in American colleges and Universities. It is also important to underline that among the 215 million English speakers, 46,951,000 people speak another language.

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1 Response to Italian: Fifth Most Studied Language in the US

  1. That’s fantastic news. I think that one of the hindrances that students might have in pursuing Italian studies is seeing the relevance to careers. However, I had found that studying Italian was not only gratifying in terms of the ability to speak such a beautiful language but the study had also helped to develop my own communication skills. Analyzing the breakdown of verb structures and the unique tenses such as the subjunctive I feel helped me to become a better writer in English. It is also interesting to contemplate how differently we express our experiences; for instance, in Italiano, to express that I like something one must use the reflexive; mi piace.

    I feel that studying another language, particularly Italian, helps build our communication skills and understand the grammatical and syntactic structures of our own language better; which can equate to being quite practical. I think that students should consider not only applying their majors directly to their jobs but also consider what skills they have developed through their discipline.

    Just some thoughts. Thank you for sharing Giulia.

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