Everyone is joining the bandwagon when it comes to learning Italian. It is the fourth most studied language in US colleges and high schools but the interesting thing is the growth rate for enrollment in Italian classes. It grows 20% faster than any other language!
There are great advantages to learning the Italian language that is derived from Latin. It’s sister tongues within the Romance languages, which include Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Romanian.
The Italian language is a great door opener and here are the top reasons why:
#1 Music
Italian enables you to appreciate classical and opera music on a whole other level. It’s hard to imagine what Pavarotti or Bocelli would sound like in another non Romance tongue. If you like classical take a minute to consider why Mozart didn’t use his mother tongue for some of his great pieces. He used Italian.
#2 Facility
Learning Italian can be very easy if you are appropriately motivated. The Italian language is considered a category 1 language in relation to its difficulty. A native English speaker requires around 575-600 hours to achieve general proficiency. This is because English and Italian often share the same Latin roots. Some examples of similar words are: Durabilità — Durability, Generosità — Generosity, Credibile — Credible etc. It will also make learning other Romance languages easier because Italian is the language most similar to Latin.
#3 It is usually read the way it is written
Learning Italian not only entails being able to speak and listen but reading is fundamental when learning any language. Italian’s simplicity is not rooted in its beauty (there is plenty of that to go around). It’s simplicity is in the fact that when you say something there is an enormous correlation to how you write it. There are not as many spellings that are very different from how they are pronounced, silent letters or sounds.
#4 It can give you a career advantage
Learning a second language looks good on a resume. It makes you look traveled and experienced. You can make a possible employer be more attracted to your CV by being a polyglot. A survey done by the National Foreign Language center proves that 93% of employers are more inclined to hire people who speak more than one language. Taking Italian classes more specifically is a productive use of your time because Italy is the one of the largest economies in Europe; more specifically the third and worldwide it is the eighth. Many businesses are looking to expand their reach to Europe and look for bilingual employees.
It can also help your career because Italy has rich culture and is well situated in the art, fashion, food, music, and movie market. This means that if your goal is working in any of those industries the Italian language is the one for you!
#5 You will be able to enjoy Italy to the fullest
Learning Italian can and will help you make the most out of a trip to Italy. It makes the natives warm up to you. You will get to enjoy great food and read the menus. Enjoy being able to experience their rich cinematographic culture and music. You will get around with more ease and see all the beautiful destinations the locals might recommend. Learning Italian will enable you to create friendships and you might even find amore.
Last but not least learning the language can save you from prejudice. Stereotypes exist in every culture but learning a language can open your eyes to a different point of view. Learning Italian will not only help you see Italians in a different light. It will also open your eyes to the false stereotypes of other cultures.
Yabla Italian offers you the possibility to learn all this and more. We have a variety of real life videos with native speakers. Through them you can learn spelling, grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation etc. This is done through games, vocabulary lists, comprehension questions etc. We offer music videos, excerpts from movies, lessons etc.
If you would like to learn more about the Italian language, check out or platform at Yabla!
I liked what you said about how most Italian is spelled the way that it is pronounced and aren’t as many silent sounds. My sister is thinking about learning Italian so that she can go on a long vacation to Italy and not feel overwhelmed by the lack of language. She wants to make sure that she can communicate on her own so getting a professional to teach her would be really nice.