Best Language To Learn: Italian

Italian is the language of Opera, Fashion, and the Renaissance. It has been considered an elegant language since the grand achievements of the Italian Renaissance, and fluency in this peninsular tongue was once considered to be a genteel, almost poetic, accomplishment. Today, aspiring poets no longer write their first pieces in the language of Dante Alighieri and Pietro Bembo, but given the deep involvement of many Italian designers in the world’s premier fashions, there is still a certain mystique about Italian: an air of sophistication and somewhat passionate modishness that will also mark those who learn this language as an addition to their own.

The opera – that high and noble form of music – is associated with Italian as well, and those with a keen interest in music will find this language opens fresh perspectives on their favorite pursuit. Italian is joined with Latin as the languages of the Papacy, and motorsports are another association of this rich and energetic tongue. Finally, there are many Italian-speakers scattered through Europe and North America, making it a minor “lingua franca” of the modern West.

Italian is the closest of all the Romance languages to the original Latin, but has evolved greatly since the days of Caesar. It retains the long and short vowel variants of Latin, however, far more than its other derivative kindred. The language is also marked by the presence of a “mobile diphthong” which is a diphthong when stressed but a single vowel when unstressed.

Given the cultural achievements of Italy past and present, learning Italian can be a true pleasure, depending on your tastes. Supplementing your fluency by listening to opera or watching the many famous Italian-language films of the twentieth century is a way to combine learning with culture in a dynamic whole of which the poets and scholars of the Renaissance would assuredly have approved.

If you are looking for an elegant language that is fun to practice, Italian may be the best language to learn.

By: Simon Steph

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