A knowledge of Italian is Important for people in business, the arts, technology, art history, music, linguistics, education, international relations and other related fields.
Students preparing for SATs who have studied Italian tend to score higher on vocabulary and grammar. Italian developed from Latin and about 60% of the English vocabulary comes from Latin.
Italy is one of the top economies in the world, and is a member of the G7 group of the most prosperous democracies in the world.
An estimated 8,000 American companies do business with Italy and more than 1,000 U.S. firms have offices in Italy, including IBM, G.E., Motorola, and the major auto companies.
Italy is a world leader in machine tool manufacturing, with advanced technologies in robotics, electromechanical machinery, and transportation equipment. Many of these companies have offices in the U.S.
Italian companies have opened relations with U.S. aerospace, transportation, insurance, finance, shipping, telecommunications and other commerce.
American companies like AT&T and IBM have established ties with Italian companies for cable TV, international cellular phone systems, the internet, and more, and need employees who speak Italian and English.
Italy is a world leader in the culinary arts, interior design, fashion, graphic design, and furniture design.
Italy is a top tourism destination. In 2000, an estimated 30 million people visited the city of Rome, alone.
American medical, dentistry and veterinary students, who cannot afford the tuition at U.S. colleges can study at Italian universities at a fraction of the cost, and their degrees will be valid in the U.S.
Students in Art History need to know Italian. Over 60% of the world’s art treasures are located in Italy.
Italian is the fourth most spoken foreign language in U.S. homes. It is also spoken in Switzerland, The Balkans, the island of Malta and in part of Africa.