Why study Italian?
Knowing Italian is greatly beneficial in several career fields. Italy is a world leader in the culinary arts, music, opera, interior design, fashion, graphic design, furniture design, machine tool manufacturing, robotics, electromechanical machinery, shipbuilding, space engineering, construction machinery, and transportation equipment. An estimated 7,500 American companies do business with Italy and more than 1,000 U.S. firms have offices in Italy including IBM, General Electric, Motorola, Citibank, Fiat & Chrysler, ABB, Nestlé, Luxottica, Price-Waterhouse-Coopers, etc. Many Italian firms have offices in the U.S. Italy is the fourth language most spoken in U.S. homes and Italian literature as well as Italian music boasts some of the world’s most famous writers, and thinkers. The Italian program provides language instruction and offers majors and minors for students throughout the university, making for exciting dual and triple field combinations, based on your personal interests. The Italian program also sponsors a wide variety of co-curricular activities for the campus community, from music and cooking to sports, games, cultural programs and more.
Who speaks Italian?
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City and by expatriate communities in Europe, in the Americas and in Australia. Italian is spoken as a native language by 59 million people in the EU (13% of the EU population), mainly in Italy, and as a second language by 14 million (3%). It is the official language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, European Union, and Sovereign Military.
Learn these everyday phrases!
♦ Welcome … Benvenuto (male) or Benvenuta (female)
♦ Hello (General greeting) … Ciao / Salve /Pronto? (on phone)
♦ Long time no see … Quanto tempo!
♦ Where are you from? … Da dove viene? Di dov'è?
♦ I'm from (place) … Vengo da (place)
♦ Morning greeting … Buongiorno
♦ Afternoon greeting(s) … Buongiorno /Buon pomeriggio
♦ Evening greeting … Buonasera
♦ Nighttime parting phrase … Buonanotte
♦ Parting phrase … Ciao / Ci vediamo /Arrivederci / Arrivederla (formal)