Need A Few Good Reasons to Learn Italian? Look No Further!

Contents

1. Is there any point in learning Italian?
2. Is Italian a dying language?
3. What is the relevance of Italian language to your life?
4. Is Italian or French harder to learn?
5. Is it better to learn Spanish or Italian?

It may seem hard to believe but there are over 7,000 languages on Earth. English is the most spoken language worldwide, followed by Mandarin, Hindi, Spanish and French.

Italian, however, is less commonly-spoken, ranking in at the 22nd most-spoken language globally. There are still many benefits to learning Italian though–and not just because of Italy’s incredible food and culture! We’re here to tell you the best reasons to learn Italian, and how GoStudent can help.

Is there any point in learning Italian?

Learning Italian is incredibly useful for many reasons: 

• Italian stems directly from Latin. Though Latin is a dead language, its influence is still present in many academic fields today, including law, medicine, literature, and philosophy. By knowing Italian, many Latin-based words will already make more sense to you!
• Italian is quite similar to fellow Romance Languages Spanish, French, Romanian and Portuguese. Once you study Italian, learning these other languages is much easier. Becoming bilingual or even multilingual will be easier for you if you already know Italian.
• Compared to many other European languages, Italian is one of the easiest to learn. If you’re anxious about the process, Italian will help you overcome the fear of language learning. The phonetics of Italian can be seen from the written word: The general rule is to say what you see–making pronunciation much easier!
• Italian has similar verb tenses to English, which means understanding grammar is less of a challenge. 
• Everyone loves Italian food, but understanding the language can help you appreciate that delicious mozzarella or penne alla vodka evermore.
• The Italian population in the UK has seen a big increase. From 2008 to 2020, the number of Italians living in the UK increased from 101,000 to 311,000. Knowing Italian can help you build relationships with more people. 

Is Italian a dying language?

Italian may not be widely spoken, but it’s definitely not a dying language. The language benefits from having 60 million native speakers and around 6-10 million speakers who learned it as a second tongue. That’s still a lot of people! 

According to data by the British Council, from 2014 to 2019 there was a 30% decline in students taking French and German at GCSE. However, in this same period, languages such as Arabic, Portuguese and Italian grew by more than 10%.  

While there has also been a slight decline in state schools offering Italian GCSE (from 9% in 2018 to 7% in 2019), many independent schools are likely to offer Italian classes, meaning that the study of the language is not going anywhere.

What is the relevance of Italian language to your life?

Italian culture is hugely influential. Names like Michaelangelo, DiVinci, Caesar are among the most famous in the world–and they’re all from Italy! From religion to food to art, Italian culture can be found in every corner of the planet. Learning Italian can allow you to have a deeper understanding of these important historical and cultural figures.   

Is Italian or French harder to learn?

Italian and French both derive from Latin, so there are many commonalities between the tongues, including similar words. However, Italian pronunciation is much more straight-forward and has simpler grammar, making it a much easier language to learn than French.  If you are thinking of taking a gap year, you might want to point head toward Rome rather than Paris!

Is it better to learn Spanish or Italian?

Spanish is much more widely spoken than Italian, including throughout nearly all of South America. Learning Spanish is beneficial if you want to travel to many different countries. However, it’s all up to personal preference. No language is “better” to learn than another. Learning a new language has benefits regardless of which you choose to study.

If you need extra language-learning support, GoStudent is your solution

Learning Italian is exciting but can also be a challenge. If you're looking for a little help with your language learning, GoStudent’s personalised tutoring will help you reach your language-learning goals and feel more confident, too! Sign up for your free trial lesson today and see why we’re the #1 Rated Global Tutoring School.