Italian is a Romance language that evolved from the Latin spoken in the Roman Empire. The history of the Italian language is intrinsically linked to the history of Italy, a nation that was formed only in the 19th century from a collection of small states, each with its own language and culture.
The history of Italian begins with the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. During the medieval period, the language spoken on the Italian peninsula was a mixture of Latin and Germanic dialects, with influences from Greek and Arabic, due to the various invasions from the peninsula.
In the 13th century, a Tuscan dialect began to emerge as the literary language of Italy, thanks to writers such as Dante Alighieri, Francesco Petrarca and Giovanni Boccaccio. Dante's most famous work, "The Divine Comedy", is often credited as the first literary work written in Italian rather than Latin.
However, despite the prestige of Tuscan, Italy remained a collection of independent states with their own languages and dialects. It was not until the unification of Italy in the 19th century that Italian became the official language of the new Italian nation.
Italian unification was a complex and tumultuous process that took decades to complete. During this time, Italian was promoted as the national language in an attempt to create a unified Italian identity. However, the Italian spoken at the time was still very different from today's standard Italian.
In the 20th century, standard Italian began to form, largely thanks to the advent of radio and television. RAI, the Italian national broadcasting company, played an important role in promoting standard Italian by insisting on its use in its broadcasts.
Today, Italian is spoken by around 63 million people in Italy and by millions of people around the world. Although many Italian dialects still exist, standard Italian is the official language of Italy and is used in all forms of official communication.
The study of Italian is a window into the rich history and culture of Italy. Learning Italian is not just learning a language, but also learning about the history of Italy, its traditions, its literature and its art.
On our intermediate-level Italian course, you will not only develop your language skills, but also deepen your knowledge of Italian history. Through readings, discussions, and analyzes of historical and literary texts, you will gain a deeper understanding of Italy and its people.
This course is suitable for students who already have a solid foundation in Italian and want to improve their language skills whilst learning more about Italian history and culture. If you have a passion for Italy and want to deepen your knowledge of the country, this course is for you.
We hope you will join us on this exciting journey through the Italian language and history. Buon viaggio!
