Here are some general facts about the Italian language:
1. The Italian language only has 21 letters
Just like other Romance Languages, Italians use the same modern Roman script as we do in English. Whereas in English we use 26 letters, and in Spanish 27, the Italian alphabet does not contain the letters j, k, o, w, x or y (nor, of course, the Spanish letter ñ). If you do happen to come across a word in Italian which does contain these letters, you’ll know that it’s a loan word taken from another language, e.g. yogurt (taken from Greek.)
2. Italian is the official language of classical music.
Italian is not just a musical language, it is the language of music. If you’re a fan of classical music then you may be familiar with such terms as ‘crescendo’ (a steady increase in volume), or ‘staccato’ (which indicates that a note is separated from the others). This is because musical notation was invented during The Renaissance (or in Italian Il Rinascimento), the historial period in which Italy as a country began.
3. The oldest known text written in Italian is over 1000 years old.
The ‘Placiti Cassinesi’ are four juridical documents written between the years 960 y 960 AD. They are thought to be the first texts written in Italian and they talk about a disputed territory between three Benedictine monasteries and a local landlord.
So, would you like to learn Italian, the language of Leonardo Da Vinci, Galileo and so many others with our native Italian teachers? If so, feel free to drop in to one of our language academies in Madrid (academies in San Blas, near Ventas and Ciudad Lineal) for more information on our language courses. And if Italian is not for you, remember we also teach English classes, as well as Spanish, German, Portuguese and French.
We hope to see you soon!