The Italian language is the official language in Italy, although there are Italian regions where people speak other languages like Germanic, Slavic, Greek, and Albanian languages. Italian language is also one of the official languages in Switzerland and San Marino. This language is a Romance language, which derives from common Latin. Since its inception Italian has evolved. Italian isn't very complicated or difficult; it's very similar to Spanish.
Italian Language History
The history of Italian language is long, but modern Italian language is a dialect that has managed to impose itself as the language of a region wider than their dialect region. Dante Alighieri was the person who managed to diffuse Italian through his work: The Divine Comedy. Italian language was imposed by the government in order to unify Italy. The strictly-speaking Italian language is the result of the Tuscan dialect.
When Napoleon invaded Italy, Italian language could be disseminated throughout Italy and Europe. This language is regulated by The Academia della Crusca, this academy is responsible to maintain Italian language pure. If one is wondering if Italian was the language of the Roman Empire, the answer is no. Latin language was the official language of the Roman Empire; however, Romans began to speak Italian language in the last period of this empire.
Learn Italian in Italy
One can currently learn Italian at any language center around the world. A good idea could be to travel to Italy in order to learn the language, but it's the most expensive way. One can hire a private language teacher too. Anyway if you choose to learn Italian language, you will never regret it. Italian is also used as a technical language for business; Italian is gaining a place in many parts of the world.
Many universities offer scholarships in Italy so that is another good reason why to learn Italian. Perhaps, the main reason why to learn Italian could be that if you travel to Italy, you will understand Italian people as if you were one of them.
The main advantage to get Italian courses in Italy is that one will rapidly improve their Italian skills, because one can talk with native Italian speakers, besides this one will learn more about Italian culture, which is important to understand in a better way this language. So, it is not important which reason is the best for you, learning Italian is always a good idea.
If you don't have time to learn italian abroad, you can also use some tools that allow you to translate (traduci in italian) online words, documents and websites in italian language. You can try one example of free online translation service at http://it.traduktor.com.
The Italian Language guide:
Phrasebooks and dictionaries
Glossary of artistic and architectural terms
Glossary of words and acronyms