Speaking of language, the Italian one, in the society of the image. This is the theme chosen this year by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Accademia della Crusca for the twentieth edition of the Week of the Italian language in the world. "Italian between word and image: graffiti, illustrations, comics "(from today to October 25), a theme that extends the expressive forms of the national language to comics, graphic novels and children's publishing. Rich is the calendar of appointments in Italian cultural venues abroad to adequately remember the importance of our language. Starting with the countries of Latin America, at the forefront of celebrating, remembering, never forgetting the language of the generations who emigrated from Italy to those distant lands. Italian and Latin American speaking yes parla extensively on italiani.it which actively collaborates in this project.
The most spoken, as a native speaker, in 26 countries
The Week of the Italian language in the world aims above all to strengthen awareness of the value of our language. Not only as a strictly linguistic tool, but also as a means of promoting the image of our country abroad. But what is the state of the Italian language? Some data. Given that it is difficult to indicate a ranking of the most widely spoken languages in the world, the Italian - according to the 2018 results of Ethnologue - is in 67st place with over XNUMX million speakers. But it has the distinction of being the one spoken, as a mother tongue, in several countries. As many as 26, due to the strong emigration of Italians abroad.
Italian language, the fourth most studied in the world
On a world scale, Italian is the fourth most studied language after English, Spanish and Chinese, also thanks to the important role played by Italian cultural institutes abroad. This result is certainly linked to the importance of Italian on a cultural level, at 360 degrees. Our literature is one of the first in the world. The history of art and music with opera speak a lot of Italian. Italy is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. Let's not forget the universality of so much Italian food, and what Made in Italy fashion represents everywhere. Our language is one of the 24 official languages of the European Union. And also one of the six official languages of the OECD, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
If last year Italian was placed on the stage of theater, music, melodrama, popular song ... (Italian on the stage was the title of the 2019 edition) this year the week dedicated to our language is dwells on the expressive forms that enhance it through images. First of all, the graphic novel and comics, and for this reason children's publishing will certainly have an important role in this twentieth edition. Some pills from the world. L'Italian Cultural Institute of Washington has made animated videos based on 12 stories (for children and adults) taken from Favole al Telefono. Rodari's masterpiece was published and illustrated for the first time in the US by the publisher Enchanted Lion last September 20. The 12 episodes of the podcast, translated into English by Anthony Shugaar, will be accompanied by illustrations by graphic designer Valerio Vidali.
From Rodari to Alberto Sordi to the Divine Comedy to celebrate the event
In Australia, among the many events, October 25 will be a day full of fun. Scheduled, by the Dante Alighieri Society Western Australia, the projection of some scenes from the films of Alberto Sordi "Handsome, honest emigrant from Australia, would marry an unlikely fellow villager". In Beijing they will be held at the Tsinghua University of Beijing and Nankai University of Tianjin seminars and educational activities respectively dedicated to Dante's Comedy and comics as a tool for learning Italian.
A painting competition will also be launched for Italian-speaking students at Chinese high schools entitled “Dipingiamo Dante”. In Israel, all'Italian Cultural Institute of Haifa, rich program with the screening, in streaming, of three films dedicated to this year's theme: The seagull and the cat, Gatta Cenerentola and La profezia dell'armadillo. October 20 and 21, to be reported two interesting online conferences: one dedicated to History of Italian in images, a second on The most beautiful in the world. Why love the Italian language.