A whopping 2 million people worldwide were participating in Italian language learning in July 2022, accordingly to online language reader Newsdle.
It doesn’t compare to the biggest players like the Chinese and English languages. But unsurprisingly, Italian language learning continues to be wildly popular amongst students of all ages, for many different reasons.
We recently quizzed our powerhouse Italian tutor Anna Maria Forti Sheikh about her own personal experiences of Italian language learning, as a student and a teacher.
Here’s what she had to say…
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Thanks for your time, Anna Maria. Let’s start at the beginning. What are your earliest memories about the language?
“Growing up in Italy in the ‘70s in a small Italian village inspired me to learn other languages besides Italian. Because like most young people, I dreamt of escaping one day and exploring other countries.
“Since the age of about 7, I would dream of going to Rome, and also to England to learn English, so that I could travel the world.”
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Well, you made it! Do go back to Italy much these days?
“Typically, now I finally live in England I’d love to go back and live in Italy…. life, eh?! But for now, I tend to go and see my family at Christmas, and I also spend the whole summer there.”
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Tell us a bit about what you love about the Italian culture?
“I love the way people celebrate being together as a family and as a society.
“And you couldn’t really talk about Italy without mentioning the food! I love to explore the myriad of possibilities of cooking the same ingredients in so many ways.
“In fact, I created a cookery course called ‘Fast Food Italian Style’, for simultaneous Italian language learning and cooking for children and adults. This resulted in the offer of a TV programme called ‘Chefs and the City’. Eventually my cookery book was published and adopted by more than 70 schools in America. Can you think of a more delicious way to learn another language?”
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That’s fantastic. Are there any other ways your career has twisted and turned because of the Italian language?
“Yes. Going back to my university days, I won a scholarship to study English in London. That was one of my dreams fulfilled, and it was one of the most interesting times of my life!
“I got my degree in Modern Foreign Languages back in Italy and I became an English teacher there.
“Then, when I made the decision to come to England, I taught both languages. To be honest, at the beginning I found it harder to teach Italian than English!
“I’ve also been a speaker at several conferences, focusing on the inclusion of traditional and popular culture in Italian language learning, such as films, literature and fairy tales.”
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We know you have a very busy life. But, what about any ‘me time’?
“My free time is more and more sparse now, thanks to l’Accademia… ha, ha!
“I enjoy writing children’s stories in Italian and English. But I’d also like to translate them into other languages, at least Spanish and French.
“I also run pasta masterclasses in a famous restaurant in Manchester. Look me up if you’d like to uplevel your lasagne, tortellini, ravioli and gnocchi! I have to admit it’s a great outlet for my love of cooking, because my children are better than me now, so I’m banned from the kitchen at home!
“On Saturdays, I play the recorder in different orchestras. And when the weather is nice, I like to go for walks in the countryside.
“My wish now is to seriously travel more! Maybe one day!”
At La Academia, we’d love to accompany you on your Italian language learning journey. Get in touch for a chat about evening classes at the school in Cheadle, 1:1 tutoring, or Italian for business.