12th Italian Language Week celebrated

Cities around the world have put on a show for the 12th Italian Language Week. The celebration was originally launched by the Italian Government in order to help Italians abroad stay connected to their culture, while also promoting Italian to foreign nationals. Activities for the week are being coordinated all across the globe, from Seoul, Korea to Baku in Azerbaijan. In Korea, Wednesday has been nominated as the official Italian Day by Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. Italian language week celebrations include an emphasis on Italian classes and art, with events such as Italian film showings being held around the world. In Minsk, the event was kicked off with a showcase of Italian photography and film.

Many countries use the week as an opportunity to emphasize the importance of economic and political ties with Italy. Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Mario Baldi, mentioned the important connections between the two countries at his speech during Italian language week celebrations in Baku.

In other news related to the Italian language, the Huffington Post is making an effort to target Italian readers by introducing an Italian version of its news site. The Huffington Posts booming popularity has allowed it to expand into half a dozen different languages, with German next on the list. The website will give Italians access to what, in theory, should be a more balanced and unbiased news source in a country in which news outlets typically have no shame about infusing their political leanings into their news reports. The Italian version of the site follows the same layout and style of the main website, including the opportunity for readers to leave comments – making use of the Internet’s unique qualities not only as a way of conveying news, but also as a forum for discussing it.

In another interesting development, the UK town of Purley is about to be introduced to an Italian class with a twist. Class teacher Alisha Keene has decided to run the class in a restaurant, rather than a normal classroom – allowing students to enjoy not just the Italian language, but also famous Italian cuisine.

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