Why can't we learn Italian is school?

pghmarty

Because the Italian immigrants had the sense to learn English.

region50

You can take it when you get to high school.

prozworld

how is it that languages became racist.

MDM

Schools can only offer languages that they have the teachers available to teach them. If a high school wants to offer Italian or Mandarin Chinese or Greek they have to have teachers who know those languages who can teach them. Unfortunately, most schools can only employ Spanish and French teachers due to the small number of teachers who know other languages. Maybe you should learn Italian in college and get a teaching certificate and teach Italian to high school students. Then in a number of years, someone won't be asking the same question that you are asking now.

loretta

you should be able to learn whatever language you want and some schools do teach Italian with Spanish, French, and other languages.

Sashie

Well ... the Italian immigrants I know can all speak English ... and the ones who couldn't when they arrived here, have learnt it ... as they said, it has to do with pride ... and honoring their new country ... if you go to Italy, you'd be expected to speak Italian ... in the U.S., if you're American, you're expected to learn Spanish .... weird but wonderful .... :)

sofia sofia sofia

I think your reaching! Why is everyone so dead set on being discriminated against? Everyone wants to be hated on...I'm assuming that your complaining because your high school doesn't offer Italian as a class...many high schools don't, it's not a very common class to offer...wait until you get to college then go nuts...go to the bookstore and buy yourself a cd guide to teach yourself Italian. Stop being a whiny little brat. I know of a middle school who only taught French as a foreign language because they only had one language teacher and that's all she knew. Then when she retired they started teaching Spanish only...so just relax.

cool.panamania

Italian is taught where I live because RI has a fairly large Italian-American community. If you look around, I'm sure you can find an Italian course somewhere.

jajajenny1

b/c there are more english speaking and spanish speaking people in the states then their are italian speaking, or dutch, or asian.

Hey at least you don't have to learn french, quebec is a pretty big province and everything but damn!

z m

honestly, how many people do you know come away from learning a foriegn language fluent. I know i didn't. If you have that much passion for that language, there a plent of good Language Courses and study aids available.

Franco

Quite simple really...There are alot of Mexican, Cuban, Puerta Ricans in The U.S. south of the U.S. is pretty much entirely Spanish speaking. Of course in a perfect world where Political correctness didnt rule supreme one would be required speak the languaage of Majority or at least not be Forced to be bilingual. As for early Italian immigrants selling drugs and what not, very ignorant remark...I think you're talking about mafiosi type...Italians discovered and built America through hard work and sacrifice.

a TRUE AMERICAN and proud to be!

io parlo italiano....

angela R

The reason some ask is because, most of America is also Spanish speaking and many migrate here, I am with you on the issue.....

If most of America was Italian, perhaps they would offer Italian in public schools...

noooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Usually highschool offers many different language classes. If not college does. They go by the majority. We don't have a swarm of italian immigrants at the current moment. Its not racist.

princess_29_71

I like the first answer and it's true. I know because my family is Italian on one side. They are very patriotic too and they had the sense to learn the language here, not expect everyone to learn their culture and way of life after they got here and they sure as hell wasn't stupid enough to fly a foreign flag on U.S. soil. That is just too stupid.

Lil's Mommy

Just because they speak spanish?? That question does not make sense. There are alot of other countries that speak spanish beside Mexico. The school I went to gave you the choice of what language you wanted to learn no one made me learn spanish I chose to. We had French, Italian, Spanish, and German to choice from.

hmmmmm.

You have a good point there. When I was in High School you had a choice of Spanish, French, Russian, and German.

I even made a point to one of the teachers that I would like to learn Italian. The problem was they couldn't find any teachers that knew the language.

LFL : )

because there are so many spanish immagrants that wont learn english so we have to learn there language. and there are fewer itailan immigrants

Joey's back

I'm not sure what motivated this question, especially in this category--probably some reference to "illegals"--a topic that doesn't even warrant anymore of my keystrokes today. But if you're serious, why can't you take Italian? I did; in fact I took Italian and Spanish in high school. (From the same teacher--who had grown up in a home where Italian was spoke)--Boy! Did we ever get into some confusing situations in school! She was always mixing them up--the languages, that is. And some students had both classes, some only had one or the other. The teacher would say something, and suddenly half of the class would give her that blank "I've-never-heard-that-before" stare, and she'd say, "Oh! Wrong language again? Which class is this?" It was pretty funny.
Anyway, good luck.

edit--to the fella above me: I don't think she meant those as racist comments; I think she meant that racists in those days made the same sorts of comments about Italians as racists make today about Mexicans.
If she DID mean them, you're right! She's too stupid to be at a computer!

xpoisonedtearzx

yeah i know what you mean. Unfortunately in school i couldnt. BUT if you are in high school you can actually go to a JC and take italian there if they have it and you can get HS credits for it.

my school gave chinese,japanese,german,spanish, and french. But they took away the german. =(

bunt

Many schools offer Italian and other languages. The time when Italians were coming to the US illegally, overstaying their visas and marrying for papers has passed( 1920s-1970s). Now it's the Mexicans's turn. In 20 years it will be someone else.
Italians aren't superior to the Mexicans:they speak English only because they've been here for decades. They were allowed to stay, because back then the laws were immigration-friendly. Italians today don't need a visa to come to the US, since the big Italian invasion has passed. And for the record, when Italians were invading the US, you had the same anti-immigrant sentiment-they came by the millions,spoke no English and were taking low-pay jobs. Many of them were drug-dealers and Italians as a whole were looked down upon. Same goes for the Mexicans now. Only they work harder to prove themselves. There are no new Italian immigrants today, so Italian is not popular at all, and Italy is not your southern neighbour. Mexico is.
rarizzo, I'm not calling Italians drug-dealers. I KNOW many of those who were such at the time!It is well documented fact. THe drug-dealing mafia in the US is mostly fro the poorer southern parts of Italy.
You Italians have contributed of course to US culture , just as any other culture blending in...
Name-calling seems to be very Italian of you. Why are all Italians I know so beast-like? You lack any restraint, refined manners or civilized attitude the other Europeans have. You don't talk, you scream and name -call people. Is it because you have nothing else to say? Probably.

RAR24

To the idiot calling early Italian immigrants "drug dealers" - you are WAAAAY too stupid to be on these boards. Until you can do something other than spout lies and ignorance, I suggest you get something to back it up. No history book in the world is going to back you up. Your racist sentiment is not appreciated by anyone with half a brain. Ony an idiot would watch a mafia movie and consider it history. Italian immigrants have done more for this country than any other nationality.

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