Italian is a Romance language, known for its beautiful sounding rhythm. For those travelling to Italy, some knowledge of the language is not just useful in the practical sense, but can also enhance your experience of the country to a large degree.

Some Italians in Italy may be intimidated by those who do not speak their mother tongue, but they do become very talkative once they find foreigners who know some Italian. They are also quite forgiving when travellers make mistakes in the Italian vocabulary, grammar, or pronunciation, and corrections are always given with a smile.

The Italian language is spoken by about seventy million people worldwide, mostly in Italy itself. Among the different Romance Languages, the Italian language is the one that is most comparable to Latin when it comes to vocabulary as well as in grammar.

Italian is considered a simple language, and it has many dialects. It is of course Italy's national language, as well as being an official language in the Swiss cantons of Ticino and Grigioni. It is also spoken among Italian minorities in Istria, Slovenia as well as in Croatia. Italian is the second official language in the smallest independent nation of the world, the Vatican City. Italian-speaking people can also be found in Belgium, Venezuela, Luxembourg, Australia, Monaco, Germany, and Canada as well as in Albania, and in some countries in Africa. Italian was previously used as the official language of Malta before1934.

The following are the different dialects of Italian – Tuscan, Pugliese (Apulian), Central Marchigiano, Abruzzese, Piemontese, Cicolano-Reatino-Aquilano, Umbrian, Molisan, and Laziale as well as Brescian, Modenese, Sicilian, Milanese, and Bergamasc.

Each Italian city has a distinct dialect. The best Italian is said to be Tuscan dialects combined with inflections of Roman, or the lingua toscana in bocca romana. This is because Tuscan is believed to be the most similar dialect to Dante's Italian, and Romans are known for great word enunciations.

Learning Italian is easier for people who speak one of the other Romance languages, such as French or Spanish, because of their striking similarities. Spelling Italian words is also a simple task, as most of the words in this language are spelled phonetically. Italian can be learned in less than twelve months for speakers of any of the Romance languages. English speakers who wish to study Italian can possibly be fluent in the language in 12 to 18 months. Audio tapes are also very helpful to students of Italian because these enable the learner to hear the correct rhythm and intonation of the language.


Italian also has a distinct stress in its pronunciation which is very important especially when speaking to native Italian speakers. The language has a complex conjugation system and students learning the language may be confused when they encounter irregularities in the plurals and in verb conjugations. However, these will all be learned properly in time. Another guide to pronunciation of Italian words is the sign on top of a letter, or the accento, which signifies that the letter should be accented.