Italy loses language challenge, in last place for polyglots

Brussels – English, mostly. Alternatively, French. But knowing both is rare, indeed, in Italy, where high school students stand out for being in last place in the European Union for studying and learning two foreign languages at the same time. According to Eurostat data, there are few bilingual sections
in secondary schools, highlighting a country system that most likely needs to
be rethought and modified. “Portugal (7.5 per cent of enrollment), Ireland (9.4 per cent), and Italy (24 per cent) recorded the lowest percentages of students studying two or more foreign languages,” reads the note accompanying the data released today. Without in any way detracting from the quality of teaching, even assuming that this is of a high standard and thus provides an excellent knowledge of the foreign language offered in high school (something, however, not to be taken for granted),  it is clear that young Italians are less competitive than peers in other member countries.

A structural problem, since in the last four years nothing has changed.

Even France, which makes its language a source of national pride and the object of promotional policies, has an education system that puts high school and vocational school students in a position to respond to an increasingly demanding labour market. In France, by the end of 2022, 99.7 per cent of them, almost all, will be studying at least two languages other than their own. An almost similar rate is seen in Romania and Slovakia (98.9 per cent in both cases) and the Czech Republic (98.8 per cent). But Estonia, Finland, Slovenia, Luxembourg, and Croatia also record a rate above 90 per cent of high school-age students grappling with at least two languages.

The comparison, hence, does not reward Italy. Two out of ten people engaged with two languages, compared to nine out of ten in other member states, and an EU average that sees six out of ten young people (60.8 per cent) studying at least two foreign languages. Therefore, at the end of their studies, to compete with the other boys and girls of Italy, they will have to rely on private courses to supplement their curriculum and learn valuable skills to get more opportunities.