- For the Site, see Ling: Learn Italian.
- Available both on the browser and as an iPhone App.
- I've found the initial page-load to be a bit slow in the browser (at least using Chrome), so anyone clicking the above link may need to be somewhat patient.
- Ling Introduction:
- Italy is the fourth most populous country in Europe. It borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia to the North, encompasses both the Vatican and San Marino within its borders, and reaches down to the Mediterranean to the South. The country has a notable culture which has seen its influence spread around the world, especially on restaurant menus. Together with a world-renowned fashion industry, Italy and its language have become popular for language learners.
- Italian is used in numerous countries, not just in Italy where it is spoken by 69 million people. There are certain regions in Switzerland and Slovenia where Italian is native. That is not to mention the likes of San Marino and the many Italian communities around the world. All in all, there are around 90 million Italian speakers. With its wide spread, there are numerous varieties of the language which, while having some differences in pronunciation, are usually understandable for other speakers.
- Italian uses the Latin Alphabet, but only 21 letters are commonly used. As a Romance language, it shares many traits with other closely related languages like French, but also has many unique features. It uses grammatical gender - masculine and feminine forms - while using four different cases for personal pronouns but not for nouns. There is no real set sentence structure, with different word orders changing the emphasis of the sentence.
- There are many reasons that make Italian an attractive language to learn. Italian cuisine is some of the most recognizable and is enjoyed around the world. It’s Roman past saw one of the largest empires in history. Some of the best supercars also call Italy home. Whatever the reason, learning Italian would be a great endeavor and prove useful in a number of contexts.
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