OPINION
Heriberto Rodriguez
Chronicle Reporter
Hollywood High offers a wide range of language courses to its students, from Spanish, Mandarin, Korean, and Italian. Out of these four, Italian is the newest one added, as it was implemented during this current school year.
Maybe you are wondering what language class suits you best, and Italian may just be the right option for you.
Italian is the sixth most widely-spoken first language in Europe, after Russian, German, French, English and Turkish; it is an official language in the countries of Italy, San Marino, Switzerland and Vatican City, and it is official in some parts of Croatia and Slovenia as well. Not to mention that, although not officially, it is the second most widely spoken language in Argentina.
Being part of the romance language family, alongside French, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, et cetera, it is relatively easier for speakers of these languages to learn Italian, since they share many characteristics in both grammar and vocabulary. So if you speak any of the aforementioned languages, take a shot at Italian!
Not convinced yet? It is also the number one language for film, food, fashion, art, music, architecture and design; this means that Italian speakers get to have a broad career edge in such sectors.
If you end up deciding to learn Italian at Hollywood High, you will meet Francesco Lenoci, the Italian teacher.
“Italian is an incredibly beautiful and intricate language,” Lenoci said. “Italian is the most romantic of the romance languages! Sure, Italian may sound different when you hear someone talking. The accents are different, the culture is different, and the people are also different. But the language itself is much similar than you think. If you happen to know Spanish, French, English, or Portuguese, you’ll find a ton of similarities to Italian. They share many of the same, if not similar vocabulary, grammar, and sentence structures.”
So now, the question is, what do students do in this class?
There is a wide range of activities done weekly that prevent students from giving up on the language such as engaging lectures, using Kahoot as a resource to get students more familiarized with words and terms, Schoology discussions, learning about the history, culture, and gastronomy of Italy, et cetera.
Being the latest language course added to Hollywood High, it is rather innovative and enjoyable, and no one should miss the opportunity to learn this elegant language.
Remember, if you are interested in taking this marvelous course, make sure you contact your counselor for more information.