ITALIANO AT LA SCUOLA

Why Italian?

Perhaps the most romantic of the romance languages, Italian has consistently charmed populations abroad, despite being only primarily spoken on the European peninsula. There are likely some explanations as to why, but we are especially concerned with the what — what learning can happen in and through the Italian language? At La Scuola we are not just teaching Italian, we are teaching our students to be lifelong language learners.

Bilingualism is well known to be a strong predictor of academic success and lifelong happiness. The Italian language especially benefits students by giving them an understanding of Latin roots, and thus an increased ability to appreciate art, music, history, and science. Italian is the language that has stayed the most closely linked to Latin — the language from which so many others have borrowed words and phrases — allowing those who study it the advantage of more easily learning words in not only other languages, but in English as well. Statistically, children who study a second language score higher on verbal standardized tests conducted in English, perform better in math and logic skills testing, and are better at solving complex problems.

In the IB-Primary Years Program, Italian language is part of the daily routine of every student at La Scuola. We start the day with an Assemblea where we share our emotions, our passions, and special events with our peers. Every week, students have responsibilities that help us run our classroom routines in Italian, for example: appello, calendario, orario. We use Italian language to teach Math, Units of Inquiry, Music, Physical Education, Tech, and Tinkering, and children can apply their Italian skills in all those subject areas and interactions, making their learning useful and visible.

Italian language is also enhanced through Italian culture and lifestyle and students get to know Italian traditions, literature, songs, art, and more. La Scuola participates in international events such as La Settimana della Lingua Italiana, where all the grades explore a theme related to Italian culture through different lenses and create amazing projects. The elementary students participate actively in exchanges with Italian schools in Italy and all over the world where Italian language is the common language, allowing students to build awareness around a global community.

In the IB-Middle Years Program, Italian language connects our inquiries to a rich cultural and historical heritage in Italy and beyond. Language study bridges inquiry into other subjects, such as art history, political philosophy, design, architecture, biotech, agriculture and gastronomy. It also introduces our students to the network of romance languages.

In upper elementary, students begin study of a third language moving from a bilingual model to a multilingual one. Our young scholars continue the study of three languages throughout the Middle Years Program in their pursuit to become independent inquirers, effective multilingual communicators, and principled global citizens.