The history of the Italian language is quite complex but the modern standard of the language was largely shaped by relatively recent events. The earliest surviving texts which can definitely be called Italian (as opposed to its predecessor Vulgar Latin (Related Forum Thread: Provincial Vulgar Latin)) are legal formulae from the region of Benevento dating from 960-963. Italian was first formalized in the first years of the 14th century through the works of Dante Alighieri, who mixed southern Italian languages, especially Sicilian, with his native Tuscan in his epic poems known collectively as the Commedia, to which Giovanni Boccaccio later affixed the title Divina. Dante's much-loved works were read throughout Italy and his written dialect became the "canonical standard" that others could all understand. Dante is still credited with standardizing the Italian language.
Italian is the official language of Italy and San Marino, and one of the official languages of Switzerland, spoken mainly in Ticino and Grigioni cantons. It is also the second official language in Vatican City and in some areas of Istria in Slovenia and Croatia with an Italian minority. It is also widely known and taught in Monaco and Malta. It is also widely spoken in Corsica and Nice (for both were former Italian possessions before being handed over to France), and Albania.
An excellent way to learn a language is with the help of your Personal Computer. There are several Italian language courses available that vary considerably in price and effectiveness.
An important aspect to be aware of is if the Italian course is available for the operating system you are using. Most people have Windows based systems, however there also many Mac users. Also keep in mind that older courses might not be compatible with Windows Vista or newer language course software may not work with older OS systems like Windows 95.
Computer-assisted language learning (CALL) is an approach to language teaching and learning in which computer technology is used as an aid to the presentation, reinforcement and assessment of material to be learned, usually including a substantial interactive element.
Below you will find a collection of "italian language software". We hope it proves to be useful for your goal to learn Italian from your computer.
Italian language course software
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| CD-ROM for Windows 8 / 7 / Vista / XP, Mac OS X - An award-winning method used by the U.S. State Department to train diplomats and NASA astronauts. |
CD-ROM for Windows Me / XP, Mac OS X, Palm OS - Effective immersion environment combined with 15 step-by-step italian learning lessons. |
CD-ROM for Windows 95 / 98 / Me / NT 4 / 2000 / XP / Vista - Italian language learning software 120 hours worth of activities; beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels. |
CD-ROM for Windows NT / 2000 / XP - The program offers 3,600+ exercises and 750+ hours of instruction on learning italian. With portability of audio lessons on compact disc. |
CD-ROM for Mac OS, Windows 95 / 98 / Me - Contains the full program for not only Italian but also for the following languages: Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Hebrew. |
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