Italian Language
Eritrea, Ethiopia, Libya, and Somalia conserve Italian as a colonial legacy; Somalia had Italian as its cultural language in universities up to 1991; however, the Italian language remains unknown to over 95% of the population. In Libya, Italians were forced to leave the country after its independence.
In all of these countries, the only one that most preserves Italian is Eritrea, that has only one Italian-language school remaining, with 470 pupils yearly. The name of the only Italian-language school in Eritrea is Scuola Italiana di Asmara. Other countries that also preserve Italian are Libya and Somalia; Italian remains an important language in the education and economic sectors in Libya, although Arabic becomes the sole official language of the country when dictatorship of Muammar Gaddafi ruled; Italian remains spoken as a second language by the elderly and educated in Somalia and is also used as one of second languages in the new Federal Government of Somalia.
Read more about this topic: Romance-speaking Africa
Famous quotes containing the words italian and/or language:
“Their martyred blood and ashes sow
O’er all the Italian fields where still doth sway
The triple tyrant; that from these may grow
A hundredfold, who, having learnt thy way,
Early may fly the Babylonian woe.”
—John Milton (1608–1674)
“Public speaking is done in the public tongue, the national or tribal language; and the language of our tribe is the men’s language. Of course women learn it. We’re not dumb. If you can tell Margaret Thatcher from Ronald Reagan, or Indira Gandhi from General Somoza, by anything they say, tell me how. This is a man’s world, so it talks a man’s language.”
—Ursula K. Le Guin (b. 1929)