[RibbedHero]

From opera at La Scala to football at the San Siro stadium, from the catwalks of fashion week to the soaring architecture of the cathedral, Milan is crowded with Italian icons. Which makes it even more of a cultural earthquake that one of Italy's leading universities - the Politecnico di Milano - is going to switch to the English language. The university has announced that from 2014 most of its degree courses - including all its graduate courses - will be taught and assessed entirely in English rather than Italian. The waters of globalisation are rising around higher education - and the university believes that if it remains Italian-speaking it risks isolation and will be unable to compete as an international institution. "We strongly believe our classes should be international classes - and the only way to have international classes is to use the English language," says the university's rector, Giovanni Azzone. Italy might have been the cradle of the last great global language - Latin - but now this university is planning to adopt English as the new common language.

More here from the BBC



I don't know how I feel about this. Sure it may be good for the university's graduates in the short-run, but it seems like most languages are (very) slowly dying out. I'm kinda disappointed.

[markot]

Thats silly.

[i_am_ben]

well with budget cuts you've got to chase those international students.

[Jason Raize '75 - '04]

They need to attract international students for the money

[Manager]

I don't know how I feel about this. Sure it may be good for the university's graduates in the short-run, but it seems like most languages are (very) slowly dying out. I'm kinda disappointed.

Most of my courses (engineering) has been in English, I don't feel that my language (Swedish) is dying out all. It's just a way of making yourself more in demand to a work place. It's not like anyone of us is using English outside of the lectures.

Plus, let's not forget that most of the best study litterature is available in English. I rather have good litterature in English than some mediocre ones in Swedish (though I understand more books are translated to Italian than Swedish).

[slit]

Questo è un oltraggio.

[speedpop]

Crazy to think that the repercussions of the British Empire has caused the "unofficial" adoption of English as the global language, despite there being more Mandarin and Spanish speakers.

[sikkinixx]

"everyone should speak English or shut up, that's what I say!" - Calvin

[jred250]

Well I am sorry if Italians feel slighted that their languages importance is diminished, but the prospect of english being the global standard is super exciting. I see all of the gaffers from different cultures represented on here, and I think it is really cool to interact with people who I would really know nothing about otherwise.

[Piecake]

Crazy to think that the repercussions of the British Empire has caused the "unofficial" adoption of English as the global language, despite there being more Mandarin and Spanish speakers.

I think it has more to do with Business culture and America being at the top of that than the British Empire

[w00pdiw00p]

So they have until 2014 to learn English.
Exciting!

[Kabouter]

Is this really that shocking? Universities here in the Netherlands have been switching more and more to English for years. A 2007 report said that English was 'dominant' in Dutch universities. No laws limiting it, so it's obviously opportune for universities to switch to English. (to attract foreign students without having to effectively offer the same degree in both Dutch and English)

I think it has more to do with Business culture and America being at the top of that than the British Empire

And what is the reason America speaks English, you reckon?

[speedpop]

I think it has more to do with Business culture and America being at the top of that than the British Empire

The United States of America has only been at the top for several decades. I'm speaking about the past 300+ years.

[CiSTM]

Nothing new here, Japan is doing this as well, OIST is first english only university in Japan and there will be more to come. Germany and Fracne will also open english only universities by the year 2013.

In order to attract best people of the world, around the globe, you have to have language everyone can speak at some level.

[RibbedHero]

I think it has more to do with Business culture and America being at the top of that than the British Empire

The business culture and top dog America's association with the language are a direct result of the British Empire and it spreading of the language.

[Solstice]

Funny that this is brought up. Just last week we covered in my anthropology class that there will probably be only about 20 to 30 actively spoken languages in the next 100 years

[Shiloa]

Good. It'll be good for the university and in the long run it will benefit the students too as long as they can study well enough in English.

Slightly off topic, but I firmly believe a globally accepted language that everyone speaks (whatever it is, doesn't have to be English) is the best way to reduce wars and other international issues.

[speedpop]

Despite all this, I still feel incredibly inadequate at knowing only a single language proficiently.

[RibbedHero]

Most of my courses (engineering) has been in English, I don't feel that my language (Swedish) is dying out all. It's just a way of making yourself more in demand to a work place. It's not like anyone of us is using English outside of the lectures. Plus, let's not forget that most of the best study litterature is available in English. I rather have good litterature in English than some mediocre ones in Swedish (though I understand more books are translated to Italian than Swedish).

Is this really that shocking? Universities here in the Netherlands have been switching more and more to English for years. A 2007 report said that English was 'dominant' in Dutch universities. No laws limiting it, so it's obviously opportune for universities to switch to English. (to attract foreign students without having to effectively offer the same degree in both Dutch and English)

The thing is that both Sweden and the Netherlands (and most of Northern Europe for that matter) already have very high English literacy. I believe its 70-90% speak English passably. Italy always seemed far more monolingual, and adding to that the fact that Italian is a historically and presently very prominent language (no sleight to Swedish or Dutch). That's why it was surprising to me.

[el retorno]

Funny that this is brought up. Just last week we covered in my anthropology class that there will probably be only about 20 to 30 actively spoken languages in the next 100 years

is god gonna get mad again?

[Solstice]

is god gonna get mad again?

Cultural displacement. As smaller cultures are being assimilated into larger cultures, their languages change as well as their customs. The farther along human society gets (depending on whether or not we blow ourselves to shit), the more the cultures merge and the more uniqueness gets lost.

[T.O.P]

Pretty good news, hoping that other universities will follow this idea asap

[Sardello]

Questo è un oltraggio.

The real problem is that I hardly belive that all Politecnico professors know English.

[cyclonekruse]

Crazy to think that the repercussions of the British Empire has caused the "unofficial" adoption of English as the global language, despite there being more Mandarin and Spanish speakers.

There are more native Mandarin and Spanish speakers. But there are more English speakers over all.

[Computer]

Nooooo :(

[Piecake]

And what is the reason America speaks English, you reckon?

I dont think that really is a significant reason though. If America/Britain werent the top dogs in international business post WWII, and countries like Russia, China, or Spain were, well, I dont think English would be considered THE international language. Still important, due to the Empire, but just like more and more people are learning Chinese, people would have studied Russian/Chinese/Spanish/Whatever

[CiSTM]

Nooooo :(

Isn't it a good thing? Now you can get world class professors who aren't fluent in italian language, you will also get more students around the world to share their ways and know-hows with you. Where is the harm?

[OG Kush]

Whats the statistic about dying languages? A language dies every 2 weeks was it?

[RibbedHero]

I dont think that really is a significant reason though. If America/Britain werent the top dogs in international business post WWII, and countries like Russia, China, or Spain were, well, I dont think English would be considered THE international language. Still important, due to the Empire, but just like more and more people are learning Chinese, people would have studied Russian/Chinese/Spanish/Whatever

Undoubtedly the size and wealth of the Anglosphere (the US in particular) resulted in its present-day dominance, but the only reason so many people and so many nations speak it is because Britain exported it and its Empire was so powerful.

[Computer]

A week or so ago, co-vocabularists were invited to post questions on the future of communication to the French linguist Claude Hagège – author of “On the Death and Life of Languages.” Mr. Hagège’s detailed and thought-provoking answers are below: Q: Who says English is going to dominate forever? Last I checked, India and China are ascendant and the US is in decline … – Brian Bailey A: Hindi (the most spoken language in India) and Mandarin Chinese might replace English as dominant languages some day. But two reasons at least lead one to think that the process could be long: (i) Hindi is not widespread outside Asia, and there is presently no special effort to promote it worldwide. As for Mandarin Chinese, it is true that a great number of Confucius Institutes are scheduled to be built by China in various countries, but we cannot know today the result of this decision; (ii) The publications (books, internet, etc.) in English cover all domains of knowledge, let alone the presence of English in all other activities. These traces of the worldwide spread of English will not disappear. Q: I am an American studying Arabic and often ask myself this question: How can we reconcile (1) preserving world languages, their beauty and history, with (2) the increasing need for foreign language speakers to know English if they plan to succeed in many cases? I’ve had many debates on the importance of Arabic in the Arab world but some have responded to my support of fusha by saying “are you going to make them study that in the classroom when English could give someone a better life?” It is a huge question which has numerous subquestions but I would like to hear your thoughts. – Dot A: Teaching English as a language which can more easily provide a better life and a profession does not prevent foreign language speakers from remaining faithful to their vernacular language as the only one able to express their most personal thoughts and feelings. It does not seem that the two are difficult to reconcile, since the domains of use of the two languages, say Arabic fusha (Classical or “pure” language) and English, are quite different, as are the circumstances, in peoples’ lives, in which one or the other is used. Q: Phenomena come and go and to try to “preserve” a language is a useless endeavor. And why would you want to? It is a tool and when its need disappears with the culture new languages come up. Trying to preserve everything that ever was at the expense of new developments crowds us out of the crucial continuance of life. If you try to stand still you die. If you evolve and grow you go to higher levels. It is a feature of nature to change continuously, to shed the old no matter how beautiful. The spirit that creates leads us to new experiences always. – rowdy 68 A: To try to preserve a language is not a useless endeavor. Languages are much more than communication tools. When one tries to preserve something that existed before, it is far from being at the expense of new developments, nor does it by any means crowd us out of the crucial continuance of life. Would one say that Roman and Gothic cathedrals, Renaissance paintings, sculptures and castles, Venice palaces, Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Schubert, Brahms chamber-music are works that make us stand still? Quite to the contrary, preserving masterpieces inherited from the past enhances our own creativeness. Languages are not technical objects or industrial devices that can be abandoned once used. They are creations of our minds, and preserving them offers us seminal conceptions of the relationships between man and the universe. Shedding the old when it isn’t useful anymore is conceivable, but endangered languages are not obsolete systems that no society needs. They reflect various very interesting human cultures which make part of human civilization (as recalled in my “Language-Lover’s Dictionary of Languages,” French edition: Paris, Plon, 2009). Furthermore, they can be revived. When Hebrew became, by the collective decision of a human community, the language of a state, it had disappeared from spoken usage two millenaries earlier. Just because they express endlessly varying identities, human languages do not fall into oblivion when they fall into disuse.

Lot more to read at http://schott.blogs.nytimes.com/2009...-of-languages/

[Piecake]

Undoubtedly the size and wealth of the Anglosphere (the US in particular) resulted in its present-day dominance, but the only reason so many people and so many nations speak it is because Britain exported it and its Empire was so powerful.

Well, yea, but thats not the reason why English is THE international language now. Now, i fully admit that English wouldnt be the THE international language without the Empire, but thats obvious since that means no English speaking America.

[Fancy Corndog]

This is 'merica, speak English. Good.


On a more serious note, this really is a good thing for the students. Business happens in English, and most educated people in the world learn it one way or another. This way, they'll have the language tied to the field that they'll probably be using it in most often.

There's the argument that it harms the Italian language, but then you could argue that we'd be better off with one global language anyway.

[ShutEye]

Not surprising at all. Many top continental schools offer Economics & Business graduate programs taught entirely in English because the top publishing journals & in many cases a majority of Journals & academic research are at least published or co-published in English.

Given the dominance of US research institutions in many fields its not surprising that European schools would evolve in this direction to compete for students and increase publications.

[genjiZERO]

This is a horrible idea (and I'm an American who speaks nothing fluently other than English).

[Nevasleep]

How much are the fees?? As they might be appealing to the UK.
There's a pretty popular Uni in the Netherlands.
Leta te drinkas begins

[-COOLIO-]

More here from the BBC I don't know how I feel about this. Sure it may be good for the university's graduates in the short-run, but it seems like most languages are (very) slowly dying out. I'm kinda disappointed.

this is a good thing

[Kosmo]

English is the language of business. From that perspective, it makes sense.

[i nerini del buio]

well, 90% of my master's degree classes were taught in english
during exams you could choose to answer either in english or italian, though

anyway, era anche ora :P

The real problem is that I hardly belive that all Politecnico professors know English.

:lol this is sadly true

[ConfusingJazz]

Here's why: http://www.city-journal.org/2012/22_1_anglosphere.html

The US and the rest of our Anglosphere bros are rich.

The United States of America has only been at the top for several decades. I'm speaking about the past 300+ years.

And for 250 of those years, French was the dominant language of international trade, education, and diplomacy.

[Mdk7]

It makes sense in perspective, but considering the average level of the English spoken here in Italy... LOL, seriously.

[viciouskillersquirrel]

English is the language of business. From that perspective, it makes sense.

English is the new French is the new Latin is the new Greek, is the new Persian is the new Assyrian is the new Babylonian is the new Sanskrit is the new Egyptian.

The world needs a lingua franca and, right now, English is it.

[i nerini del buio]

How much are the fees?? As they might be appealing to the UK. There's a pretty popular Uni in the Netherlands. Leta te drinkas begins

It depends on whether the university is public or private and your level of income.
My tuition have always been around 800€, public university (Università Bicocca), modest family. As a comparison, Università Bocconi (private) master's degree tuition is 11k €. Università Cattolica (private) is somewhere inbetween the two.

[DCKing]

English is the language of science, business and and anything important. It should be mandatory in all universities and probably later parts of most high schools in all of Europe.

~sincerely, a Dutchman

Having different languages everywhere is pretty pointless anyway. We should just decide on one, be it English, French, Chinese or some obscure rural African dialect as long as we just have one. English is the easiest to have at the moment. You native speakers are lucky.

[AnkitT]

English is the new French is the new Latin is the new Greek, is the new Persian is the new Assyrian is the new Babylonian is the new Sanskrit is the new Egyptian. The world needs a lingua franca and, right now, English is it.

Can I know Sanskrit and make it in the business world though? Can I kickstarter it?

[marvelharvey]

Pff, the English language is a fad.

[LyleLanley]

Pff, the English language is a fad.

GAF in 2003: English is a fad, nobody will talk about it next year
GAF in 2004: English is a fad, nobody will talk about it next year
GAF in 2005: English is a fad, nobody will talk about it next year
GAF in 2006: English is a fad, nobody will talk about it next year
GAF in 2007: English is a fad, nobody will talk about it next year
GAF in 2008: English is a fad, nobody will talk about it next year
GAF in 2009: English is a fad, nobody will talk about it next year
GAF in 2010: English is a fad, nobody will talk about it next year
GAF in 2011: English is a fad, nobody will talk about it next year
GAF in 2012: English is a fad, nobody will talk about it next year

[Hoo-doo]

English is the language of science, business and and anything important. It should be mandatory in all universities and probably later parts of most high schools in all of Europe. ~sincerely, a Dutchman Having different languages everywhere is pretty pointless anyway. We should just decide on one, be it English, French, Chinese or some obscure rural African dialect as long as we just have one. English is the easiest to have at the moment. You native speakers are lucky.

I agree.
I feel that everyone working or studying at universities should at least be able to speak, read and write English fluently, regardless of their native language. These places should be international hubs for knowledge and research, and constraining it to a local language doesn't make sense.

[ConfusingJazz]

English is the language of science, business and and anything important. It should be mandatory in all universities and probably later parts of most high schools in all of Europe. ~sincerely, a Dutchman Having different languages everywhere is pretty pointless anyway. We should just decide on one, be it English, French, Chinese or some obscure rural African dialect as long as we just have one. English is the easiest to have at the moment. You native speakers are lucky.

This is why a Frenchman is played by an English actor in TNG.

[Steelrain]

Man, I really did win the life lottery.

[SolidusDave]

Well, I guess it kinda depends on the subject.
It should be (and basically is) mandatory in all science departments across the world though.
I mean, do you really want to be a student/PhD in (hard) science who isn't fluent in English?

My grad school at my German university has been English-only from the beginning (=years ago).