Torino Politecnico Increases All-English Programs; Participants to Pay No Tax

NEW YORK--(Italy Watch)--In a blow to Italian language lobbyers everywhere, il Politecnico di Torino recently announced that it will provide more English-only programs, aimed at attracting foreign students. To pour salt in the wound, the English-only participants will pay no taxes for their first year of study.

Statistics vary greatly, but in all available data, Italian usage lags roughly ten places behind English, Spanish, French and German. Italian, the 24th most spoken language in the world with 61 million native speakers, comprising 2% of the EU, trails behind the other EU economic engines' languages: Britain (English 2nd); Spain (Spanish 4th); France (French 10th); Germany (German 12th).

Critics of the "no taxation program" claim that Italians choosing to study in the madrelingua are unfairly penalized. University officials see a different picture, however, noting that the students they hope to attract often come from China, India and the Arab World, places where English is widely studied.

All English-language programs are not new to Italy, with Milan's Bocconi introducing all-English degrees in 2001, and Firenze and Bologna offering similar programs.

Last February Prime Minister Romano Prodi lobbyed to reinforce Italian's prominence in the EU. The EU currently has only English and French-speaking spokesmen, and press conferences that were once translated into Italian, have had funding cut.