I never imagined I would find myself working to get Italian language courses introduced into S.C. public schools. If someone had told me a few years ago I would be involved in this effort, I would have laughed out loud. But several things have come to my attention during that period that have made me say why not.

One was the number of people in central S.C. who descend from Italian immigrants. I began attending monthly meetings of a newly formed chapter of the Sons of Italy a few years back and was surprised at the size of the gatherings. I was honestly amazed to see the number of people in the Midlands who trace their heritage back to Italy.

I believe interest in learning Italian would not be limited to the Italian- American community however. Thousands of South Carolinians visit Italy for pleasure and business every year, and almost all of them come to think of Italy and the Italian people fondly.

There are a lot of practical reasons why students might want to learn to speak Italian. For example, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, Italian is the fourth foreign language most spoken in U.S. homes. It is the oldest Romance language. Furthermore, given that Italian evolved from Latin, students preparing for the SAT who have studied Italian tend to score higher on vocabulary and grammar.

Over the past few years, Richland One has offered language training in several languages beyond the more or less traditional choices of Spanish, French and German. Students now also have Chinese, Japanese, and Russian to choose from. When I learned of the addition of these other languages to the curriculum, I thought there might be a place for Italian as well.

The process of getting new language courses introduced into SC schools can be formidable. However, as curriculum experts within the system explained it to me, the state is obliged to offer courses for which sufficient demand can be demonstrated.

I am trying to demonstrate there is a demand for Italian language courses in S.C. schools. My initial focus is on Richland and Lexington County middle and high schools.

I encourage anyone interested in supporting this effort to email me at wrolandi@aol.com.

Mille grazie!

Why study Italian?

• Italy is one of the top five economies in the world, ahead of Great Britain, Russia, and China.

• An estimated 7,500 American companies do business with Italy.

• Italy is a world leader in machine tool manufacturing with advanced technologies in robotics, shipbuilding, construction machinery, and transportation equipment.

• Italy is a world leader in the culinary arts, interior design, fashion, graphic design, furniture design, etc.

• Tourism is huge in Italy: In the Jubilee Year 2000, Rome hosted over 30 million visitors.

• Over 60 percent of the world's art treasures are found in Italy (according to UNESCO).