L’italiano in Austria

The article illustrates the position of Italian as a foreign language in Austria. The present status reflects the glorious past when Italian was not only one of the official languages of the Empire, but also language of culture and one of the languages at the Court. As there has never been big scale immigration from Italy, Italian has maintained it’s image as the language of the opera and of arts. But it’s use today is also determined by economical motives, because Italy is Austria’s second most important commercial partner after Germany. The second part consists of an analysis of the need for the knowledge of Italian in the Austrian society and it offers a description of the present Italian language teaching in Austrian schools.