If you studied French or Spanish in high school you may recognize some similarities between those languages and Italian. If you studied Latin in high school, then you have an advantage since Italian came from Latin. Regardless of your experience with foreign language, many students fall in love with Italian because it's so robust-sounding and romantic, and also, honestly, fun to learn.

And then those students realize they must study Italian abroad. The language is a huge part of the country's history, which dates back to the Romans. So much of civilization began in Italy that studying the Italian language abroad there is an invaluable experience.

Italian Won't Leave You Lonely
If, for some reason, learning Italian in Italy doesn't appeal to you, you can study Italian abroad in other countries, too. Italian, with about 65 million speakers worldwide, is spoken in countries such as:

• Switzerland, with 840,000 speakers;
• Brazil, with 700,000 speakers;
• Argentina, with 600,000 speakers and;
• San Marino, with 24,000 speakers.

Italian is Impressive
The fact that so many people speak Italian across the world is one reason to learn it, but there are much better (and more selfish!) reasons to study Italian in Italy. For one thing, there's the chic factor-if you can speak Italian, you'll impress plenty of people in countries like the United States, United Kingdom and Japan. You'll also be able to impress various wait staff and dates when you correctly pronounce your order at an Italian restaurant-not to mention gain a real appreciation for the Italian slang in the Sopranos!

But when it comes down to it, being able to speak Italian is simply good for business. Students in any number of fields can benefit from learning, and studying Italian abroad just sweetens the deal:

• Thousands of companies from around the world do business with Italy and many have offices located in Italian cities;
• Italy ranks in the top five on the list of the top 10 economies in the world, and is considered a leader in fields like design, construction, engineering and tourism;
• Italian is considered a language of gastronomy and of the arts-which makes sense when you see all that food and those museums in Italy!

Italian's not so Foreign
When most English-speakers think about learning a language, one of the first things they want to know is how different the foreign tongue is from their own. Well, Italian's different. Not hieroglyphics-different, but you will run into some difficulties. For example, you'll have to deal with conjugating verbs and while rolling your "r's" like they do in Italian is fun, it takes some time to learn!

But when you get to actually try out your Italian skills in an open-air market in Rome, learning stuff like this doesn't seem so bad:

• Italian has the same consonants as English, except they're pronounced differently and it only uses the letters "j," "k," "w," "x" and "y" in foreign words;
• Some consonants and vowels in Italian have more than one pronunciation, and the way you say some of the consonants depends on the vowels next to them;
• Unlike in English, the Italian language uses some accents, but only vowels get them and they're rarely spelled out.

Italian-Not Just Pasta Anymore
Well, if you're not ready to say "Arrivederci" for a summer or semester to study Italian in Italy, then what will it take? Not to name-drop, but: Florence? Venice? Naples? The Leaning Tower of Pisa? If nothing else, don't you want to shop in Milan at Versace, swim in the Mediterranean or just get out of your cramped dorm room?