Italy wants to stop people using English words in Italian. People could get a fine for using non-Italian words. A government spokesperson is worried about the growth of English words in Italian. He called it "Anglomania". He wrote: "We continue our battle for the use of Italian instead of English." He said English was damaging the Italian language. He wants people to get fined up to €100,000 for using English words.
English has spread around the world for a century.
The Internet and social media have increased its use. People are worried this will harm their language. Not all Italians like having fines. A linguistics society disagreed with them. Other people like the idea. They are worried about the spread of English. Since the year 2000, the number of English words used in Italian has increased by 773 per cent. There are no signs this will stop.
Try the same news story at these levels:
English Vocabulary - Level 0, English Vocabulary - Level 2 or English Vocabulary - Level 3
Sources- https://www.euronews.com/2023/04/03/ciao-hello-no-italys-right-wing-government-wants-to-ban-english-words-with-100000-fines
- https://www.thelocal.it/20230404/anglomania-why-italys-government-wants-to-restrict-use-of-english-words
- https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/melonis-party-looks-shield-italian-language-foreign-contamination-2023-03-31/
Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice activities, drag and drop activities, sentence jumbles, which word activities, text reconstructions, spelling, gap fills and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)