When the Italian diaspora speaks in Italian

What happens when the Italian diaspora starts communicating with each other in Italian?

Recently, I connected with an Italian-Australian online friend who runs a tourism company in Italy. Similarly to me, she has connected deeper and deeper with her heritage and her roots, driving her to move back and make a mark in the country of her ancestors.

The most fantastic part of the call from my perspective (outside of the obvious - catching up, touching on interesting topics, etc.) was the fact that it was 100% in the Italian language, and it just happened naturally. 

Why is that so "fantastic"?

Well, neither of us are native Italian speakers. I was barely surrounded by the language at all growing up in the USA. But we were able to have a full-blown conversation in Italian as if it was English.

And we aren't the only ones.

Many young (and old) people in the worldwide Italian diaspora have decided to learn the language of their ancestors - whether it be standard Italian, or even regional languages and dialects (amazing!).

This has helped us connect more to our roots, and to modern Italy. It has allowed us to have more enriching and deeper experiences in Italy and abroad. And now, we are slowly but surely turning Italian into a secondary lingua franca in the diaspora.

I'm excited to see the continued growth of the Italian language in the diaspora and for it to serve as a opportunity for more communities to connect, because we will once again have a common language.

If you are part of the Italian diaspora and you have the desire and passion to learn Italian, today is your day to start! :)