On December 10, 2016, Catherine Flumiani, the First Counselor for Consular and Social Affairs at the Italian Embassy, convened a meeting of the Greater Washington, D.C. Region Observatory for the Italian language. The meeting was attended by representatives of Italian and Italian-American associations, the Ente Gestore for the Washington DC area, and professors of Italian language from local universities. Participating at the meeting was also Maria Fusco, the Director of the Education Office at the Italian Embassy, and Angela.
Among the agenda items discussed at the meeting were, trends and numbers classes and students enrolled in Italian language programs in the Greater Washington DC Region; the contribution of the Italian Government to the promotion of the Italian language; the role of the Italian and Italian-American Associations; the funding of scholarships and awards; the training of teachers; and the contributions to the draft strategic plan.
The meeting was held in anticipation of the of the first 2017 biannual meeting of the National Observatory of the Italian Language, which will be held in January 2017, at the Italian Embassy with the participation of the main stakeholders and partners for the promotion of the Italian language and culture in the USA.
The National Observatory will review progress made in the last months, in terms of number of successful AP exams taken (2,774 in June 2016, +8% compared to 2015), of courses established in public and private schools, and of number of students attending Italian language courses. A reviewed strategic plan for 2017 will be presented, based on comments to the enclosed draft provided by local Observatories which have been requested to hold their meetings in the coming weeks.
