It is Not an accident that the "Italianness" of St.Louis is flourishing in so many ways including it's Italian Language Courses, when it has by far the most successful Italian American City Web Site in the U.S.

The Web Site "Italy at St Louis" is SO far ahead of any other American City, as to make them appear that other IA Communities are still sitting on the starting line.

"Italy at St.Louis" << http://www.italystl.com >> receives over 200,000 "hits" per month, and provides a modern community communication system unparralled.

This Community Web Site affords it the opportunity to respond IMMEDIATELY to any Local Problem!!!

The founder/publisher  of "Italy at St.Louis" is Franco Giannotti, who also has long been one of the strongest advocates of Italian Language classes, is a COMITES representative to the Chicago Italian Counsel General, AND  the owner of Venmar Systems, provider of sophisticated telephone business systems.

The Language courses offered at Southern Illinois University, are both the For Credit University courses, and the Non Credit Continuing Education courses.

Southern Illinois University has campuses in Edwardsville and East St.Louis. Edwardsville is a suburb of St. Louis, about 12 miles from the outskirts, although across the Mississippi River, and in another State, Illinois.

Edwardsville Intelligencer
Steve Horrell
Monday 13 December, 2004

SIUE class tailored to those who plan on traveling abroad

Take the Italian class offered next month by Southern Illinois University Edwardsville's Office of Continuing Education and you'll want to dine more often at Italian restaurants, confident that your request for a menu ("Posso avere il menu, per favore?") won't get you, instead, a bottle of wine ("Desidero una bottiglia di vino").

The Italian classes offered by Continuing Education promise to be more relaxed and less anxiety-inducing than their for-credit counterparts offered by the university's Foreign Languages and Literature Department.

The offering is part of a new Italian Language program sponsored by the Federation of Italian American Organizations of the St. Louis Metropolitan Area, with the cooperation of the Italian American Club of Southwestern Illinois.

The classes run for 10 weeks, from Jan. 19 to March 23. "It's really for people who want to take it as a hobby," said Matt Melucci, the circuit clerk for Madison County and also president of the IACS.

"Some people are going to want to take it who are maybe planning a trip to Italy in a couple of years and would like to learn the basics." The cost is $49, and classes meet on Wednesday from 7 to 9 p.m. More information can be obtained by calling 650-3210.

Tony DiPaolo, a lecturer in the Foreign Languages and Literature Department, says the Continuing Education classes could become a stepping stone to the for-credit classes in his department. And the attraction won't just be for young people of Italian lineage, he said. It may pull in those who feel that learning the language can lead to a better understanding of Italian culture, including things like Italian history and Italian food.

Like Melucci, DiPaolo agrees it will be useful to anyone planning a trip to Italy. "Italy is one of the most traveled-to countries in the world," he said.

In Madison County, there are neighborhoods of Italian-Americans in Alton, Wood River, Collinsville, and Madison. In St. Louis, Italian has been taught since 1978 in the Hill neighborhood of St. Louis. Immigrants first arrived there from Lombardi and Sicily in the early 1900s. and today the neighborhoods have tiny yards decorated with statues of the Virgin Mary and curbs dotted with fireplugs painted green, white, and red.

In 2001, after several teachers had retired and organizers couldn't attract top-notch replacements, the classes were put on hold. "We've always had good instructors," said Joseph Torrisi, community education specialist for the St. Louis Italian Language program. "We just weren't able to pay them what they were worth."

Soon, however, a grant from the Italian Government, under the auspices of Italian Consul General Enrico Granara and Education Officer Anna Fiore, allowed the group's Teacher Selection Committee to recruit and hire several teachers.

The program started up again in 2002-2003, taught by instructors like Giovanna Leopardi, Nerina Giannotti, and others. It attracted 100 students; the following fall 90 students enrolled, and then 180 more enrolled in the spring, Torrisi said.

By January of 2004, they joined the St. Louis Community College system at Forest Park and opened classrooms at a 58,000 square facility known as the Missouri Botanical Garden (Commerce Bank) Education Center, on Shaw Boulevard. "We just outgrew the place," Torrisi said of the school building where the classes were first held. "

We had three classrooms available and we needed four or five." The number Italian-Americans on the Illinois side of the Mississippi isn't known but it seems to be increasing, based on the make-up of his own classes, DiPaolo said. And while the two Continuing Education Italian classes that will be offered in January - Beginning I and Beginning II - will deal only with the basics, the hope is that should the students ever find themselves in Italy, the phrase they'll most often utter is "Capisco benissimo," not "Non capisco."

Course offers relaxed Italian
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