Editing Italian language (section)

=== Education ===
[[File:ItalSchoolRijeka.jpg|thumb|[[Italian Secondary School, Rijeka|Italian Secondary School in Rijeka/Fiume]], [[Croatia]]]]
Italian is widely taught in many schools around the world, but rarely as the first foreign language. In the 21st century, technology also allows for the continual spread of the Italian language, as people have new ways to learn how to speak, read, and write languages at their own pace and at any given time. For example, the free website and application [[Duolingo]] has 4.94&nbsp;million English speakers learning the Italian language.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.duolingo.com/courses|title=duolingo|website=duolingo|access-date=18 July 2017|archive-date=23 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221023033042/https://www.duolingo.com/enroll/eo/en/Learn-Esperanto|url-status=live}}</ref>

According to the [[Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs]], every year there are more than 200,000 foreign students who study the Italian language; they are distributed among the 90 [[Italian Cultural Institute|Institutes of Italian Culture]] that are located around the world, in the 179 Italian schools located abroad, or in the 111 Italian lecturer sections belonging to foreign schools where Italian is taught as a language of culture.<ref name="esteri.it">{{cite web |url=http://www.esteri.it/MAE/IT/Politica_Estera/Cultura/PromozioneLinguaItaliana/DatiStatisticheInsegnamentoLingua.htm |title=Dati e statistiche |publisher=Esteri.it |date=28 September 2007 |access-date=22 October 2015 |archive-date=7 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807061658/http://www.esteri.it/MAE/IT/Politica_Estera/Cultura/PromozioneLinguaItaliana/DatiStatisticheInsegnamentoLingua.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

As of 2022, Australia had the highest number of students learning Italian in the world. This occurred because of support by the Italian community in Australia and the Italian Government and also because of successful educational reform efforts led by local governments in Australia.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hajek |first1=John |last2=Aliani |first2=Renata |last3=Slaughter |first3=Yvette |title=From the Periphery to the Center Stage: The Mainstreaming of Italian in the Australian Education System (1960s to 1990s) |journal=History of Education Quarterly |date=November 2022 |volume=62 |issue=4 |pages=475–97 |doi=10.1017/heq.2022.30|s2cid=253447737 |doi-access=free }}</ref>