Italy: a bill wants to ban the use of foreign words

A woman walks next to an English-language advertisement in central Rome, May 20, 2020. © VINCENZO PINTO / AFP

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The Vice-President of the Chamber of Deputies, Fabio Rampelli, a member of the Fratelli d'Italia party, presented a bill on the prohibition of the use of words or acronyms in a foreign language "with a view to safeguarding the Italian language and defending identity". This bill is controversial.

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With our correspondent in Rome, Anne Le Nir

The project of MP Fabio Rampelli targets above all administrations, institutions and public or private companies that will no longer have to use words in English in order to preserve the language of Dante. His draft law also states that in public educational institutions, all courses must be taught in Italian, except those dedicated to the learning of foreign languages. In addition, simultaneous translation into Italian will be mandatory for international conferences and events, which are open to the public. Violation of the regulation will be punishable by a fine of 5,000 to 100,000 euros.

Exorbitant fines for the opposition

For the center-left opposition, these exorbitant sums make the bill "even more grotesque". For its part, the Accademia Della Crusca, the oldest linguistic academy in the world, considers the sanctions unnecessary and ensures that it would be enough "a little common sense to avoid stupidities like the Green Economy". A term systematically used by the Meloni government, the first to have instituted a ministry of "Made in Italy".

Condividiamo l'intervista di Letizia Cini al presidente Claudio Marazzini su @qnazionale in merito alla proposta di legge presentata da Fratelli d'Italia.

Qui trovate l'intervista in pdf: https://t.co/RmwO3KK6Po pic.twitter.com/cZKY7l1rSF

— Accademia della Crusca (@AccademiaCrusca) April 2, 2023

► Read also: In Egypt, a bill to defend the Arabic language examined in Parliament [in 2021]

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