The Italian Language Foundation (ILF) was established on July 3, 2008, to promote and support

Italian language Italian (''italiano'' or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. Together with Sardinian, Italian is the least divergent language from Latin. Spoken by about 85 ...

education in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

and specifically to reinstate the

Advanced Placement program Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board which offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students. American colleges and universities may grant placement and course ...

(AP) of the

College Board The College Board is an American nonprofit organization that was formed in December 1899 as the College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB) to expand access to higher education. While the College Board is not an association of colleges, it runs ...

for

AP Italian Language and Culture Advanced Placement (AP) Italian Language and Culture (also known as AP Italian Language or AP Italian) is a course offered by the American College Board as part of the Advanced Placement Program. It is intended to give students a thorough backgro ...

. The foundation was founded by

Margaret I. Cuomo Margaret I. Cuomo (born March 29, 1955) is an American radiologist and author on health issues, especially those related to cancer prevention. She is the oldest child of former New York Governor Mario Cuomo and Matilda Cuomo, and sister to former ...

, M.D., currently the ILF's president, and Louis A. Tallarini, its chairman. Cuomo, working with her mother, Matilda Raffa Cuomo, former First Lady of the State of New York, had successfully advocated for the College Board to develop and implement the AP program in Italian Language and Culture, which was launched in 2005, but discontinued after the 2008-2009 academic year due to budgetary reasons. The ILF has worked with major Italian-American non-profit groups and educators interested in Italian language and culture, such as the American Association of Teachers of Italian (AATI) and the

American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) is an organization aiming to improve and expand the teaching and learning of all languages at all levels of instruction. ACTFL is an individual membership organization of more than 13 ...

(ACTFL), as well as with the

Republic of Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, in order to raise awareness and funds in support of its mission. In addition to a pledge of $1,500,000 by the Republic of Italy, the Columbus Citizens Foundation, organizers of New York City's annual Columbus Day Parade, pledged over $500,000 in support of reinstatement of the AP Italian program. On November 10, 2010, the College Board announced that the AP Italian program would be reinstated beginning in the fall of 2011, with the first AP Italian exam scheduled for May 2012.

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Italian Language Foundation Italian-language education Italian language in the United States

See also

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External links