The aims of the courses are: • To develop a range of practical skills that will enable you to understand and communicate in written and spoken language for leisure purposes and in the world of work • To make you aware of the cultural, social, commercial, historical, geographical and political background of Italy • To offer enjoyment, challenge, and intellectual stimulation • To develop study skills which will help you in your acquisition of other foreign languages • To allow you to complement your other studies by pursuing selected areas of interest in greater depth • To encourage maximum use of Italian All British universities offer courses in Italian, either by itself, combined with another foreign language, or as part of a composite European Studies course, most even offer a year abroad. Italian can also be studied in a variety of more broadly based combinations such as Italian with Business, History, Philosophy, Law, and Engineering amongst many others! Teaching, translating, and interpreting can all require specialist knowledge of Italian. There are many other careers, however, in which a knowledge of another language to a higher level is becoming increasingly useful and indeed, sometimes a necessary qualification: export sales and marketing, banking, insurance, chartered accountancy, law, travel, advertising, civil service, broadcasting (BBC), librarianship, secretarial work, journalism and computing.