The mayor who sends everyone to school to learn Italian. But why have we become illiterate again?

FUNCTIONAL ILLITERATES IN ITALY

The last time I met the great linguist Tullio De Mauro he showed me a piece of paper with some numbers. 11 million functionally illiterate people (27,9 percent of Italians between 16 and 65 years old), people who know how to read but cannot understand the content of a simple article. 5 years backwards, or rather the regression, equal to five years of studies, of a person who has become an adult and is unable to retain the skills acquired with the school cycle: they are the returning illiterates. 47 percent of the populationThis is the total obtained, in Italy, by adding together the functional and the non-functional illiterates. In practice, half of Italians"We are going back to being an illiterate nation..." De Mauro commented disconsolately.

ALSO READ: How we killed the Italian language, and what damages we're paying. The story in this book.

ITALIAN LANGUAGE COURSES FOR ITALIANS IN BARIANO

The episode came to mind while reading the story of bariano, a small municipality in the Bergamo area, where the Culture Councillor, Marino Lamera, has made a decision that already represents a precedent for all municipal administrations: Italian language courses, but not for foreigners, as for the Italians themselvesToo many mistakes, too many blunders, the erasure of the national language, grammar, and spelling. In a country where half the citizens don't even read a book the year. So, better go back to school.

TO KNOW MORE: Who's killing Italians? The killers are also at the Ministry of Education.

NUMBER OF FUNCTIONAL ILLITERATES IN ITALY

We don't know how many local administrations will follow Bariano's example, but we have one certainty: with these numbers, with this regression, Italy cannot be considered a civilized country. By dint of linguistic upheavals, we are slipping into a hellish circle with a mass illiteracy It pollutes public and private life. And it distances citizens' rights: how can an illiterate Italian be a good citizen, claiming rights without neglecting duties?

TO KNOW MORE: Who will save Italian? We are destroying and wasting our national language.

FUNCTIONAL ILLITERACY IN ITALY

It would take too long to summarize the reasons that led to this disaster. I'll mention one for all: our new language, the one we use most fluently, has become a mix of TV vulgar language and simplified, as well as violent, of the websiteIt is in this cesspool that we form our linguistic knowledge and draw the most common techniques for communication. We must start from that cesspool, restore its dignity and its value in Italian, to recover the ground lost along the precipice of illiteracy. And if for this it is also necessary to return to the school desks school, then let's do it.

STORIES OF CITIZENS WHO COMPLETE THE STATE'S DEFICITS:

• A 6-square-meter dog park in Milan. The space has been entrusted to a citizens' association (photo).
• The cultural center built by students with crowdfunding. Doors open to the public (photos and video)
• Immigrants at work: the story of Samuel and Ibrahima. They work as street cleaners in the Roman sewer, paid by citizens (video)
• Greenery in cities means greater safety for residents. And less depression and loneliness (photos)
• Trees adopted by neighborhood residents: agreements are multiplying in Italy. Hurray!
• In Venice, citizens are taxed to rent a state island and turn it into a large park.