It is never too late ... to learn Italian

Italian language developed from the Vernacular languages spoken on the Italian soil in the middle Ages.
In the 16th Century, Cardinal Pietro Bembo provided the Italian language with specific rules based on the works of the great Tuscan authors of the 14th century: Dante Alighieri, Giovanni Boccaccio and Francesco Petrarca.
In the early 19th century, Alessandro Manzoni, in his famous historic novel I Promessi Sposi (the Betrothed), brought several changes to the Italian language, lowering its register to conform it to the language spoken in his time.
For the Italian people, however, who are still used to speak a variety of local dialects, Italian became a common –national- language only in the 20th century, after WW2, thanks to the mass media and particularly to popularization of TV. One show in particular made the difference in the literacy process: “Non è mai troppo tardi” conducted by Alberto Manzi and broadcasted by RAI from 15 November 1960 to 1968. It was suspended after 484 episodes, when the increased school attendance made it less indispensable.