ZAKAJ NE PO SLOVENSKO?

by IRINA MOIRA CAVAION

Zakaj ne po slovensko? Why not [speak] Slovenian? is the title of a well-known Slovenian language learning manual by linguist Jože Toporišič, intended for an Italian-speaking audience and published in 1982. In the introduction, the author offers a historical overview of the relationship between Italians and Slovenians, emphasizing the importance of language learning as a tool for fostering communication between the two communities. He recalls that, despite the “centuries-old relations” between these two neighboring countries, the proficiency of Slovenian among Italian-speakers on the Italian side has always been inferior to the proficiency of Italian among Slovenians or those living on the Slovenian side.

Let’s leave aside the reflections of the renowned linguist for a moment to turn our attention to Gorizia – Nova Gorica 2025, European Capital of Culture. This event has allowed Gorizia, eager to capitalize on its past as an important Central European cultural center, to regain international standing and the visibility needed to redefine its cultural and economic role in the region. All this in a complex present, marked by cultural globalization, the resurgence of interethnic conflicts, nationalisms, and the tendency to close borders in times of crisis, as occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic.

While enthusiastic spectators of the many extraordinary initiatives that have marked this year’s celebration of the European Capital of Culture, many still have an unanswered question: how will it be possible to sustain a process of growth based on renewed openness, exchange, mutual understanding, and the hoped-for cross-border collaboration over time, without speaking the other’s language?

Revisiting Toporišič’s reflection on Italian-Slovene bilingualism in the cross-border contact area of ​​Friuli Venezia Giulia, we observe that it has until now been the almost exclusive prerogative of members of the region’s Slovenian community. Indeed, since the linguist published his innovative grammar, there has not been a structural and systematic change in the diffusion of Slovene among the majority community, namely, Italians. This is despite the fact that over the last twenty years, there has been a growing interest in learning it, evidenced both by the notable increase in Slovene language courses offered by regional institutions and cultural associations in the cities and provinces of Trieste, Gorizia, and Udine, and by the rather complex increase in enrollments in schools where Slovenian is the language of instruction by students from non-Slovene families. Slovenian-speaking people, Italian or foreign, with no direct ties to the Slovenian community.

For those who, like the author, have long been involved in multilingual and intercultural education and active citizenship in schools and society, discussing structural and systematic change inevitably leads to reflection on the current opportunities for learning the Slovenian language and culture in Italian-language schools in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region.

To date, the teaching of Slovenian is provided in a structured and regulated manner only in schools of the Slovenian minority community, thanks to national and regional protective laws. In schools of the so-called majority, those where Italian is the language of instruction, its inclusion is possible in various ways, which we will attempt to illustrate in a concise and simplified manner, so as to make the content understandable even to readers unfamiliar with school regulations, but interested in understanding their current status and possible future developments.

The first opportunity for teaching the Slovenian language and culture in schools where Italian is the language of instruction stems from national and regional laws protecting the historical linguistic diversity of the region, and thus also the Slovenian language in Friuli Venezia Giulia. It is important to emphasize that our region is characterized by a very rich and varied historical multilingualism, with the presence, in addition to the Slovenian language and culture, of the Friulian-speaking community and Germanic-speaking groups, who benefit from these same laws. These regulations allow for the promotion of the region’s historical languages ​​through initiatives organized by schools (so-called Institute Projects), which translate into a few hours of language and culture lessons in the participating classes and other activities aimed at enhancing the local traditions of these communities. However, these initiatives are not always organically integrated into the overall curriculum. The school’s overall educational program, known as the Curriculum Plan, often arises from the will of the families of students attending these schools or from the presence of teachers who, for various reasons, have contact with the language and culture of the community.

Regarding the Slovenian language, these initiatives involve numerous comprehensive schools in our region, particularly in the provinces of Trieste and Gorizia. In the province of Udine, however, they respond to a different sociolinguistic situation, characterized by the late introduction of laws protecting the Slovenian language compared to Trieste and Gorizia. This has led to a dramatic decline in the number of Slovenian speakers and, with the exception of the bilingual school in San Pietro al Natisone, the lack of schools where Slovenian is taught. This type of project is also being addressed.

The second option for teaching Slovenian language and culture in Italian-language schools is linked to its status as a European Community language, which allows it to be taught in lower secondary schools as a second foreign language, alongside traditionally taught languages ​​such as German, French, or Spanish. This option was introduced with the 2003 school autonomy reform, which established that each school may offer the teaching of two foreign languages: the first, usually English, and the second chosen by families and students. The proposal for a second language can be submitted to the School Council, which evaluates the feasibility and motivations of the request, taking into account available resources and the overall organization of the school. Once approved, the new language is added to the curriculum without replacing other existing courses, if the number of students involved justifies its inclusion.

In our region, to date, only two curricular programs—that is, programs permanently included in the school curriculum as an official subject—for teaching Slovenian in lower secondary schools have been activated, both in the province of Trieste. Added to these is the experimental experience of Tarvisio and its Comprehensive Institute, known for promoting regional multilingualism, which employs a curriculum that, from preschool to high school, includes subjects taught in Italian, Slovenian, German, and Friulian.

The two curricular programs mentioned above concern the Iqbal Masih Comprehensive Institutes in Trieste (F. Rismondo Middle School, the pioneer of the initiative) and the Giovanni Lucio Institute in Muggia (Nazario Sauro Middle School). These initiatives were born thanks to the commitment of parents, teachers, and school administrators eager to include Slovenian in their schools’ curriculum.

Between 2008 and 2024, the two programs developed almost in parallel, unfortunately both ending due to common challenges. The most significant was the shortage of teachers qualified to teach Slovenian as a foreign language. A significant burden, for this author, was also the lack of a shared, specific, and contextualized plan between schools and administrative bodies—such as the Regional School Office and the Ministry of Education—capable of supporting innovative teaching, still in its infancy in the majority of schools in the province of Trieste.

Despite these challenges, the schools of Trieste and Muggia have developed numerous materials, including a textbook for teaching Slovenian in Italian middle schools, produced under the supervision of the University of Trieste and the Center for Slovenian as a Second and Foreign Language in Ljubljana. Interdisciplinary courses and projects have also been developed, in line with local initiatives, both within the Friuli Venezia Giulia region and in collaboration with neighboring Slovenia.

Unfortunately, these efforts were abruptly halted due to administrative and bureaucratic quibbles that gradually led to the closure of classes benefiting from Slovenian language teaching, just as the creation of a teaching post was imminent.

There are also non-curricular initiatives—i.e., activities carried out outside the official curriculum—for teaching the Slovenian language in lower secondary schools, for which official documentation is difficult to obtain. These are identified in the program documents on the individual school websites, not in an official list maintained by the Regional School Office. The latter, among other things, has discontinued a previous page dedicated to all the historical languages ​​in the region, maintaining only the Friulian page, in addition to, of course, the section dedicated to the languages ​​used in the schools of the Slovenian minority community. This eliminates the possibility of unifying all the region’s historical linguistic communities, without in any way diminishing the rich, structured, and well-organized reality of Friulian language teaching in the region’s schools, which, in fact, represents an excellent example of comprehensive planning for minority language education in majority-language schools.

Returning to Slovenian, in Gorizia, special mention should be made of the determined efforts of the Italian-language Gorizia 1 Institute – now the Graziadio Isaia Ascoli Comprehensive Institute – where, for years, the eponymous middle school has promoted Slovenian language courses, cross-border projects, and collaborations with schools of the Slovenian minority community. These initiatives are supported by national and regional funds, as well as by collaborations with local associations, national research institutions, and neighboring Slovenia. Above all, they are grounded in a profound intercultural sensitivity and a deep knowledge and awareness of the border region and its complexities.

We would like to discuss these experiences again in future issues of the magazine, as their history and characteristics provide a valuable point of reference for other schools interested in developing similar programs. They represent concrete examples of local and cross-border collaboration and dialogue between the majority and Slovenian communities, demonstrating how it is possible to combine multilingual planning, educational innovation, and intercultural sensitivity. School principals, teaching and non-teaching staff, and families have contributed to making these programs particularly meaningful through their active participation and commitment to promoting the local area and fostering mutual understanding.

At the end of this excursus, which aimed to outline—in a necessarily summary and therefore non-exhaustive manner—the current situation regarding the teaching of the Slovenian language and culture in Italian-language schools in the region’s border areas, a complex and nuanced picture clearly emerges. This situation is marked by numerous specificities, diverse projects, and numerous local initiatives that, despite their fragmentation, signal growing interest among students. At the same time, the willingness shown by several educational institutions to accommodate these requests suggests a renewed awareness of the value of knowledge of the Slovenian language and a concrete openness to its potential permanent integration into school curricula.

From an educational perspective, learning the so-called territorial languages—among which Slovenian can rightfully be counted—represents a valuable opportunity for developing authentic and meaningful skills. This is a deeply relational and intercultural learning approach that, when approached from an interdisciplinary perspective, fosters a real enrichment of students’ knowledge and skills.

Furthermore, the Slovenian language is immediately applicable to the daily life of an area characterized by marked multilingualism and a rich multicultural dimension. Knowledge of the language allows for direct contact with its speakers and their cultural contexts, both regionally and across borders, offering a more informed and sensitive understanding of the history and dynamics of the region. At the same time, teaching Slovenian can foster a still-too-limited encounter between the majority and minority communities, based on elements of reciprocity and recognition—starting with the symbolic and concrete gesture of “learning the other’s language.” This process also produces positive effects for Slovenian speakers themselves, who see the presence and function of their language in the region enhanced and can rediscover themselves as informed and authoritative ambassadors of their culture, while also perceiving new personal and professional prospects.

Finally, when accompanied by exchanges and collaborations with neighboring Slovenia, teaching Slovenian contributes to strengthening the internationalization processes of schools, opening up new opportunities for relationships, cooperation, and growth, both personally and professionally.

The critical issues identified in this contribution, however, are crucial. First, the lack of a structured institutional program, supported at the regional or national level, that recognizes the learning of indigenous languages ​​as a natural, necessary enrichment of the curriculum offered by schools in the areas where they are present. Added to this is the shortage of teachers adequately trained to teach the Slovenian language and culture, a factor that remains one of the main obstacles to the sustained diffusion of these programs.

Concluding this reflection, which sought to provide an initial overview of the unique context of Gorizia–Nova Gorica, European Capital of Culture, and in light of the opportunities afforded by school autonomy—which allows schools to develop their own curricula in relation to the local area and its needs—one cannot help but note that the numerous experiences achieved thus far represent an important reality that cannot be ignored.

It is precisely in light of these experiences, of the potential expressed and of the skills acquired, that the question arises spontaneously, and far from rhetorically: Zakaj ne po slovenskoWhy not make it possible, structurally and with equal opportunities for all, to teach Slovenian in Italian-language schools located in the border area?

While awaiting further developments, we remain aware that every innovation requires time, vision, and shared participation.

It is hoped that this contribution has provided readers with additional insights into the specific nature and richness of the topic and the importance of continuing to reflect, plan, and build together.