“L'Italiano…non serve a niente?”, from Alma Edizioni's contest page.

As Italian publishing company Alma Edizioni was busy organizing an event about the Italian language in Rome, they received an unexpected letter [it] from someone who defined himself as a “disappointed student”:

Why? What's the point of studying Italian today? […] No one wants to study a language that no longer has a place in the world, the language of a country that keeps getting worse day by day. […] For years I've studied Italian which today, however, is neither a language of culture, nor of work opportunities.

In order to respond to such poignant questions, Alma Edizioni decided to let students from around the world give their opinion through a contest, which could be followed through the hashtag #litalianononserveaniente (the Italian language is useless).

Participants were invited to produce a one-minute video clip to explain why studying the language of the ‘boot of Europe’ in 2014 is still worth it. More than 80 groups of students took part in the contest, according to the company's YouTube channel.