Did someone tell you that you can take your Italian driving test in English? As of 2011, that’s no longer true. What about French or German? Maybe.
Italy has official minority languages.
Most people think of Italy as a monolingual country. Two regions have co-official languages protected by law, and those languages show up in real, practical ways, like taking the driving test in non-Italian languages like French or German.
Some regions have designated languages that have a “protected status,” meaning that these languages have the right to:
- Be taught in schools in areas where they’re spoken, both as a subject and as a language of instruction.
- Be used in public meetings in those municipalities.
- Appear in place names alongside Italian.
- Be used in local administration in designated areas.
- Have some presence in local media.
These include Albanian, Catalan, Croatian, Franco-Provençal, French, Friulian, German, Greek, Ladin, Occitan, Sardinian, and Slovenian.
Alto Adige / Südtirol – German
The northernmost region of Italy, bordering Austria, has German as a co-official language alongside Italian. This is daily life, and many people born in this area speak German natively as this region used to be part of Austria. Austrian flags are seen on more buildings than Italian flags even though you’re in Italy.
Road signs are bilingual. Schools teach in German. Government services operate in both languages. If you live in Alto Adige, you can take your Italian driving theory test in German.
Laces, where I’m writing this from on a camper vacation, is called “Latsch” in German.
Valle d’Aosta – French
The small autonomous region in the northwest corner of Italy, bordering France and Switzerland, has French as its co-official language. Signs, schools, and government services are bilingual in Italian and French. If you live there, you can take your driving theory test in French.
What about English?
In January 2011, the Ministry of Transport removed other language options from the Italian driving test, including English, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, and Russian. The only exceptions are French in Valle d’Aosta and German in Alto Adige, which are legally protected minority languages.
Fifteen years later, people are still saying “my cousin took it in English in 2009, so you can too.” Nope, not any more!
What does this mean for you?
If you’re moving to Italy and planning to drive, you will need to pass the driving theory test in Italian, unless you specifically move to Alto Adige or Valle d’Aosta, in which case German or French are options.
Nothing in Italy is available in English by default. Not the driving test, not official forms, and not your commune appointments. Learning Italian is not optional if you want to actually live here.
Contact me if there’s anything I can do to help. The first call is always free. Ci vediamo!
