Every Wednesday night, a small group of students gather for their language course at the Italian Charities of America Inc. in Flushing, Queens. Ironically, the students are not interested in learning Italian, but a separate language that arrived during the wave of Italian immigration to New York City. These students are the children and grandchildren of Sicilian immigrants.

"We only write the phrases on the board in Sicilian, not in Italian, so that is what stays in our memories after class," says Salvatore Cottone, teacher of the Sicilian language class.

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Source: http://archives.jrn.columbia.edu