The United States has historically been an interesting context for the study of bilingualism. After the two migratory processes of 1880-1927 and 1950-1970, the Italian American community is composite and stratified on a socio-cultural and linguistic level; for the third or fourth generation of descendants born in the USA, knowledge of Italian is often limited to oral comprehension.

It is in the 21st century that a new interest in the Italian language is emerging among the younger generations: it is a search for their own roots and a discovery of Italian culture. In addition, there are Italian citizens, who relocated for professional reasons, who are interested in their children learning Italian so that they can keep their mother tongue within the curriculum.