Postcard from Palermo: the Word on The Street

Davvero, it's true: English is still the language of international commerce, and nothing, not even the collapse of the financial system, stands in the way of ambition. The largest of the language schools, the Wall Street Institutes franchise, boasts over two million graduates. It operates 400 centers in 28 countries (91 here in Italy alone, where the whole thing started 36 years ago). Obama's salary caps be damned, there's a long line of takers. Every day, tens of thousands of would-be executives are drilled in "Wall Street English." Can you say Prada? Gucci?