Classic Italian

To be honest, when I go to Italy I wouldn't be surprised if I'm better versed in classic Italian literature than the native Italians are. 

I've studied, Dante, Machiaveli, Boccaccio, Foscolo, Leopardi, Verdi.

It should not come as a surprise (as it did to my Italian teacher 3 weeks ago) that we know more about Italian history than we do Australian. They force it onto us when all we want is to learn the language. 

I appreciate this cultural education but if I could spend more of that culture time focusing on modern Italian I'd feel much better about my language proficiency.