If you ask people why they want to learn Italian, you’ll get a variety of answers. Some people have an Italian background and wish to connect linguistically to their heritage. Some are opera singers and want to understand the content that they sing about. They may want to work with Italian customers. Others want to work in Italy, which is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. Some are in the fashion industry and seek to work with their counterparts in Italian.
There are much more reasons to mention, as each one of us has individual motivations. The important thing is to have a reason that motivates you to persist at learning Italian. Today we'll share the list of 20+ free Italian lessons online that will help keep your learning interesting.
Free Italian Lessons Online For Beginners
Duolingo
With Duolingo, you can study via the app as well as on your computer. When you first start learning Italian with Duolingo, you can set a learning goal. 'Casual’ is five minutes a day. 'Regular’ is ten minutes a day. 'Serious’ is 15 minutes a day and ‘insane’ is 20 minutes a day.
You can also choose the language from which you study Italian. You can learn Italian from English, French, Portuguese and Spanish. Don’t expect Duolingo alone to be enough to bring you to conversational level. It is also important to speak with a native Italian speaker.
Spotify
On Spotify you can find a couple of free Italian lessons. With these lessons, you have the chance to hear Italian as it is naturally spoken. You also have some time to listen and repeat. These Italian lessons will bring you to a very basic level in Italian.
At this point, Italians will be able to understand your basic needs. However, you will still likely have difficulty understanding regular conversational Italian. You may not understand when Italians respond to your comments and questions. After this point, you will still have a very limited vocabulary.
Radio Lingua Network
Look for Coffee Break Italian on iTunes or Stitcher. It also has two more podcasts known as My Daily Phrase Italian and One Minute Italian. With these free Italian lessons you’ll learn basic conversation. This includes introductions, discussions about family and how to order food in Italian.
One World Italiano
You can access some simple dialogues and build up your vocabulary. The site is helpful for verb conjugations as well.
For Beginners to Intermediate Italian Learners
Memrise
With Memrise you can study Italian for free via the app or the website. You can also add your own content and create a specialized list to suit your Italian learning needs. Memrise uses mnemonics to help you recall new vocabulary words and idiomatic expressions.
The Travel Linguist Italian 101
Features 20 YouTube videos. Use the categories to help you find what you want to learn in Italian. For example: dining, shopping, safety, numbers and days of the week. You won't find this to be the most exciting YouTube channel.
But you'll have the opportunity to hear Italians who are speaking clearly. You'll also learn useful words and expressions. Remember, with YouTube settings, you can slow down the speed to 75% or 50% if you cannot catch what is being said.
ItalianPod101.com
These videos include useful phrases. You'll find videos about holidays, listening practice, and also "Italian in three minutes." The series of three-minute videos focus on: greetings, introductions, manners, etc. You can access a lot of material for free. Those who upgrade can access all the material for a full range of Italian learning.
The Language Channel Learn Italian Conversation
This YouTube channel helps with travel vocabulary and basic conversation. There is even specific vocabulary such as a video about the Italian words you need for skiing.
PastaCast with Brad Baciagalupi
This podcast series features 17 short Italian lessons. You'll learn grammar tips and improve your pronunciation with Brad's pronunciation guides.
News in Slow Italian
There is a beginner and an intermediate part to this podcast. Listen to some old news as you learn new Italian words.
For Beginners to Advanced Italian Learners
HiNative
Regardless of your level in Italian, you will appreciate Hi Native. It is an app as well as a website where you can ask questions to a community of native speakers.
You can also write a word or phrase under the category such as “What does this mean?” There is also the category of asking “What’s the difference?” There is even a 'free question' category. Here you can ask about language, culture or anything else you want. You can ask, “Does this sound natural?” There is also a feature “Please show me examples sentences with…”
LingQ
There is a free and a premium version of LingQ. With LingQ you can access a broad range of ever-growing Italian language content. LingQ is a great way to practice your reading and listening skills.
This is especially because you can read the text and listen to it at the same time. You can also adjust the speed to slow it down if you cannot understand the text at normal speed, import texts. and build up lists of vocabulary expressions. Then access them later for quizzes and your own review of Italian word and phrases.
FlipWord
This is a Chrome browser extension that you can use to learn Italian online for free. As you use your browser, FlipWord replaces words in English with words in Italian. You can adjust your settings from beginner to advanced. Then choose the percentage of words that get replaced as you browse online. FlipWord also inserts short Italian exercises into your browsing.
Italian Made Easy
This YouTube channel is also known as Italian Lessons at all levels with Manu. Manu is personable and covers a broad range of material for all levels of Italian learners. Because Manu has a lot of material on his channel, he has created many different playlists. Manu's lists include the following:
- Italian Culture
- Essential Italian Expressions
- Italy Wise
- Live Classes
- Ask Manu Italiano
- Videos in Italiano
- Top Italian Mistakes You Could Be Making - And How to Fix Them
- Italian Numbers
- Italian Alphabet
Iluss
This free resource page categorizes material into beginner, elementary, intermediate and advanced. Some of the material is available for free. For full access, Iluss offers memberships for periods of three or 12 months at a reasonable price.
Online Italian Club
A treasure of Italian lessons for all levels of Italian learners. The recordings in Soundcloud include transcripts to help you read and listen better. There are also free short lessons to help learners of Italian to understand nuances.
BliuBliu
Start with a quick online quiz to tell BliuBliu which Italian words you know. Then BliuBliu will recommend content at your level. Italian Claudio Santori founded BliuBliu. Claudio himself has provided much of the content to help people learn Italian. You’ll be able to hear Claudio speaking in Italian as you read an Italian text to follow along.
The free version allows you to use the platform for up to five minutes at a time. There is a five-minute waiting period between free sessions. You can see categories including: jokes, quotes, music, videos, most popular. Advanced students will want to download their own material to get the most out of the platform.
For Intermediate to Advanced Italian Learners
Italiano Automatico Podcast
Check out the iTunes Store for Alberto’s collection of short podcasts. Alberto helps you learn Italian expressions, habits, customs and culture.
Miracolo Italiano Podcast
This podcast is by Radio2 RAI of the Italian state communications. You'll find it on the iTunes Store. Advanced learners will find plenty of material to keep them busy. RAI designs the podcasts for native speakers.
Lang-8
A place to practice your writing and to get feedback from others. You can browse through the content and learn from other people’s mistakes. Submit your own short texts and receive feedback from native speakers. It is best to keep each text to just a few sentences. A best practice is to balance the number of submissions you make. That way you help out others to improve their writing in your native language as well.
Learn Italian Faster With Professional Handpicked Teachers
With these 20 free Italian lessons online, you’ll be on your way to reaching your Italian goals without any extra cost. To take your skills even further, we recommend learning with a professional native speaking teacher to improve your listening and speaking skills.
That’s why Rype has 24/7 Italian lessons online (and more) to help you find the time that is convenient for you to practice your Italian.