A list of everything you need to learn Italian

Most of us have probably dreamed of "la dolce vita" at some point in our lives. Whether it's the food, the culture, the history, or the language, Italy has a lot to offer. And if you're reading this, you're probably ready to take the plunge and learn Italian.

Italian is a Romance language, which means it's closely related to other languages like Spanish, French, and Portuguese. If you already speak one of these languages, you're in luck! You'll find that Italian has a lot of similarities with your native language, which will make it easier to learn.

If you don't speak any Romance languages, don't worry! Italian is still a great language to learn. It's relatively easy to pick up, and it's a beautiful language that's spoken by millions of people around the world.

So, where do you start? Here's a list of some of the resources you could make use of to learn Italian.

Starting out

Learning the basics

Before you start learning Italian, it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with the basics. This will give you a solid foundation to build on as you progress through your studies.

Italian is a phonetic language, which means that words are pronounced the way they're spelled. This makes it easier to learn how to read and write in Italian, since you don't have to worry about silent letters or unexpected pronunciations.

Dipping your toes in

When you're just starting out with Italian, first, you'll want to figure out if this really is the language for you. The best way to do this is to learn the basics, and see if you enjoy it. A great app for this is Duolingo. It's free, and it's a fun way to get started with Italian.

If you find that you enjoy learning Italian, you can move on to apps that are better suited for more serious study.

Motivation and goals

If you've tried the apps and gotten a feel for the language, it's time to set some goals. The goals you set will help you decide how to approach your language learning journey. Start with your motivation. Why are you learning this language? Some example motivations are:

Are you preparing for a trip to Italy?
Are you learning Italian to communicate with family members or friends?
Are you learning Italian to watch Italian movies without subtitles?
Are you learning Italian to read Italian literature?
Do you want to live and work in Italy?
Do you have an exam coming up?

This will help you formulate your goals: what do you want to achieve, and when?

Do you want to be conversational, fluent, or just get by on your trip?
Do you want to be able to read and write in Italian, or is it more important to focus on listening comprehension and speaking skills?
Is there a specific date by which you want to achieve your goals, or is it enough to just make progress every day?

Now that you know what you want to achieve, and when, you can start planning your learning journey, and identifying which resources will help you make the most progress in the shortest amount of time.

Building a strong foundation

Your first step in learning Italian is to build a strong foundation of basic vocabulary. Without a strong foundation of the basic vocabulary, you'll struggle to learn efficiently. Imagine trying to do math without knowing your times tables - it's the same with learning a language.

This foundation consists of the most common words. Remember, the most common words make up a surprisingly large percentage of the words that you'll use in everyday conversation.

For example, in English, the 100 most common words make up about 50% of the words that you'll use in everyday conversation. The 1000 most common words make up about 80% of the words that you'll use in everyday conversation. So, it's important to learn these words first.

Build vocabulary at warp speed with Langible

A great way to build your vocabulary at warp speed is to use Langible. Langible is a free website that uses spaced repetition to help you learn new words in context using sentences.

At first, the most common and simple sentences are used, and as you progress, the sentences become more complex, and use less common words.

Langible lets you practice using many different types of exercises, including translation, flashcards, cloze deletion, listening, and speaking.

Building vocabulary with flashcards

Another great way to build your vocabulary is to use flashcards. There are many apps and websites that offer flashcards for learning Italian, but the undisputed champion is Anki.

Anki is a free, open-source flashcard program that uses spaced repetition to help you remember new words. You can create your own flashcards, or download pre-made decks from the Anki website.

If you want to learn more about how to use Anki to learn a language, make sure to check out our guide to using Anki to learn a language.

The best pre-made Anki decks for learning Italian

Here are some of the best pre-made Anki decks for learning Italian.

Italian Core 100 - Basic words - this deck contains 100 of the most common Italian words. This is a great deck to start with to build that strong foundation of the most common words that you need to learn effectively.
15000 Italian sentences sorted from easy to hard - this deck contains 15000 Italian sentences sorted from easy to hard. It's a great way to build your vocabulary and learn new words in context. This deck is similar to the Langible website, but if you prefer Anki, this is a great alternative.
Duolingo Italian-English course - if you are using Duolingo, this Anki deck is a great companion to Duolingo. It contains all the words from the Duolingo Italian course, so that you can use spaced repetition to remember the words that you learn on Duolingo. Unfortunately, Duolingo is known not to properly reinforce the words that you learn, so this deck is a great complement.

Language Transfer audio course

Language Transfer is a popular free audio course in the form of an app. It is a great introduction to understanding the structure of the Italian language.

Immersing yourself

Easy Italian News - this is a great website for beginners, as it provides news articles in Italian that are written in simple language. When you have the basics down, this is a great way to immerse yourself in the language and learn new words in context.
ItalianPod101 - this is a great podcast for learning Italian. It's a great way to immerse yourself in the language and learn new words in context. The podcast is available in many different levels, so it's suitable for beginners and advanced learners alike.
101 Conversations in Simple Italian - this book provides simple conversations for beginners. It is a great and entertaining way to immerse yourself in Italian, and learn new words and phrases in their natural context.

Practicing speaking

Speaking is an important part of learning any language. It's important to practice speaking as much as possible, so that you can become comfortable with the sounds and rhythms of the language.

Tandem

Tandem is a popular language exchange app that connects you with native speakers of Italian. You can use the app to find a language partner, and practice speaking Italian with them.

Italki

Italki is a popular language learning platform that connects you with professional language tutors. You can use the platform to find a tutor who speaks Italian, and practice speaking with them.

Do you want to use Tandem or Italki? Italki is a paid service, but in return you get professional feedback on your language skills. Tandem is free, and it's a platform for language exchange, which means that you're expected to help your language partner learn your native language in return.

Unfortunately, there is no great way to practice speaking for free, you will pay in either time or money. If you're on a budget, Tandem is great. If you have a deadline or a busy schedule, Italki might be better.

Reaching fluency

To reach fluency, you need to cover a lot of ground.

Building a massive vocabulary

Your journey starts and ends with vocabulary. While knowing the most common words is the key to starting, mastering rarer words is the key to fluency. It is estimated that you need to know about 20,000 words to be fluent in a language. This is a lot of words, but it's not as daunting as it sounds. Two great apps to go the distance are Langible and Clozemaster.

Langible

Langible offers over 10,000 example sentences written by native speakers, with high-quality audio. You can practie listening, speaking, reading, translating, and cloze deletion exercises, all in one place, and it's up to you which kind of practice you want to do.

Clozemaster

As an alternative, Clozemaster offers a similar service, although limited to just cloze deletion exercises. Clozemaster notably offers its "fluency fast track", which is great for intermediate learners to get familiar with a large number of words in a short amount of time.

Conclusion

There you have it, a long list of tips and resources for learning Italian. We hope that this was helpful to you, and that you'll be able to use these resources to reach fluency in Italian. Be sure to check back periodically as we update this list every now and then. Buona fortuna!