4 fantastic websites to learn Italian

Who says spending so much time online is a waste? The internet is an incredible resource for just about everything, and that includes learning languages. So here are some of the best websites out there to help you with your Italian, whether you are a beginner or advanced.

 

 

One World Italiano

 

There is a reason this website tops so many lists for learning Italian; One World Italiano is amazing! With resources for levels from A1 right up to C2, your only obstacle will be knowing where to start. There are video courses and exercises, grammar and vocabulary references, idioms and expressions to learn, and so many more incredible tools. You can watch the news in Italian, see all the latest Italian movie trailers, practice your listening skills with dictation activities, and even take on the more traditional learning tasks of gap fills and matching exercises.

 

One of the most useful tools on the One World Italiano website is the dialogues section. Using Comprando biglietti (Buying tickets) as an example, here you get a short dialogue written entirely in Italian, plus as an audio file that you can download. And at the end of each, there are suggestions of other dialogues on similar topics. This website is definitely worth an explore!

 

Learning Italian? Check out our free placement test to see how your level measures up!

 

Impariamo L’italiano

 

Impariamo L’italiano is a really helpful website. It is more traditional than some in the sense that instead of having themes or topics that you can learn a range of Italian skills from, it focuses on specific grammar issues. So if you want to brush up on a particular problem, like conjunctions, prepositions, or tenses, you have a great number of resources for each. There are exercises and lists for vocabulary and phrases like idioms and proverbs. In fact, the website has one of the most extensive lists of Italian phrases/idioms that we’ve seen, in Modi di dire.

 

There are tests if you want to check your level or are revising for an exam, and there is also a great section on false friends between Italian and English, Spanish, Portuguese, and German. Finally, if you’re feeling particularly confident, Impariamo L’italiano also has its very own chatroom, CHAT, which you can participate in both anonymously and by signing in.

 

 

Corriere della Sera

 

As one of Italy’s largest newspapers, Corriere della Sera is a great resource for more confident Italian learners who want to see the world from an Italian perspective. There are no English translations as you’d expect from a ‘proper’ Italian website, so Corriere della Sera is not one for those who are not yet at least B1 level. Even then it might be wise to have a translation tool to hand for some of the most difficult words! But having said that, these news articles are well written, easy to follow, and you’ll be able to figure out the meaning of words from context which is always a great skill to have!

 

We would suggest you start with articles to the right of the page under CorriereTV, since here is where you’re more likely to find easier, ‘gossip’ articles than heavy political analysis that might put you off. These articles tend to come with at least a short video so you’ll get some listening practice too. Try this recent article about Cristiano Ronaldo and Atletico Madrid to give you a taste of what to expect. Another alternative if you’re wanting simpler, shorter articles might be to go through edizioni locali or local editions, where you can scroll through for online news from around Italy.

 

 

Italearn

 

Italearn is a simple yet effective website for helping you with language practice. You have grammar advice, vocabulary lists, and even spelling help under the Come si scrive? section. Click on I will survive (in Italy) and you’ll be taken to a Youtube channel full of videos on survival Italian. In fact, Italearn is more than a website for Italian, it’s a hub taking full advantage of all social media and other sites you already use.

 

There are even downloadable PDFs that alternate between a month page in the calendar with a beautiful photo from somewhere in Italy (a tiny bit of Italian practice there with the months and days!) and a great, easy visual of a grammar point that will stick the idea in your mind. So if you are a visual learner, stick the Italian phrasal verbs: stare print out up on your wall and be reminded of its many uses on just one page! There are also some paid extras like the Italian language Advent Calendar combining storytelling with learning; so much to choose from!

 

So which website are you taking your Italian journey with?