6 Free Resources to Learn Italian at Home
Whether you’re planning a trip to Italy, moving there, or simply enamored with the language, there are numerous free tools to help you learn Italian at home.
I’m still on my Italian language learning journey, and I completely understand the desire for FREE resources. Of course, intensive Italian classes and tutors are amazing and can propel the learning process, but they involve time and money. When you’re short on either of those, “free” is the way to go!
I’ve compiled a list of my top 6 free resources for learning Italian. I’ve returned to these podcasts, YouTube channels, and websites time and again. They are incredible resources to help you begin or continue your journey with the Italian language. Andiamo!
Learn Italian with Lucrezia
Learn Italian with Lucrezia, in my opinion, is the best YouTube channel for serious Italian language learners. Her channel features over 1,000 videos that include Italian grammar lessons, explanations of Italian phrases and expressions, and vlogs about her daily life in Italy.
Lucrezia’s videos are strictly in Italian, but you can make use of the English subtitles as a beginner. You’ll especially love her videos once you’re an advanced beginner or reach an intermediate level.
She has had her channel for a long time and has over 700,000 subscribers. It’s an incredible, free resource to learn Italian.
Why I love it
When I have a specific grammar question, Lucrezia usually has a video that answers it. For example, she has numerous videos to help you understand and practice using the dreaded “ne” and “ci” particles. I often refer back to those videos.
I also appreciate that she is down-to-earth, calm, and doesn’t dramatize her videos or video titles. She’s a great teacher.
Coffee Break Italian
This podcast was the beginning of my Italian language journey! Coffee Break Italian has 12 seasons of listening content.
The first two seasons follow the same structure in each episode. There is the host, a native Italian speaker, and an Italian language learner. They cover a simple topic in the language, teach phrases, explain grammar, and include some conversation practice.
Later seasons get into more complex language skills and grammar, along with more listening practice.
Why I love it
I think Season 1 of Coffee Break Italian is a great starting point if you’re an absolute beginner. The podcast built a good foundation for me until I was ready to take on reading and continuous listening in Italian.
I like that the episodes include a learner, and you can benefit from the questions she asks and practice alongside her. It makes you feel that you’re not alone in the beginner stage.
Joy of Languages/Easy Italian
I’ve grouped these two YouTube channels and podcasts together because they often feature the same hosts, Matteo and Katie.
Joy of Languages is better for beginners and travelers. The hosts provide a lot of explanations in English to clarify Italian grammar, phrases, and concepts. Their videos and podcast episodes are fairly short, 10 to 15 minutes. The content emphasizes natural, real-life conversation.
Easy Italian does have some videos in “slow Italian” and with English subtitles, but most of the content is for intermediate learners. And I would say the podcast is for more advanced students because the episodes are long and filled with natural Italian dialogue.
Why I love it
I really like the hosts on Joy of Languages and Easy Italian. Katie is fun and easy to understand because Italian is not her mother tongue. Native speakers are obviously great to learn from, but I often find it easier to understand the language when it is spoken by people who learned Italian as adults.
I also like that Joy of Languages often labels their videos as “Beginner”, “Intermediate”, or “Advanced.” This is helpful when you want to spend your language learning time efficiently at your level.
The topics discussed on both channels are very practical. Easy Italian features many “street interviews” with Italians about things like family, budgeting, and grocery shopping. Those videos are always interesting and teach you about Italian culture.
ItalianPod101
ItalianPod101 uses audio, vocabulary lists, and transcripts to teach short Italian lessons. Their website includes some free content, like a word of the day, key phrases, and the 100 most common words in Italian.
You can get access to their membership content for just $1 for the first 30 days. This content features hundreds of full lessons that include practice and quizzes.
Why I love it
If you’re at a stage where you’re motivated to study a bit of Italian every day, it is worth paying the $1 and taking advantage of ItalianPod101’s content for a month.
I have done it, and I really like the various features of each lesson. You can listen and read during the lesson, and write with the practice pages. I think it’s a great resource to kickstart your Italian for 30 days. Then you can move on to other free content elsewhere.
Read Also: My Italy Bucket List (And How to Make Yours)
Listen to short stories in Italian
On YouTube, you can find many videos that play short stories in Italian. You can choose stories designed for your current level of Italian (A1/A2, B1/B2).
Some of my favorite channels for short stories are Passive Language Learning, Epic Italian Journey, and Learn Italian with Stories.
These channels feature story videos with light, fun content that is easy to follow. Often, you can follow along with Italian and English subtitles.
Why I love it
I recently got into these videos and really enjoy listening to them before bed. They can be relaxing because of the slow dialogue.
The language used in these videos is simple and, therefore, confidence-building. The area of language learning that I struggle with the most is listening comprehension, so it feels good to listen to audio that I can fully understand.
OnlineItalianClub
OnlineItalianClub.com is a comprehensive learning platform that covers levels A1 to C2. The content is high-quality and organized by topic: grammar, listening, conversation, vocabulary, dialogue, and verbs.
Lessons for each level include grammar explanations, followed by exercises to test your understanding. The vocabulary section also has exercises to see which words you remembered.
You can also test your level of Italian, download a checklist to keep track of your progress on the site, and join their email list to receive new material every week.
Why I love it
A lot of the best free language learning resources are videos and podcasts. But sometimes you’ve got to switch it up and take in some written content. I think OnlineItalianClub.com is the best resource for written explanations and exercises.
I love that they have so much content for each level. It can keep you busy for months and months!
If you’re the kind of student who likes the idea of studying each verb and its conjugations, you’ll love the verb section of OnlineItalianClub. They give you for free what you would pay for in the popular Italian verbs book, Barron’s 501 Italian Verbs.
Bonus Suggestion for Free Resources
Take advantage of free trials with language learning apps and websites. Many language learning companies will offer a 1-week free trial. Check out ones like Lingopie, Pimsleur, and Lingoda for free trials.
You can also see if a free trial or temporary discounted membership with Audible or Kindle is available to you. I have several books and audiobooks for learning Italian that I downloaded while having a 3-month discounted membership with Audible and Kindle.
With these free resources, you can build vocabulary, practice pronunciation, and gain some confidence at your own pace. I hope you enjoy using them as much as I have. Buon studio! (Happy studying!)
Do you know of a great free resource for learning Italian? Leave a comment below to share it with my readers!
