More and more people have acknowledged the importance of language. Language is the tool of thinking, language connects people, language gives you access to knowledge. Consequently, more and more people learn foreign languages. There are various reasons for this: for traveling, getting better positions and better jobs, expanding their business network, improving and protecting their brain by giving it some exercises every day. Some people have to study it to graduate as foreign languages is a compulsory subject at their school or university. Some people learn foreign languages merely for their passion for linguistics. Whatever your reason is, you can choose from a range of methods to make your wish of mastering a new language come true, even if you don’t have time to attend a class at a fixed time.
If you like a melodious and romantic language, if you’re interested in history and art, if you love travelling and unique delicious food, Italy and Italian language is for you. However, if you don’t have time to attend Italian classes at a fixed time, if you cannot find a course at any local language centers, this article is tailored for you. I’ll suggest some best ways to learn Italian online by yourself.
What are the best online courses to learn Italian?
Duolingo:
If you want a free and fun course and you can only spend 5 minutes studying online a day, Duolingo is for you.
Duolingo is pretty well-known among the sites for learning languages online. Duolingo’s online Italian courses are designed with the aim of getting the essentials of Italian quickly. Learning with Duolingo is fun and addictive: you earn points for your correct answers, you can race against the clock, then level up and many many more activities to keep you study every day. You will also be surprised by random funny sentences appearing in some lessons.
La Mappa Misteriosa:
‘La Mappa Misteriosa’ is a an Italian-learning video adventure which can be found on the BBC’s website here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/italian/ or on Youtube. The most special about this course is that you’ll take part in an adventure and decide the ending.
During this adventure, you will become one of the protagonists. Each episode reveals clues as part of a mystery adventure through the Emilia Romagna region of Italy.
You can learn new skills and knowledge as you meet the characters, uncover a family secret and some delicious regional specialities. Students at all levels can take this courses since they will explain in English for you too.
Busuu.com
Busuu.com is one of the largest online communities for learning languages. You can either learn directly from native speakers around the world or use some of their interactive learning material as a Free Member. If you pay to purchase Premium Membership, you will get access to more functionality and various of extra learning materials.
Edx.org: Introduction to Italian Opera
If you want to learn about Italian Culture, this course is a good choice.
edX is an online learning destination and MOOC provider, offering high-quality courses from the world’s best universities and institutions to learners everywhere. edX was Founded by Harvard University and MIT in 2012. They have more than 90 global partners of world’s leading universities, nonprofits, and institutions. So you don’t have to worry about the quality of this course.
Udemy.com
Udemy is an online learning platform aimed at professional adults. You can learn from an extensive library of over 55,000 courses taught by expert instructors. The language courses on Udemy are divided into different levels: from basic to advanced, so that all the students of every level can learn. Here are some best online Italian courses on Udemy:
- Learn Italian Language: Complete Italian Course – Beginners: https://www.udemy.com/italian-course-for-beginners/
This course includes 8 hours on-demand videos, 34 Supplemental Resources, full lifetime access, cccess on mobile and TV, certificate of Completion
- 3 Minute Italian: Free taster course https://www.udemy.com/3-minute-italian-course-1/ and course 2 https://www.udemy.com/3-minute-italian-course-2/
Each of the video lesson is around 3 to 4 minutes. have a quick listen to one of the lessons whenever you find yourself with three minutes to spare. You will start to learn the Italian language in a simple, logical and amazing way.
- Learn Essential Italian Vocabulary in just 10 minutes a day: https://www.udemy.com/top-400-italian-words/
If you have more than 3 minutes a day, you can consider this course. The best way to start learning a language is vocabulary, about which this course mainly is. This course requires pdf reader and printer for the daily Words Sheets and media player, for the audio version of the course.
- The Path to Fluency – Italian Basic: https://www.udemy.com/the-path-to-fluency-italian-basic/
This course would be the best for travelers as it includes the essentials when travelling: tha ability of inquiring about locations, well-being of someone, or knowledge about specific facts.
FluentU
Learning with FluentU is one of the most realistic ways as FluentU turns real-world videos into courses your you. There are movie trailers, news, music videos, inspiring talks and so on.
FluentU has a huge amount of authentic video contents. Every word in the videos comes with an in-context definition, image and multiple example sentences. You can even click on a word to see how people use it used in other videos across the site.
FluentU offer you a 15 days of free trial. After that there are 2 plans for you to choose: $10 and $20 per month.
Youtube:
The best thing of learning from Youtube is that it’s free. There are many good channels with fun and amazing teachers. Here are some of the best youtube channels to learn Italian online by yourself:
Italy made easy – https://www.youtube.com/c/italymadeeasy
Learn Italian with Italiano Automatico – https://www.youtube.com/user/ITALIANOAUTOMATICO
Learn Italian with Lucrezia – https://www.youtube.com/c/lucreziaoddone
One Word Italiano – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVGo10hbyIyD6cbz3Jm3aoQ
Learn Italian with ItalianPod101.com – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb5faEH1hEiLaT_aGMBWeBg
Weilà Tom – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7n7aK2skFjJF9BfaH9Qx4A
Dolce Vita – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSQ8QsPEIc4c6vHrWyc-5iQ/featured
To sum up
No matter what method you choose, studying languages needs passion. Always keep it up and go to the end of the path. I wish you good luck and get all the goals you set when you decided to study a new language.