I’m currently planning a trip to Italy. From what research I’ve been doing, it looks like there may not be a lot of English-speaking people in some of the areas we are visiting (smallish towns in Emilia-Romagna, Umbria, Abruzzo, and Apulia). So, I would like to learn Italian. I’m looking for recommendations for the best programs. I’d like to become fairly fluent vs just learning travel essential conversations. I’m not 100% sure when this trip is going to take place, possibly late September 2026, but we’re going to the Dolomites in March (niece is competing in the Paralympics!), so it would be great to be able to try out what I’ve learned during that trip. Does anyone have any advice on the best way to learn a language? Classes, tutors, whole programs that don’t cost an arm and a leg? Want to hear your success stories. Please share how long it took you to feel somewhat comfortable conversing. TIA!
Not Italian, but I taught myself German in the last few years and am sort of learning French. Edit - Sort of meaning I don’t really put a lot of effort into it, aside from Duolingo each day.)
I started with Duolingo, and that was a very good program for me - someone starting from zero. The newer format (changed a couple of years ago) is easier and more fun, but I don’t get the repetition that I used to. I noticed the difference trying to learn French vs German. I need lots of repetition. Also, the different modules within Duolingo are very different. Some are much more robust and better than others. Spanish as an English speaking person is supposed to be the best, then French, the German. But, I also tried the French as a German native and HATED it. Everything they taught seemed like weird fortune cookie sentences. they never even taught basic things like numbers… but I digress. Long story short, I’m not sure how good the Italian version is, but it is cheap. even the Super level is $80/year. They’re another level where you can chat with an AI character. I haven’t done that yet.
I LOVE Easy German videos/podcasts. There is also an Easy Italian version. I’d guess the podcasts would be too hard from someone starting from scratch, but they are free to listen to. If you pay, you can get the interactive transcripts for free. The YouTube videos have subtitles in both languages. The ones labeled slow are more for beginners.
Over time, I also looked for other low budget/free videos/podcasts to supplement. I also read (almost daily) and write in a journal 3x week.
After 18 months I was at the point where I could probably hold easy conversations, but I was very self conscious about trying. I did do some simple transactions in German. I was pretty comfortable reading all signages - except menus. One issue for me was that we learn “Standard or High German,” but there are tons of dialects. Apparently Germans don’t understand other Germans speaking in their dialect. And then German in Austria can be different - especially their menus! I had no idea when I started, and I have no idea if Italy is similar.
4 years in, and I am very comfortable listening to several podcasts. Some are for German learners, but several are about my interest - health/fitness, running, travel, emigration, etc. I’m probably at a C1 level for listening and reading, B1-2 for writing (according to ChatGPT), and maybe A2-B1 for speaking. Big maybe, because I don’t do it. I’m just self conscious, and there’s no real reason I need to force myself. It’s a hobby. I’m pretty proud of how far I’ve come all on my own! I only go overseas every year or two and not always to a German speaking country - though I am going in December, so I may (should) start talking to the computer more soon.
But, some ways to practice - talk to ChatGPT. I don’t know why I don’t do it more. I’m still self conscious talking to a freaking computer! Also Easy German has pricier levels where you can do regular zoom meetings. I did this a few times, but the times were hard for me to make and again - self conscious… There is also a service iTalki that gets promoted lots of places, where you can hire someone 1 on 1 to talk to you and help you. I’ve never done it, but it’s supposed to be helpful.
I don’t want to dissuade you but be aware that many people in the small towns in Italy speak their local dialect, not Italian. The dialects can vary town to town, as do the accents. I could barely understand my cousins when we visited last year between them throwing in dialect words, even though they were making a conscious effort to speak Italian, and the speed in which they spoke. And I grew up hearing and speaking Italian my whole childhood.
I spent a year doing Duolingo as a refresher before we left and I was fine in hotels, restaurants and tourist destinations (and reading), but felt far from fluent when trying to have meaningful conversations.
I’d encourage being realistic about what you can learn in just a single year.
English has been required in Italian schools since like the mid 1980s and they begin starting in early grades in the early 2000s. Most young people will speak much, much better English than you will be able to learn in the next year. Now that doesn’t mean Italian’s don’t appreciate you learning their language. But we’ve spent a lot of time in small towns, and we know a smattering of Italian, but have zero issues. I struggle with Italian as I find it too similar but different than Spanish and I inevitably default to Spanish at some point. Enjoy your trip, Italy is my happy place!
Thanks, all. Some good ideas/comments here. I’ve tried Duolingo for Spanish and French and Great Courses French but did not have much luck with either. Though I didn’t try the paid version of version of Duo—not sure how much better it is. ChatGPT is interesting. I will play around with it and see what it can do. And once I have some experience will check out some videos/podcasts
I do want to learn vs feel like I need to. My BIL is Italian and is fluent so I’ll have someone to practice with.
I have a friend whose mom worked as an English teacher – online, live conversation one on one with English learners in China. There must be something similar, especially once you have made some progress with something like Duolingo. Following to see if anyone knows of such a thing.
This will be your best opportunity! Practice speaking as much as you can. My problem is that I can understand 99% of what is spoken to me and that I can read, but when I’m forced to speak, the words don’t come to me very easily. I’d be much better off if my mom and grandmother were still here to practice with.
Rosetta Stone offers live language classes as part of their subscription. You could try it for a few months to see if it works for you. $14.95 for 3 months. I worked there 20+ years ago but can’t speak to the product now.
That sounds like what I was describing above re: iTalki. Many of my German learning videos/podcasts promote it. There are all kinds of languages and hundreds of available teachers at various price points and lengths of time. I think at first you just sign up for 1 block of XX length of time with Y person for $Z, and if you like them, you can book regular appointments.
Your expectations may be set too high if you want to be “fairly fluent” in a year. The US Dept of State has a lot of experience teaching foreign languages to diplomatic staff and they say
A typical week is 23 hours per week in class and 17 hours of self-study. Italian takes 24 weeks to reach integrated score of 3 (Speaking + Listening) on the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) scale,
Foreign Language Training - United States Department of State
This corresponds to CEFR Level B2/C1 so maybe you’d be willing to settle for B1: “B1 learners can understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters and can deal with most situations likely to arise while traveling in an area where the language is spoken. They can also produce simple connected text on topics that are familiar or of personal interest.“ It would probably take less time to reach that level. B1 is not considered fluent but it’s the level required to get Italian citizenship.
I don’t have a personal success story of fluency but I can recommend a few programs as starting points (often available thru libraries) I’ve used in the past when traveling to Italy and France. Both are audio programs. Start with Michel Thomas Italian to get a sense of the language, verbs being what he calls the backbone. Then do Pimsleur thru all 5 levels of Italian. The Pimsleur instructions say to do a lesson daily but I found I got more from it if I repeated the lesson twice in a day. I also used Prof. Dave Italian at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLybg94GvOJ9FsOX3hUQsIm5NOJ2H6zh3a
Recall testing is important to retain what you’re studying so make flashcards (old school) or use a program like Anki, and learning sentences is said by some to be better than individual words.
BTW we were in the Dolomites (Ortisei) last fall and loved it, but the language the locals speak at home is German. Italy was on the Allied side in WWI and was ceded from Austria to Italy.
Do you have a local college or university that offers Italian language courses that you could audit?
I’ve been studying Italian for the past 2 years. I started with a live synchronous online class, added in Babbel, and am currently taking a break for the summer. In the fall, I’ll start up again with a different online live class through a local Italian language school. It’s been a challenge, truthfully. But also has been great for my 57 year old brain. I’ve been to Italy a few times, and plan to return in 2026 to take in person language classes there for at least a few weeks.
S25’s Italian teacher had them practice on Duolingo.
I am 75 days in on Duolingo French (I upgraded to Super for $84/year.
I am also have a paid subscription to Babbel. Duolingo is gamified and keeps me engaged and Babbel is a bit more substantive. Both are apps on my phone. I will do 1/2-1 hour/day. I’m making more progress than I thought.
You can also see if your local library has any language speaking groups or access to specific learning lab software.
Rosetta Stone is also very good.
The Peace Corps also has language instruction down to a great science, as their volunteers need to be fluent enough in a new language in less than a couple of months. But the instruction is immersion, and daily lessons almost all day.
I think you need to be realistic in how much you can really do in a year.
Having someone to converse with after you get some basics is terrific…and you have that. There are also some slower paced news broadcasts in other languages that family members here have found helpful.
I also enjoy the podcast Coffee Break Italian, great review of basics in first season, gets more advanced after that.
I’m sure there are. I think it’d be expensive though.
Thx for these suggestions. I have to check with my tiny library to see if they have anything. Transparent Language and Mango were recommended to me, but they’re not available at my library. I’d be happy with B1 level. Interesting re: the German. We are staying about an hour south of Ortisei. LMK if there’s any can’t miss places to go/see in that area. We will have some down time between her competitions. We also want to ski for a day.
I do have the time for daily lessons, though I’m not sure if I will have the desire to do so. Your comment re: expectations echoes what several other people have told me, so I’ll focus on more basic comprehension and conversation.
We visited Bolzano one afternoon which is a nice place to explore and has a museum centered around “Ötzi”, the mummy of a man found frozen in the ice from about 3300BC. Other than that we were there for hiking in the mountains so conditions will be quite different when you visit.
I noticed one of the places you’re going in Italy is Puglia. We based in Lecce and spent a few days exploring the region. We found the book “Lonely Planet Puglia & Basilicata” useful in describing Puglia and for planning our visit. It’s about 15 years old but the towns haven’t changed that much (the train times in the book are generally wrong though). We also looked for blogs with stories from travel in Puglia and watched YouTube videos such as walking tours. While planning your time there keep in mind that in rural southern Italy many shops/churches/museums close for the riposo from about 1pm until around 5pm and restaurants close by 2pm. Tourism mainly happens before lunch or in the evenings.
B1 is AP level, which means advanced/independent user; it takes roughly 5 years with about 4hours of instruction a week + daily hw.
It typically takes a minimum of 1 year of continuous study to reach A1 (basic) but you can probably speed that up by dedicating several hours to it every day. A1 is the easiest level to reach and if you do it full time you can probably reach it within 3-4 months. A1+ is a good goal, A2 would mean great aptitude (it takes 2-4 years to “typically” reach that level).
Note that the Defense program is meant for people who have been selected for their high aptitude for language learning and do it as their full time job in an environment designed to optimize that learning. The learning scale was adapted for HS and college learners because so few students reached even “Level 1” on that scale and it was intensely discouraging to them because it felt “low” (when in fact it wasn’t.)
First step would be to get the absolute basics - self-introduction, to be to have to go and a handful others in the present tense affirmative/negative/interrogative forms. See if you can find a book called English grammar for students of Italian and any basic grammar/workbook. Give yourself two months. Add Duolingo as you go - it teaches some automatisms through repetition. Reading novels that take place in Italy can also provide essential background information and little bits of vocabulary: Camilieri, Donna Leon, Elena Ferrante, etc.
After a couple months,
if you have Netflix look for Italian-language films and series, like Il treno dei bambini , C’e Ancora Domani, La Meglio Gioventù, My brilliant friend..
which show life in Italy as it used to be and how it’s become what it is, the background everyone has in the back of their mind because it really wasn’t so long ago. It’ll help you hear Italian and then you can select 1-2mn bits you’ve watched with English subtitles and you can switch to Italian subtitles: do you catch the words? For A1-A2 levels a minimum of listening three times to the 1-2mn bit is usually required. But the more you work on that the more you’ll catch. Then when you catch everything important after 3 viewings, you can increase the length of video or decrease the number of viewings.
That + workbook+ programs suggested upthread are likely to keep you busy through Summer 2026.
Adding personal lessons, especially the first month and then at regular intervals as check ups, is a great motivation. If there’s a local college (or a community education center) you can see if there are Italian courses there and (beside enrolling) you could see if a lecturer or advanced student would be willing to tutor you. And if you’re able to, you can join a family language camp at Concordia Language Villages, to see if you can function in every day situations entirely in Italian. 