Free Italian Learning Materials
All content on this page is freely accessible.
Interactive quizzes are available to friends who choose our Freemium option – a free registration with just one click.
Learning Italian is exciting and sometimes challenging.
We hope our exercises help you improve.
Have fun learning, and buono studio!
I verbi impersonali: guide & quiz
This is a very basic introduction to the Italian impersonal verbs, verbi impersonali Italian impersonal verbs (verbi impersonali) are very common in the spoken …
Riccardo
Italian tongue twisters: scioglilingua. PODCAST.
Learn the most famous Italian “scioglilingua”, tongue twisters: challenge your fluency, pronunciation, speed and precision. Translating these sentences is quite pointless, because they make little …
Riccardo
Italian for travellers: Hotels. PODCAST
Learn to deal with your hotel reservation and services. Listen to the correct pronunciation Today we’ll talk about your accommodation in Italia. Italy is …
Riccardo
Italian for travellers: Buying clothes. PODCAST
Learn some basic Italian vocabulary and verbs related to shopping and fashion. PODCAST. Fashion is important business in Italia. Not just for money. We …
Riccardo
Italian for travellers: Eating out – PODCAST
LearnthecorrectvocabularyandsentencesfororderingfoodinItaly. PODCAST. Therearesomecommonpractices,setphrasesandwordsyoucanuseanywhere inItaly fororderingfoodandmakeyourselfunderstood. Wearegoingtoseethemtogether. Lacolazione-Breakfast Italianbreakfastisverysimple.Peopleeatthecolazioneat homeoratcafeterias(inItalywesimplycallita”bar”).Weusuallyhaveacaffelatte,(coffeeandmilk),cappuccino,orevenasimplecaffèandasweetpastry,abriocheorcornetto(croissant). InaB&B,a socalledagriturismo, youcaneattastylocalfoodlikesalameandprosciutto,formaggio(cheese)pane(bread)anddolcifattiincasa (homemadecakes)forbreakfast. Ilpranzo-Lunch Ilpranzoisusuallylighterthanlacena (supper).Onholiday however,proportionsandportionsarenotundercontrol.Ifyouwantalightmeal,youcaneata paninoconaffettati(delimeatlikeprosciuttoetc) porchetta (spit-roastedpork)formaggio.Youcanaskasalumiere (grocer)toprepareitforyouandfillitthewayyoulikeit. Anothergoodandcheapoptionisamenùa10euro,ormenùturisticoalunchsetwhichincludesaprimopiatto (pastaorrisotto),secondopiatto-carneopesce (meatorfish), contornodiverdura (patate,pomodori,insalataverde – sidedish,usuallypotatoes,tomatoesorgreensalad),pane(bread)acqua(water)andsometimesevenavinodellacasa,1/4 literof housewine.Uncaffèespressoisalwayspartofit. Ifyourbudgetallowsafulllunchinatrattoriaorristorante,ofcourseyoucaneatanddrinkasmuchasyouwant.ThecoursesofanItalianmealare:antipasto(appetizer),primo(firstdish),secondo(maindish),contorno(sidedish),formaggio(cheese),dolce(dessert),caffèandifyouarereadytotakeanap,anamaro(typicalItaliantonicliquor).Readytopaythebill?Askthewaiter,Ilcontoperfavore. Lacena-Supper Lacenacanberather cheapatapizzeria orexpensiveinanelegantristorante. Antipasto – Starter Italiansusually startadinner withsomeappetizers.Weusuallyeataffettati, cheese,andthefamousgrilledvegetablesmarinatedinoliveoil,thesocalledsottolio. Ifyoupreferfish,especiallyifyouarevisitingaplaceonthecoast,youcanorderanantipastodimare, aselectionofcoldseafoodandfish,pickled in oliveoilandlemon,ormoresophisticatedcoldentries. Ifyoutrustyourwaiter,andseethatotherpeoplearehavinganiceantipasto,youcanaskfortheantipastodellacasa,aselectionofpopularappetizers. Primipiatti ForgetabouttheItaliandishesyoucanfindathome. YouwillneverfindAmerican fettuccineAlfredo ormacaroniandcheese.Italiansdon’tevenknowwhattheyare. Pastaisking,from theextremenorthtoSicily.Thevarietyofshapes,fillings,saucesandcondimentsishuge. Risottoisprettycommoneverywherebutitismorepopularin thenorthernpartofthecountry.Pastaisusuallyservedaldente.Ifit’sovercooked wesayitisscotta. Youcanunderstandiftherestaurantisdecentif theyserveyourpastawithaformaggiera, acheesebowl,withgratedparmigianoorpecorino. Askforitifthewaiter forgets. Nowadaysrestaurantsservinggluten-freepastaareeasytofindinbigcities. Maybeyou’renotinthemoodforeatingmuchoryouhadaquitecaloriclunch,soyoucanaskthewaiterforasmall portion,ortoshareyourprimopiatto. Let’srecapwithapodcast: Vorrei degliaffettati-I’dlikeamixofdelimeat …
Riccardo
Italian for travellers: Making friends. PODCAST
Addressingpeopleformallyandinformally,greetingsandintroductions.Listentothepodcast. ThePodcastisaboutmakingfriendsandstartingaconversation. “LEI”AND”TU” InItalian,wehavetwodifferentlevels ofcommunication:formalandinformal.Whenwewantto addresssomeoneinformally,weusethepronounTU(you).OntheotherhandtheformalpronounisLEI(she)usedforbothmenandwomen.ThefirstoneisequivalenttotheEnglishYOU,sothere’snoproblemhere.TheLEI isaformofrespectthat createsdistancebetweenspeakers.Forexample: Cometichiami(tu)? Comesichiama(lei)? Theybothmeanwhat’syourname,butthelatterismoreappropriateifyouspeaktoanadultyoudon’tknow,orneedtopayrespecttosomeone. Forexample,IknowmanypeopleusingtheLeiwiththeirparentsinlaw,theirbossesandcolleaguesatwork,theircustomers.Itdependsonthesituation. SometimestheLeiis notnecessarybecause thenature oftherelationshipisinformal.Italiansarefriendly,somostprobablytheLeiwillbe necessaryonlywhenyouintroduceyourself.YouwillsoonusetheinformalTu. Sinceyouareaforeigner,people willunderstandit’sdifficultforyoutousetheLei.Inanycase,it’srecommendedtoshowsomepolitenessandlearngreetingsandintroductionsusing Lei.Then,youcanasktoswitchtotheinformalTusaying: Diamocideltu. Possiamodarcideltu? Let’sproceedwithorder: TITLES ItaliansusetitlesmorethanEnglishspeakers.Thefollowingisthebasics: Signore-Sir Signora-Ma’am Signorina-Miss SignorRossi-Mr.Rossi SignoraBianchi-Mrs.Bianchi SignorinaFerrari-MissFerrari Ontopofit,people tendtogivealotofimportancetograduatedprofessionals.EveryItalianholdingauniversitydegreeisadottore ifmaleordottoressa if femaleandthetitleis usedinsteadofsignororsignorabeforethelastname,evenoutsidetheworkingenvironment.Themostcommonare: DottorRossi DottoressaBianchi AvvocatoMartini …
Riccardo
La famiglia italiana – PODCAST
Learnthevocabularyrelatedtothe”famiglia”.Listentothepodcast. WhenIwasachild(unbambino)myfamily,(lamiafamiglia)usuallymetinspecialoccasions,mainlyreligiousevents,likeweddings(matrimoni),communions(comunioni),baptisms(battesimi)andsoon.Wecouldn’tmeetatsomebody’shouse,weweretoomany(eravamotroppi).So,weusedtogoatbigrestaurantsinthecountryside(incampagna)andcelebratetogether.Mygrandpa(miononno),theheadofthefamily,usedtositcapotavola,guestofhonor. Listenadrepeataftertheaudiofiles-hitthespacebartopausethetrack ilpadre=father lamadre=mother ilpapà=dad lamamma=mom ilnonno=grandpa lanonna=grandma lozio=uncle lazia=aunt ilfiglio=son lafiglia=daughter ilfratello=brother lasorella=sister ilnipote=nephew lanipote=niece inonni=grandparents igenitori=parents iparenti=relatives glizii=uncles ifigli=offspring ifratelli=brothers …
Riccardo
Italian for beginners: “C’è” – “Ci sono”- PODCAST
Theverbessereisusedintheexpressionsc’èandcisono(thereis-thereare) followedbya singularorpluralnoun.Podcast. C’èandcisono correspondtotheEnglishthereisandthereare. Asimplepostforbeginners There’snoperfectmatchbetweenEnglishandItalian.Sometimesessereandesserci(tobeandtobethere)areinterchangeable. Thenegativeformsare nonc’èand noncisono. Afewnotes.Money(soldi)initalianisplural,people(gente)inItalianissingular,so”thereis”and”thereare”areobviouslyinverted.Theorderofthewordsinthesentencedoesn’tchangeinquestions.InItalian,whenyoudon’tneedinterrogativeadverbs(come,dove,quando,perchéetc…)we justaddaquestionmark.Soicanask: Mariononc’è? Nonc’ètempo? Finally, fromalogicalpointofview,therearesomeverycommonItaliansentences(doublenegatives)thatinEnglishdon’tmakesense,butarecorrectinItalian.Forexample: Nonc’ènessuno -lit.Thereisn’tnobody Nonc’èniente-lit.Thereisn’tnothing ThereareplentyoforedoublenegativesinItalian(withmai,nessuno,niente).Learn themastheyare. Thanksforreading.VisitourhomepageandwinanItalianSkypeclasswithanativeteacher. photocredit
Riccardo