If you’re learning Italian and want to find out more about the best Italian courses, here you will find a review for each Italian course we have selected for you.
With so much information and so many options on the web, it is hard to pick the best online Italian lessons.
For this reason, we have prepared these reviews of the best Italian courses.
Think in Italian review
Previously called Fluent Simple, Think in Italian is probably the best Italian course on the Internet.
On this site, you will find grammar lessons, audio lessons, articles, stories, and blog posts about Italy.
It was all designed by Stefano, who is also an Italian teacher.
More specifically, there is an option called Leggi con me, which includes a huge collection of news, short stories, and conversations with bilingual texts and slow audio.
Another great option is Impara con Me, a huge collection of Italian audio lessons and short readings sorted by level with slow audio, Italian transcript, and English translation to improve your speaking, listening, and reading skills.
Stefano also developed his own unique method to learn a foreign language called it Ripeti con Me.
Over many lessons, you will hear the same words repeated in different contexts. In time, you will get accustomed to all the words and phrases and will start using them naturally.
Recorded lessons are perfect to learn on the go, and at your own pace.
Because grammar is important too, you will subconsciously hear grammar structures, but it will not overwhelm you.
With its focus on speaking from day 1, you intuitively pick up words without ever feeling like you’re studying.
We would highly recommend this to anyone who has tried to learn languages but lacks confidence (especially in speaking).
For those interested in a thorough understanding of ‘Ripeti con Me’, why not take a look at this helpful review of these Italian lessons? This review offers comprehensive insights into the course’s methodology and effectiveness, particularly for those focusing on improving their Italian speaking skills
Pimsleur
If you want to learn how to speak and understand Italian, Pimsleur is one of the best language-learning websites.
Pimsleur teaches pronunciation and listening.
The content is of good quality and is especially good if you want your pronunciation to be spot on, since, like Ripeti con Me, it works with the spaced repetition method.
Pimsleur’s main lessons are audio files. You learn by listening and speaking out loud.
If you get Pimsleur Premium, then you also get interactive exercises. The program also usually includes access to PDFs that you can download or booklets that ship with the CDs with a printout of all the words and phrases in each lesson.
In each program, an Italian-speaking narrator or instructor gives directions and one or more native speakers provide information.
In between hearing a word for the first time and being asked to recall it and say it again, you learn other words and phrases.
So you’re constantly recalling words and phrases that you learned earlier or in past lessons. Also, the program uses both listen-and-repeat and call-and-response patterns.
Glossika
Glossika is all about repetitions. With each repetition, you get to hear and read a sentence.
The great thing is that it’s all sentences, so you’ll always find words in context.
And these sentences aren’t random, of course.
Also, thanks to Glossika’s spaced repetition algorithm, you’ll naturally pick up grammatical structures without having to make a big effort just by hearing the sentences.
Learning with Glossika is straightforward because Glossika deliberately limits your choices.
What you have to do is pretty clear: just work on your daily amount of repetitions. You don’t really have to worry about anything else.
This reduces the decisions you have to make so that you can focus on learning the language.
According to Glossika, by doing thousands of repetitions, you can reach different levels in your language learning process:
25,000 Reps: Speak sentences with natural flow and accent
50,000 Reps: Engage in casual conversations at the speed of native speakers
75,000 Reps: Hone your skills in specialized topics
100,000 Reps: Mastery level where you can say just about anything
As you can see, Glossika’s method is all about listening to sentences.
Michel Thomas
This is a perfect course if you are starting to learn Italian as an absolute beginner.
It is an audio course where you listen to Michel Thomas (a Polish polyglot) as the teacher speaking to two of his students. You will become his third student.
He starts with some basic words to create easy sentences, and then slowly more complex ones. He has chosen his words and phrases very carefully.
With his method, you are not going to do much effort to memorize what he is teaching.
You just need to sit somewhere quiet, be relaxed, and listen. And of course, you’ll have to speak when it is your turn as the 3rd student. This is very important as it’ll be your turn to become an active student.
Just so you know, Michel Thomas does not focus on grammar. He only mentions a few grammar concepts.
He just makes it easy for you to understand how verbs are conjugated without being too explicit about it. You’ll end up conjugating verbs without even having studied a verb conjugation table.
You will be surprised how much Italian your brain actually remembers when you sit, relax, listen, and participate.
It’s a course that gives you confidence that you are making progress. This audio course gives you a sense of achievement as you recognize and remember word after word, phrase after phrase.
Whatever you choose, good luck with your learning process!