You don’t have to live in Italy to learn the language. It is possible to create an Immersion program at home. I’m living proof! I went from “0 to fluent.” You can, too, by using these tips as your roadmap.
I help you to LEARN BETTER by posting tips, resources, and motivational posts on the Matta Blog to keep your Italian language learning motors supercharged. Here are a couple of the most popular ones:
• 10 Ways to Practice Pronunciation : Guest Post for Transparent Language 2014
• Learning a Language is like a masterpiece by Leonardo
• How Much Time Do You Spend on Italian Every Day?
• Addicted to Duolingo
LingQ
Where to Watch Italian TV & Films
Get out the popcorn—it’s time to watch a movie. Who doesn’t love a good movie flick? Movies are fantastic ways to keep your language skills thriving! These days, it is easier than ever to find Italian movies online and through film distribution services like Netflix and Amazon.
Rai TV and RAIplay.it — enjoy shows like Il Paradiso delle Signore, L’Amica Geniale, Don Matteo, and various comedies and soap dramas.
Yabla TV — Language immersion through online video.
Netflix — has a surprisingly large selection available in Italian. Enjoy original Italian films and TV series made for Netflix, like La guida astrologica per cuore infranti, La legge di Lidia Poèt, and 7 donne e un mistero.
Repubblica TV — Watch short news videos and current events in Italian, streaming live on the web, accompanied by short written descriptions.
LingoPie.com — Watch TV & Learn Italian
Alma.TV. — Learn Italian through entertaining videos
JustWatch.it — A site for viewing movies in Italian, like Io non ho paura
Radio and Audio
Get up and sing and dance — Mambo Italian style! Sing Mambo Italiano with Sophia Loren and dance away with a new Italian vocabulary. While moving to an Italiofile beat, you learn new words, idioms, and catchy phrases.
Matta Spotify Italian Playlist — Curated Italian music playlist
RaiRadio3 — Portale for Radio Stations and Podcasts.
Italia.FM — Portal for radio stations.
Radio Capital — Italian talk radio.
LatteMiele — Italian Radio Station that features all Italian music.
Radio 2 A Fumetti — Italian radio dramas featuring comics like Dylan Dog
News In Slow Italian — A Weekly Language Learning News Broadcast
Radio Kiss Kiss — Ascolta in diretta — Listen directly online
Listing of the Top radio stations in Italy
Learning Podcasts
Stuck in traffic? Got a long commute? Don’t waste your valuable time drumming your fingers on the steering wheel. Instead, you could keep yourself entertained and elevate your Italian skills by listening to a podcast in Italian.
Tutti Matti per l’Italiano — My podcast explores all aspects of Italian culture, music, current events, and language learning tips.
Italiano con Amore — by Eleonora Silanus from Umbria
My Italian Podcast — by Cristina (Cinqueterre) and Sabrina (Canada)
Langua Talk Italian: Una Storia ItaliAnna — Learn with Anna from Venice
L’italiano Vero — by Massimo Cubelli & Friends
Learn Italian with Lucrezia — by Lucrezia Oddone
ItalianPod101 — The ItalianPod team walks you through dialogues, gives you transcripts, and reviews new words and grammar structures. There is a fee. This is for beginning to intermediate learners.
Finestra sull’arte — Learn about famous Italian artists to understand Italian art history better. This is podcast is for advanced learners.
Quattro Stagione — A fun way to “tour” Italy from wherever you are. Read a blog post I wrote about Alessandra, the host.
Podcast Italiano — Over 100 episodes for beginners & intermediates
Online Italian Bookstores
The Matta Amazon Page — Wide assortment of novels and learning materials curated by Melissa
Amazon.com and Amazon.it — Books and streaming
IBS Online Italian Bookstore — Buy Italian books online direct from Italy.
I Am Books — Italian Bookstore Boston — order online
Valore Online Books — Buy New & Used Italian Books
Alibris Online Italian Book Store
Libreria Pino Online Bookstore — San Francisco
Read a Book! Book Recommendations
Pick up an Italian book or magazine, and take the plunge by diving right in! If you are new to the Italian language, start with children’s books — that’s what I did! Then to challenge yourself, begin reading things you are familiar with in English — like Harry Potter or your favorite English mystery writer. I’d be thrilled, of course, if you read one of my novels set in Italy. I write in English, but there are lots of Italian words thrown in. I’ve also translated one of the books into Italian.
Matta Italian Book Club — Join the Matta Italian Book Club. Read an Italian novel and discuss it in small groups or one-on-one with Melissa.
Io non ho paura — by Niccolò Ammaniti (Matta Book Club Choice)
Quattro Metà — by Martino Coli (Matta Book Club Choice)
Prima Regola: non innamorarsi — by Felicia Kingsley (Matta Book Club Choice)
Guida astrologica per cuori infranti — by Silvia Zucca (Matta Book Club Choice)
Il risveglio di Isabella — by Melissa Muldoon, Waking Isabella translated into Italian (Matta Book Club Choice)
Due Amiche — by Serena Capilli Short Stories, perfect for beginning students
Le avventure di Pinocchio — A dual language book translated by Jack Risos. Read review I wrote.
Il fascino discreto dell’amore — by Grazia Cioce
Brodetto galeotto — by Christina Barbara Assouad
Mia suocera è un mostro — by Valentina Vanzini
Non puoi essere tu — by Sonia Ognibene (easy Italian novels for A2-B1)
Fumetti and Fotoromanzo: Topolino, Tex, Diabolik, Dylan Dog, Julia, and Sogno can be found in Italian book markets.
Audiobooks — Improve Listening Comprehension.
Audible.it — Listening to audiobooks is the best way to take your listening comprehension skills to the next level. I highly recommend it!
Audibile.com — Italian audiobook titles in both English & Italian.
Audiobooks.com — Access audio library of 450,000+ books: Eng & Italian.
Italian Online Magazines & Newspapers
Vanity Fair — Italian version.
Donna Moderna — Online Italian women’s magazine.
Il Post — A news source that features current events in Italy
Corriere della Sera — News specific to Italy.
L’Espresso — weekly magazine insights into Italian politics & culture
Allora — published by friend & Italian teacher, Beatrice Massaro in Florence for Italian learners
Tutto Italiano — a glossy magazine, is packed full of lively and up-to-the-minute articles
YouTube Channels
YouTube is a fantastic platform for working on your Italian skills at home. There are so many Italian teachers and videos to watch.
Studentessa Matta YouTube Channel — Join me on my channel, where I post videos about grammar and Italian culture. Look for written transcripts in Italian and English in linked blog posts on the website.
Sgrammaticando — Focuses on Italian grammar. Originally intended for an Italian audience, it’s become a useful site for Italian students.
Italiano Automatico — Learn Italian with Alberto and sometimes his nonna!
Learn Italian with Lucrezia — Lucrezia is an Italian native who records short, fun weekly videos to help you learn Italian.
LearnAmo — Graziana and Rocco are two talented and engaging Italian teachers.
One World Italiano — Learn Italian with Veronica from Sardinia.
Weilà Tom — Italian teaching in a casual and fun way.
Peppa Pig — A children’s cartoon series that is easy for beginning language learners to follow. Read an article I wrote about Peppa Pig.
My Italian Circle — Learn with Anna through her YouTube lessons
Italy Made Easy — by Manu an Italian who lives in Australia
Dolce Vita — with Luca & Marina
Websites for Italian Language & Culture
Studentessa Matta — Where learning meets la dolce vita!Award-winning blog about Italian language and culture. New posts in Italian every week!
Italian for My Girlfriend — This site has hundreds of vocabulary words drawn into images, then recorded words into video.
I Draw Italian — A Facebook site by a graphic designer trying to learn the Italian language. Welcome to the visual language journal!
Italian StackExchange — A question and answer site for those wanting to discuss the finer points of the Italian language.
Becoming Italian Word by Word — Dianne Hales author of “The Bella Lingua”, blogs in English highlighting Italian culture and vocabulary.
Giallo Zafferano — A recipe site that all my Italian friends use.
Online Language Instructions
Studentessa Matta Italian Lessons — Learn online with la Studentessa, tailored lessons designed to improve your Italian language skills
Coffee Break Italian — Online Italian Language courses, magazines & audio lessons
Babbel — Beginner grammar courses, vocabulary lessons
Rocket Italian — Online Italian Language Courses with Audio training.
Cyber Italian — Learn Italian online with Maura Garau’s team of teachers
Eli Macanni Italian Coach — Individual or Group language sessions
Best Italian Classes — Advanced courses with Irene from Umbria
Online Italian Language Trainings Sites & Apps
Studentessa Matta Quizlet Site — online vocabulary training through flashcards and games
Linguno — Fun and efficient language learning tools, customizable conjugation exercises, adaptive listening, daily crossword puzzles & study guides
Makes you Fluent Practice — conversation with an Ai tutor
Parola del Giorno — Learn a new Italian word a day
Reverso Conjugator — Italian conjugations at your fingertips
Italian Verb Blitz App — Helps you master Italian Conjugations
Italian Verb Conjugator App — features 500 Italian verbs in 18 tenses
Conjuu — Italian Conjugator, learn over 900 Italian verbs!
DuoLingo — fun free app that makes a game out of language learning
bab.la — A rich resource for reference tools, including an Italian dictionary, conjugation support, quizzes, and games.
Memrise — Flashcards augmented with mnemonics. Read a post I wrote about Memrise.
Anki — A spaced repetition flashcard program. You can create your own mnemonic cards
lang-8.com — Language exchange social networking website geared towards learners.
HiNative.com — Ask native speakers about their language and culture. Read a post I wrote about HiNative.
Impariamo l’Italiano — Italian language learning portal with exercises.
Fluent Forever — Pronunciation & Audio practice: Read a post I wrote and listen to my interview with the founder, Gabriel Wyner.
Surface Language — Practice and learn to pronounce the 500 most commonly used words in Italian.
LingoClip — App for learning Italian by listening to Italian music
Matdid — Didactic learning materials and videos curated by Roberto Tartaglione of Scud.it, an Italian school in Rome
Italian Language Reference Tools
Italian: A Self-Teaching Guide — Edourdo A. Lebano, Printed Book, Italian grammar explained with exercises and answers
Reverso Context — Search for Italian expressions in daily use on internet
Reverso Translator — Online language translator
Word Reference Forum — A great place to ask scholarly questions and get answers from Italians
Forvo — Listen to native speakers pronounce Italian words.
Dizy Italian Dictionary — A dictionary with pictures, descriptions
Garzanti Linguistica Dizionario Italiano — Italian online dictionary.
Treccani — Italian encyclopedia.
Fraze.it — Enter an Italian word or a short phrase, and Fraze will deliver.
Learn In Your Car Language Grammar CDs — by Penton Overseas.
The Matta Amazon Page — Italian Books & Learning Materials
Instagram Accounts
Chicche Grams — read a post I wrote about Chicche Grams
The Minoo — get to know Rome with Minoo as your guide
Practice Pronunciation Skills — Voice Recording
Let’s face it. No one likes the sound of their voice… and horrors of horrors if you record your own voice in another language! But recording yourself speaking in the target language can be quite effective and illuminating as you learn to self-correct your own speech. You can simply use your iPhone or iPad to record yourself reading from a book or newspaper or record a daily “to-do” list in Italian on your mobile phone.
Transparent Language EveryVoice — Record your voice and compare it to native speaker pronunciation.
iOS Voice Memo App for Smartphones — Record your voice while speaking or reading aloud to self-evaluate your progress
Rocket Italian Online Voice Registration. Record your voice and compare it to native speaker pronunciation.
Italian Games to Learn Italian
Scriveremo Pocket Puzzles — Puzzles and quizzes to enhance your vocabulary comprehension. Read a post I wrote about Scriveremo.
Italian Word Search Puzzles — Print and Play
Learn Italian by MindSnacks — Helps you learn vocabulary, phrases, verb conjugations, grammar, and pronunciation.
Barzellette — Jokes in Italian.
Parole Vietate — The Italian version of Taboo
Tombola — Italian Bingo
Kloo — Learn to Speak Italian Game
Scopa — Develop critical thinking in Italian
Join a Conversation Group / Find a Language Partner
Learning a language is all about making conversation. So go out there and find a language partner. Trust me. It is the best way to break through inhibitions and start feeling comfortable speaking. A private tutor will also help with enunciation, word emphasis, and phonic recognition.
Italian Conversation with Melissa — Sign-up for ONE-hour Zoom Italian chat sessions with Melissa on the Matta website
i talki — Connect with online teachers and native-speaking language partners. Listen to a Podcast I recorded about italki.
Preply — Find a native-speaking language teacher who is right for any student’s interests.
Interpals — Find language partners with whom you can chat via text, Skype, email, or snail mail if you feel old-fashioned.
WyzAnt — Find expert tutors at affordable prices in your area.
MeetUp Italian Groups — Join an Italian group in your area. If you are in Austin, Texas a come join the Matta Italian Meetup Group!
Write in Italiano
Develop a daily writing practice in Italian. Keep an old-fashioned journal and jot down a couple of sentences about your day — it could be as simple as a short paragraph describing an activity or the weather, even a grocery list. In so doing, you work on new vocabulary and improve your grammar skills. It’s time to get creative and let those words fly — digitally or on paper!
Matta Facebook Page — Join the Matta Facebook community and interact with others to practice your writing skills daily.
MattaTwitter Feed — Tweet in Italian — just a couple words a day keeps you in practice!
Keep a daily journal. Write short stories, movie reviews, and even a “To Do List” in Italian
Host an Italian Exchange Student
Hosting an exchange student is great if you’re serious about practicing the language. It is the most personalized and profound way I have found to improve Italian language skills on a long-term daily basis.
AFS Study Abroad — Host an exchange student. I’ve hosted two Italian AFS students, and the experience was extremely rewarding.
Study in Italia
Matta Small Group Italian Language Immersion Programs — Join me for a small-group language program.
Italian Homestay in Italy — Enjoy an Italian language homestay and live and learn in the home of an Italian teacher in Italy.
Study at Lucca Italian School in Lucca — I partner with Lucca Italian School for my small group programs. Tell them Melissa sent you, and you’ll receive a special welcome!
Study at Cultura Italiana Italian School Arezzo — I partner with Cultura Italiana in Arezzo for my small group programs. Tell them Melissa sent you, and you’ll receive a special welcome!
Study at Il Sasso in Montepulciano — partner with il Sasso for my small group programs. Tell them Melissa sent you, and you’ll receive a special welcome!
Love Italian Bologna — I partner with Love Italian in Bologna for homestays. Tell them Melissa sent you, and you’ll receive a special welcome!