Our Guide to Learning Italian Online in 2021

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Looking to learn the Italian language? Well, if so, then you’re in the right place. As one of the most popular languages to study, learning Italian can be a huge benefit to many across the world. Italian is the fourth most learned language in the United States, and has a great number of enthusiasts all over the world.

Around 63 million people speak Italian as their first language, as well as an extra 3 million as their second. Italian is a major language of millions of people in Europe and America, which has made it an essential choice for non-natives to learn Italian.

The surge in learning Italian for  professional development, business purposes, and travel has made it more attractive as a language of communication. There are various institutional platforms, and courses available on both online and offline to learn Italian. However, the affordable price range and beneficial features in online resources with a customisable lesson plan have made it an ideal source to learn Italian online.

Our Guide to Learning Italian Online

There are many reasons to learn the Italian language. Here at MakeMeSmart, we are here to share these reasons, as well as identifying the benefits to mastering Italian. Studies show that Bilinguals are more resilient to dementia caused by Alzheimer’s. In addition, the globally recognised demand of learning Italian online has kept the resources on the go as users’ common preference. We will talk about different benefits and strategies to learn Italian and setting the target you desire.

The Perfect Site

Everyone has an individual style and level of capacity to learn a brand new language. Therefore, choosing the course for you to learn Italian is vital to your learning experience, on top of desired course features, and time preference to assist you throughout your learning process.

Setting Goals

Everyone should have some form of goals, aims and objectives when learning a new language, and Italian is no different. This helps you to track your progress and learn more efficiently to stay self-motivated while learning.

Practicing with Others

Practice, practice, practice. It will also be beneficial, in whatever situation or environment you are in. Practicing with others in particular is a big help when it comes to learning languages, making it easier to identify strengths and weaknesses, as well as comparing your individual work with other learners.

Practice by Writing

Writing is the process of absorbing the information or skill in your brain. It helps you to remember the vocabulary and other relevant information during the lessons by writing and revising. You do not have to write the Italian, rather you can write the translations and your understanding of the context in your native language to immerse yourself in the language.

Best Websites for Learning Italian Online

The main challenge of finding a site to learn Italian online is not the scarcity of it, but rather the adequacy of many good platforms. Therefore, hopping on the best deal to learn Italian online requires a good insight to meet your convenience priorities. In this article, we have discussed the best ones available there to help you choose your ideal language learning website.

Italy Made Easy (Editor’s Choice)

Italy Made Easy is a Flagship Italian language program serving one of the most versatile course structures and mentor support to ace your Italian learning. This course offers a comprehensive study program consisting of eight fun and interactive courses providing clear explanations and expert guidance to assist you to learn Italian online. There are more than 300 videos, activities, and audio lessons to enrich your vocabulary through consistent listening practice.

To make you improve your proficiency in listening, reading, writing, and speaking it provides a great course design with lots of practices. That also allows you to sign up for Premium VIP courses to get your assignments checked by native and expert speakers and give you personalized feedback on your progress. In short, Italy Made Easy is the best platform to ensure optimum service to learn Italian online.

Pros: Well-structured course design for thorough service; Personalized feedback option; Affordable price.

Con: Less options for advanced learners.

Babbel

Babbel is an incredible platform to start your journey to learn Italian and learn a language with deep understanding. It cross checks your level of understanding via modules emphasizing on concepts. It’s a game-based app platform to learn Italian and provides an enriched interface to practice and learn vocabulary, speaking in the same course.

It is equipped with plenty of lessons to assist you in the core concepts of grammar and tense. Babbel is a decent platform for independent learners and allows base building from the beginning of the course. It also offers courses with business Italian, idioms, and Italian culture to immerse you in the language.

Pros: The plethora of practice lessons for beginners; One-stop course for vocabulary, grammar, reading, listening and speaking; Easy to use.

Con: Not enough grammar reviews for advanced practice.

Babbel
£/$71.88

Pimsleur

Pimsleur follows its four formulas of study method to provide effective learning and provides a proficient platform to ace your Italian course. Pimsleur offers the most versatile vocabulary and pronunciation within its high-quality course materials.

Its short course duration, intervals, vocabulary learning through contextual studying, and time-bound answer formulating ensure a powerful process to learn Italian. The explanations during practicing and setting goals to achieve target phrases and to create sentences help you to ensure fine speech delivery.  Pimsleur also assists to develop your Italian pronunciation with its back-chaining technique.

Therefore, it is a good website to learn, practice, and speak Italian to reduce your intermediate deficiency in Italian.

Pros: Reinforced learning structure.; Focus based Learning benefits; Perfect for beginners.

Con: Costlier than other options.

Pimsleur
Free £12.95

News in Slow Italian

News in Slow Italian is a fun learning website to learn Italian with interactive course material and user-friendly features. You do not have to worry about the quality of resources of this platform, thinking about the name because it is not just about news.

It provides you access to its superior course contents including-a complete beginners course, grammar course, expressions course, news-based podcasts, and transcripts for intermediate to advanced learners.

It also adds interactive and fun fictional stories for all levels to engage you throughout the lessons. The audios and other lessons have vocabulary flashcards, grammar practice modules, and quizzes in them. The overall structure of this website and lessons are easy to understand and engaging to make your learning fruitful.

Pros: Interacting and fun lesson plans; Plenty of quality content on reading and listening practice; A complete package for new learners.

Con: Limited practice activities based on course.

Mondly

Mondly is the best place to binge for exploring and learning Italian through common phrases and authentic Italian pronunciations. It allows great features including high-class audio of native speakers, Speech Recognition software to develop your Italian pronunciation, and on-the-spot suggestions for progress.

Mondly offers speaking practice with an in-program chat-bot to boost your speaking confidence in real life. The module-based learning and gaming features make the learning more interactive for users and make it more interesting for learning the language with ease.

Pro: Fast feedback option to track progress; Immersive language learning course; Reasonable price.

Con: The VR and AR settings might be inconvenient for some users.

Perks of Learning Italian Online

Budget-Friendly Pricing

The best part of learning Italian online is its affordable pricing. It allows you to learn your desired language within your budget without cutting your pocket on an inexpensive course to deal with. There are many advanced-level courses with quality content but pricing is a bit high. However, it always is less than the physical classes, to begin with.

Time Saver

According to experts in the United States, it takes 600 hours to earn proficiency in a new language. With that said, the traditional online courses to learn Italian minimise the course duration to a convenient period and divide the lessons into short chunks to make your learning more engaging and interactive. It also allows you to access the course from home or anywhere to save time in your busy schedule.

Goal-Oriented

Most of the online websites are self-paced or provide customisable scheduling but their goal-oriented nature and evaluation system to track the progress of the students helps you to reach your desired destination in no time.

Why Learn Italian?

The Italian language is key to study and research in the fields of art, history, literature, and explore the dynamics of Italian culture. In this article, we mentioned some significant reasons to learn Italian and the advantages of it as a language of communication.

Widely Spoken

More than 64 million people are Italian speakers in the European Union with 58 million natives in Italy. It is the official language of San Marino, Switzerland, and Vatican City. Some local areas of Croatia and Slovenia have also made it their official language.

Italian is the 20th most spoken language in the world. 30 countries all over the world speak Italian, making it one of the common languages of business.  The rising open market and investment hub in Italy have opened the door for Italian speakers and translators to thrive in different fields of communication.

Business Communication

The Italian economy offers many employment opportunities including a well-equipped infrastructure for R&D, innovation, and design and a strong manufacturing base. Its significant geographical placement and growing FMCG sector make it a gateway to the European Single Market.

It is one of the biggest manufacturing countries in Europe, with a reputation for premium quality and design. Popular brands like Versace, Gucci, Armani, Benetton, and Prada, and many more to name hails from Italy. Which creates a great pool of employment opportunities for Italian speaking candidates in Italy and abroad because of their worldwide reputation and business franchises.

Career Advancement

Italy is the eighth largest economy in the world making it third in the Eurozone. The rapid expansion of the Italian marketplace has opened job opportunities for employers and contributed to the rise of Italian courses and degrees in the United States and EU.

A survey by the National Foreign Language Centre of 2100 HR departments, shows that about 93% of employers look for employees with second language expertise, as it helps them to deal with clients, business proposals, and customer dealings.

Learning Italian can also help individuals gain employment from tourism sectors, government ministries, international organisations, import-export agencies, and educational platforms as mentors.

Italian History, Culture, and Cuisine

Learning Italian gives you access to the rich history and cultural diversity of Italy. According to UNESCO, more than 60% of the world’s art treasures and historical relics are found in Italy. It is also the language of art to study the research in the fields of art history, literature, archaeology, and philosophy.

Knowing Italian allows you to dive into the diverse culture and interesting classical music in Italian. Italy is also the culinary master of the most popular foods and their growing obsession with Italian food has made it a language of many demeanours. Learning Italian is easy considering the level of difficulty it has compared to other languages. It has many similarities with English that makes it easy to grab and learn online with proficiency.

Learning Italian Online – Conclusion

In conclusion, Italian is an official language in five countries, with a total of 85 million Italian speakers worldwide. Therefore, mastering the Italian language can generate many opportunities for you to get involved with. Learning Italian is a great decision if you’re looking to open up new avenues, as well as excelling in careers and business communication.

Like with learning any new skill, effort, time and commitment will be required, but almost anyone will be able to learn Italian online. With a number of online learning platforms now offering Italian courses, you can get started with learning a new language in no time.

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