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Introduction to Italian

4.9 (359 reviews)

Learn basic Italian and explore Italian culture, with this free online Italian course.

140,547 enrolled on this course

Learn Italian: two students talking on a hill in Siena

  • Duration

    6 weeks

  • Weekly study

    3 hours
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Explore the language and culture of Italy

Have you been dreaming of visiting cities like Venice, Rome and Florence? Have you always wanted to learn Italian and explore Italian culture? If so, this course is perfect for you.

Over six weeks you’ll start to learn Italian online: developing the skills to interact in common conversational situations. You’ll learn how to introduce yourself, answer simple questions, ask for information, and talk about your interests, food and clothes.

You’ll develop your listening and speaking skills through watching short videos which introduce common spoken Italian, vocabulary and grammar patterns.

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Skip to 1 minute and 0 seconds Ciao, Italy is beautiful, isn’t it? My name is Francesca and I am going to guide you during your journey through your discovery of the Italian language. With me, there will be two teachers, Marco and Sabrina who will help you understand the language better. In these six weeks, you will also meet Mike, Anna and Lisa the three main characters in the video you will watch. Mike, Anna and Lisa are studying at the University for Foreigners of Siena a center specialized in Italian culture and, of course, in the teaching of Italian.

Skip to 1 minute and 34 seconds Every year, hundreds of students of all ages, from all over the world come to Siena to study Italian, where they also have the opportunity to start friendships with Italian students too. Well, what else? We are waiting for you. Join us! Ciao!

Syllabus

  • Week 1

    Talking about yourself

    • Benvenuti

      Meet the educators and tell us why you are interested in Italian.

    • Introduction to Clip 1

      Let's find out what you are going to watch

    • Clip 1 - Meeting Mike, Anna and Lisa

      Meet the main characters of our clips

    • Comprehension 1

      Choose whether the following sentences are true or false

    • Focus on Communication 1

      Let's look at some expressions in the dialogue

    • Focus on Vocabulary 1

      Let's look at some words of the dialogue

    • Focus on Grammar 1

      Let's look at some grammar aspects of the dialogue

    • Exploring Italian 1

      Looking in detail.

    • Introduction to Clip 2

      Let's find out what you are going to watch

    • Clip 2 - Where are you from?

      Mike, Anna and Lisa speak about where they come from

    • Comprehension 2

      Choose the correct answer

    • Focus on Communication 2

      Let's look at some expressions in the dialogue

    • Focus on Vocabulary 2

      Let's look at some words of the dialogue

    • Focus on Grammar 2

      Let's look at some grammar aspects of the dialogue

    • Exploring Italian 2

      Looking in detail.

    • Introduction to Clip 3

      Let's find out what you are going to watch

    • Clip 3 - What's your job?

      Mike and Anna are speaking about what they do

    • Comprehension 3

      Choose the correct answer

    • Focus on Communication 3

      Let's look at some expressions in the dialogue

    • Focus on Vocabulary 3

      Let's look at some words of the dialogue

    • Focus on Grammar 3

      Let's look at some grammar aspects

    • Exploring Italian 3

      Looking in detail.

    • Discussion Point

      Try to describe yourself with a short text, then post it in the comments section

    • Summary of the Week

      Looking back at what you have done

  • Week 2

    Talking about yourself and your family

    • Introduction to Clip 4

      Let's find out what you are going to watch

    • Clip 4 - How old are you?

      Mike, Anna and Lisa speak about their ages

    • Comprehension 4

      Choose whether the following sentences are true or false

    • Focus on Communication 4

      Let's look at some expressions in the dialogue

    • Focus on Vocabulary 4

      Let's look at some words of the dialogue

    • Focus on Grammar 4

      Let's look at some grammar aspects

    • Exploring Italian 4

      Looking in detail

    • Introduction to Clip 5

      Let's find out what you are going to watch

    • Clip 5 - What's your phone number?

      Giving your phone number

    • Comprehension 5

      Choose whether the following sentences are true or false

    • Focus on Communication 5

      Let's look at some expressions in the dialogue

    • Focus on Vocabulary 5

      Let's look at some words of the dialogue

    • Focus on Grammar 5

      Let's look at some grammar aspects of the dialogues

    • Exploring Italian 5

      Looking in detail

    • Introduction to Clip 6

      Let's find out what you are going to watch

    • Clip 6 - What’s your family like?

      Mike and Anna talk about their families

    • Comprehension 6

      Choose whether the following sentences are true or false

    • Focus on Communication 6

      Let's look at some expressions in the dialogue

    • Focus on Vocabulary 6

      Let's look at some words of the dialogue

    • Focus on Grammar 6

      Let's look at some grammar aspects of the dialogue

    • Exploring Italian 6

      Looking in detail

    • Discussion Point

      Try to describe your family with a short text, then post it in the comments section

    • Summary of the Week

      Looking back at what you have done

    • Test

      This test has been made for you to challenge yourself and your knowledge of Italian after 2 weeks of the course! Don't worry if you are not perfect! You may just need more practice!

  • Week 3

    Physical appearance, directions and time

    • Introduction to Clip 7

      Let's find out what you are going to watch

    • Clip 7 - What do you look like?

      Mike and Anna speak about their partners

    • Comprehension 7

      Choose whether the following sentences are true or false

    • Focus on Communication 7

      Let's look at some expressions in the dialogue

    • Focus on Vocabulary 7

      Let's look at some words of the dialogue

    • Focus on Grammar 7

      Let's look at some grammar aspects of the dialogue

    • Exploring Italian 7

      Looking in detail

    • Introduction to Clip 8

      Let's find out what you are going to watch

    • Clip 8 - Excuse me, where's the post office?

      Mike has to go to the post office

    • Comprehension 8

      Choose the correct answer

    • Focus on Communication 8

      Let's look at some expressions in the dialogue

    • Focus on Vocabulary 8

      Let's look at some words of the dialogue

    • Focus on Grammar 8

      Let's look at some grammar aspects of the dialogue

    • Exploring Italian 8

      Looking in detail

    • Introduction to Clip 9

      Let's find out what you are going to watch

    • Clip 9 - What time is it?

      A small problem

    • Comprehension 9

      Choose the correct answer

    • Focus on Communication 9

      Let's look at some expressions in the dialogue

    • Focus on Vocabulary 9

      Let's look at some words of the dialogue

    • Focus on Grammar 9

      Let's look at some grammar aspects of dialogue

    • Exploring Italian 9

      Looking in detail

    • Discussion Point

      Try to write a description of yourself or someone else that you know with a short text, then post it in the comments section

    • Summary of the Week

      Looking back at what you have done

  • Week 4

    Food, clothes, daily life

    • Introduction to Clip 10

      Let's find out what you are going to watch

    • Clip 10 - Tell me something about your habits!

      Mike and Anna speak about their free time

    • Comprehension 10

      Choose whether the following sentences are true or false

    • Focus on Communication 10

      Let's look at some expressions in the dialogue

    • Focus on Vocabulary 10

      Let's look at some words of the dialogue

    • Focus on Grammar 10

      Let's look at some grammar aspects of the dialogue

    • Exploring Italian 10

      Looking in detail

    • Introduction to Clip 11

      Let's find out what you are going to watch

    • Clip 11 - How much is it?

      Mike, Anna and Lisa take a break

    • Comprehension 11

      Choose the correct answer

    • Focus on Communication 11

      Let's look at some expressions in the dialogue

    • Focus on Vocabulary 11

      Let's look at some words of the dialogue

    • Focus on Grammar 11

      Let's look at some grammar aspects of the dialogue

    • Exploring Italian 11

      Looking in detail

    • Introduction to Clip 12

      Let's find out what you are going to watch

    • Clip 12 - What a nice dress!

      Anna and Lisa go shopping

    • Comprehension 12

      Choose whether the following sentences are true or false

    • Focus on Communication 12

      Let's look at some expressions in the dialogue

    • Focus on Vocabulary 12

      Let's look at some words of the dialogue

    • Focus on Grammar 12

      Let's look at some more grammar aspects of the dialogue

    • Exploring Italian 12

      Looking in detail

    • Discussion point

      Try to describe your daily routine with a short text, then post it in the comments section

    • Summary of the Week

      Looking back at what you have done

    • Test

      This test has been made for you to challenge yourself and your knowledge of Italian after 2 weeks of the course! Don't worry if you are not perfect! You may just need more practice!

  • Week 5

    Buying food, having lunch and talking about the weather

    • Introduction to Clip 13

      Let's find out what you are going to watch

    • Clip 13 - At the supermarket

      Mike buys groceries

    • Comprehension 13

      Choose the correct answer

    • Focus on Communication 13

      Let's look at some expressions in the dialogue

    • Focus on Vocabulary 13

      Let's look at some words of the dialogue

    • Focus on Grammar 13

      Let's look at some grammar aspects of the dialogue

    • Exploring Italian 13

      Looking in detail

    • Introduction to Clip 14

      Let's find out what you are going to watch

    • Clip 14 - Buon appetito!

      Mike the chef

    • Comprehension 14

      Choose whether the following sentences are true or false

    • Focus on Communication 14

      Let's look at some expressions in the dialogue

    • Focus on Vocabulary 14

      Let's look at some words of the dialogue

    • Focus on Grammar 14

      Let's look at some grammar aspects of the dialogue

    • Exploring Italian 14

      Looking in detail

    • Introduction to Clip 15

      Let's find out what you are going to watch

    • Clip 15 - What's the weather like?

      Planning the week end

    • Comprehension 15

      Choose the correct answer

    • Focus on Communication 15

      Let's look at some expressions in the dialogue

    • Focus on Vocabulary 15

      Let's look at some words of the dialogue

    • Focus on Grammar 15

      Let's look at some grammar aspects of the dialogue

    • Exploring Italian 15

      Looking in detail

    • Discussion Point

      Try to describe your favourite food with a short text, then post it in the comments section

    • Summary of the Week

      Looking back at what you have done

  • Week 6

    My house, plans for the weekend, and studying Italian

    • Introduction to Clip 16

      Let's find out what you are going to watch

    • Clip 16 - I like it!

      At Anna's place

    • Comprehension 16

      Choose the correct answer

    • Focus on Communication 16

      Let's look at some expressions in the dialogue

    • Focus on Vocabulary 16

      Let's look at some words of the dialogue

    • Focus on Grammar 16

      Let's look at some grammar aspects of the dialogue

    • Exploring Italian 16

      Looking in detail

    • Introduction to Clip 17

      Let's find out what you are going to watch

    • Clip 17 - It’s finally Friday!

      Making plans

    • Comprehension 17

      Choose the correct answer

    • Focus on Communication 17

      Let's look at some expressions in the dialogue

    • Focus on Vocabulary 17

      Let's look at some words of the dialogue

    • Focus on Grammar 17

      Let's look at some grammar aspects of the dialogue

    • Exploring Italian 17

      Looking in detail

    • Introduction to Clip 18

      Let's find out what you are going to watch

    • Clip 18 - That's why I'm learning Italian

      Mike is in class with other students

    • Comprehension 18

      Choose the correct answer

    • Focus on Communication 18

      Let's look at some expressions in the dialogue

    • Focus on Vocabulary 18

      Let's look at some words of the dialogue

    • Focus on Grammar 18

      Let's look at some grammar aspects of the dialogue

    • Exploring Italian 18

      Looking in detail

    • Discussion Point

      Try to write a description of where you live with a short text, then post it in the comments section

    • Summary of the Week

      Looking back at what you have done

    • Test

      This test has been made for you to challenge yourself and your knowledge of Italian after another 2 weeks of the course! Don't worry if you are not perfect! You may just need more practice!

    • Arrivederci!

      A page to say bye, invite for a survey and stay in contact ecc.

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Develop skills in basic Italian for interacting in common communicative situations
  • Engage in simple communication in Italian
  • Develop the skills to understand and use everyday expressions in Italian
  • Develop the skills to introduce oneself and others in Italian

Who is the course for?

The course is for people who have little or no prior knowledge of Italian and who are interested in discovering Italian language and culture.

Who will you learn with?

Andrea Villarini

Andrea Villarini is a Professor of Modern Language Teaching at the University for Foreigners of Siena. He is currently Head of the Research Institute for Teaching Language with Technological Support

Sabrina Maffei

Hello, I am Sabrina Maffei. I am one of the lead educators for the course. I have been a teacher of Italian as a second language for more than 20 years now. I really like my job very much!

Who developed the course?

Università per Stranieri di Siena (UniStraSi)

The University for Foreigners of Siena (UniStraSi) is a public university specialized in the teaching of Italian and other languages and in research on language and culture.

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