Open University program

Italian for Beginners

This program of six free online Italian courses, created by The Open University, will help you develop your skills in Italian at a basic level, and introduce you to Italy and its language and culture.

  • Overview 6 courses
  • Duration 24 weeks
  • Learn Free

Learn Italian as you discover the culture of Italy

Have you ever visited Italy and wished you spoke some Italian so you could get around more easily and interact with the locals? Do you have Italian family, friends or colleagues and want to know more about their language and culture? Are you interested in the food, music, cinema, art or literature of Italy? Or do you simply want to get to know the country and its many and varied regions better?

Whether you want to learn Italian to go on holiday, for work or study, or simply to learn a new language, this Italian for Beginners program will help you discover one of Europe’s most beautiful languages, and the diverse and fascinating world of Italy and its regions and culture.

The program is designed for learners with no prior knowledge of Italian, and provides a solid foundation at level A1 of the CEFR.

Accessible for free on desktop, tablet or mobile, and delivered in bite-sized chunks, the six, four-week courses in the program provide a flexible way to learn to understand and talk about everyday and familiar situations in Italian.

Courses

6 courses

How does our pricing work?

Start Learning Free
$354 USD - Course Upgrades

Can I learn for free?

Programs are made up of short courses, most of which you can join for free.

However, if you want to take the final assessment and unlock the award or accreditation for the program, you must upgrade each individual course or buy Unlimited to gain a Certificate of Achievement for all the courses in the program.

How do course upgrades work?

If you want to spend more time on course material and better demonstrate what you've learned, you may choose to upgrade each course. You can upgrade your courses at any point after you enrol.

When you upgrade a course, you get ongoing access to the course material for as long as the course exists on FutureLearn. This means you can return to the subject whenever you like.

You will also be given access to any course tests, and the ability to qualify for a downloadable and printed Certificate of Achievement to show what you’ve achieved.

How does Unlimited work?

If you have Unlimited, you will get access to all of the short courses in this program, plus thousands of other short courses and tests.

You have the ability to learn at your own pace throughout your subscription time and gain digital Certificates of Achievement on all your courses.

If you gain a certificate on a course, you will keep access to the course’s content beyond your Unlimited subscription time so you can revise the content whenever you need.

Unlimited costs $27.99/month. Find out more about Unlimited.

Are these the final prices?

Yes. There are no additional fees. The price you see here includes everything - such as test fees, tuition and any additional accreditation provided by the course.

Learn with experts in online language teaching

The Italian for Beginners program has been developed by a team of language educators at The Open University – a pioneer in online and distance teaching and learning.

Since its launch in 1969, The Open University has enabled nearly 2 million learners to achieve their career and life goals. It has a thriving program of language offerings at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

  • The Open University

Learning outcomes

Through the Italian for Beginners program, you will learn to:

  • understand and communicate in Italian in a range of everyday situations;
  • develop basic skills in speaking, listening, reading and writing in Italian;
  • learn vocabulary and expressions to talk about everyday and familiar topics;
  • become more aware of the culture and diversity of Italy and its regions;
  • and develop your study skills to become a successful language learner.

In particular, you will learn the language necessary to:

  • order food and drink, greet people, and introduce yourself;
  • introduce people, exchange information about them and talk about your family;
  • talk about your daily life and your leisure activities, what you do during the day and when things happen;
  • talk about your likes, dislikes and preferences;
  • ask for information on trains and buy train tickets;
  • and book holiday accommodation and order a meal.