For the last 8 months or so, I have been studying Italian. I want to now share with you the tools I have been using!
(Negli ultimi 8 mesi ho studiato italiano. Desidero ora condividere con voi gli strumenti che ho usato!)
For those curious: I am learning it with my partner mainly for fun, but also because we plan to eventually move to Italy (Somewhere around Scalea in Calabria, Southern Italy). It's a beautiful language with an amazing history and has dragged me so deep into the learning experience that it's pretty much all I do in my free time now!
So...on to the tools, apps, software, etc!
Rosetta Stone (
Downloadable Software OR Mobile App)
Now, although this is not free (or cheap for that matter), it is one of the best tools you can find for learning a language (pretty much any language!). I've been using this almost daily (with a few breaks here and there) and have not regretted the money I have spent on it even once.
You can choose to get the downloadable version (one price, yours forever), or the app version (subscription). They both have their own merits and which version you want depends entirely on your own learning needs. The downloadable version (what I use) is one static price and you keep it forever, where the app is a subscription service. The app has the advantage of having the ability to connect with native speakers and book tutor time with them!
Edit/Update: The only available payment method now is the monthly/yearly subscription.
Learn Italian with Paul Noble (Audio Book [Audible/CD/MP3 + Accompanying PDF])
Now, I've only listened to the first 2 hours of this audiobook so far, but have read the PDF about 5 times! It's a very VERY useful resource and has actually increased my vocabulary quite a lot and I have been recommending this audiobook to quite a few people!
Duolingo (Online/App)
Now...be warned with this...Although it IS a great free resource for learning very basic phrases/individual words, it also teaches you some things that are not actually correct, and some other things that you question if you're even awake (things like "he takes the tiger from the zoo and gives it the meat"...I mean...that's a super useful sentence right there.....OH...and there is also the super creepy moments where it asks you to translate "why do we die" and then "they are among us" right after each other). So yeah...use it on the basis it is free, but remember that you get what you pay for...and this is free
Italian Learning and Language Server (Discord):
Super helpful community who will happily help non-natives learn the language (Speak directly to native Italians and other learners via voice or text, completely free!)
https://discord.gg/b5tqJDb-----
Once I get an extra bit of spare time, I will also add a list of all the Android Apps I have been using (around 20 or so of them!)
In the meantime, if anybody else has any great resources to add to this, please feel free to share!!!
~Stephen
