What Is A Good Online Place To Learn Italian?

gh0st233

gh0st233

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Nov 9, 2014
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I would like to learn this language, but I don't have money to pay for a course, right now. Is there any free online website where I can learn Italian? Is there any site you can recommend, that you think is a good one? There are a bunch of sites but none of them are that good, to be honest. I need something easy, and preferably free. Thank you.
 
Have you tried Livemocha? I used to learn French there. They offer a great number of courses (all of which are free) in various languages (even Chinese, though I don't think you can learn that online, it's practically impossible), Italian included. They even have a special ''quick crash course'' for intensive learning (which you have to pay, true, but still, it's an option). It's quite effective, considering there aren't many good websites. I have also heard of Rosetta Stone. Supposedly, they too offer language courses, but I am not sure whether they offer Italian as well... you'll have to check it out.
 
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Ah, a friend told me about Livemocha some time ago but I totally forgot about that. I will check it out and we'll see how it goes. If it's a good and helpful site, I won't mind paying for the intensive learning. Thank you, for telling me about this site, I will definitely register and see how it is. I gave you a like as a thanks.
 
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Initially I tried Rosetta Stone but I have a busy lifestyle and found I wasn't able to really get enough time in to adequately retain any knowledge of the language. Then, a friend of mine mentioned they were learning a language using Duolingo so I tried that. It works okay and is an easy way to refresh on the go since you can put it on your phone. I eventually came across Memrise as well and I think it's more user-friendly than Duolingo but heavily vocabulary based so you don't really learn grammatical rules. I'm still looking for the "right" solution myself so I'll be trying Livemocha as well!
 
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I hope you'll find Livemocha useful. I did. It helped me a lot. I haven't heard about these other two, so I'll be checking them out myself.

Livemocha has four types of exercises - learning, listening, writing, and speaking - so to ''pass'' a certain lesson, you have to go through all four. I was a little sceptical about the speaking part in the beginning, but it's done professionally, to a degree - at least, it's the native speakers who revise your exercises and offer you tips how to improve your language, maybe even send you their own version of the speaking exercise. It's very helpful when you hear someone speak their own language. The only problem was Spanish (different pronunciation rules for Latin America, Mexico and Spain), and maybe German a bit.

As I said, it worked for me. The site has changed a little since I wast there, but I am sure the basics are the same. Good luck!
 
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Thank you, both, for telling me about these sites. They are just what I was looking for. I can finally learn Italian, and not have to go to courses. I can do it from my home, just the way I like it. Really, thank you both. Time for some lessons from Italian. haha
 
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gh0st233 said:
Thank you, both, for telling me about these sites. They are just what I was looking for. I can finally learn Italian, and not have to go to courses. I can do it from my home, just the way I like it. Really, thank you both. Time for some lessons from Italian. haha
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Glad to be of help. If you have questions about the website or anything else, really, just ask. I'll be always there to help, if I can. Good luck with learning!
 
gh0st233 said:
I would like to learn this language, but I don't have money to pay for a course, right now. Is there any free online website where I can learn Italian? Is there any site you can recommend, that you think is a good one? There are a bunch of sites but none of them are that good, to be honest. I need something easy, and preferably free. Thank you.
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You can try a course on youtube or use memorise. It helps you learn the language that you would like to know and understand. It is difficult if you dont know the verbs etc so go for a conversational course just to get you started.
 
I have tried Livemocha, and I like it enough. Thanks to all who recommended it to me, I registered and I did a lesson today, I didn't do so bad. I'm taking baby steps with this. I don't need to check the other site, tho, because I like this one enough. I think I'll stick with it, and if I like it, I may even buy that special course you talked about.

Yeah, I first need to know the basics of the language, then I can listen to someone speaking it, and understand something.
 
If you have time, check out Rocket Languages. It's a place where people learn online the languages they would like to learn. I read an interesting review about their method here in this NY Times article. When you listen to someone speaking a language and you learn, that is learning Aurally, :) according to Neil Fleming. His and other best methods of learning Italian is mentioned in some of the articles posted in the Rocket Italian section of Rocket Languages website.
 
Pessel said:
If you have time, check out Rocket Languages. It's a place where people learn online the languages they would like to learn. I read an interesting review about their method here in this NY Times article. When you listen to someone speaking a language and you learn, that is learning Aurally, :) according to Neil Fleming. His and other best methods of learning Italian is mentioned in some of the articles posted in the Rocket Italian section of Rocket Languages website.
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Yes, I agree with this research. The audio-lingual approach has been popular for some time in learning new languages. You must have heard, dozens of times, if not even more, people say ''I've learnt Spanish watching soap operas'' or ''I've learnt English playing video games''. Hearing something makes it easier for us to understand. Just by seeing, we can't have a complete view of something. There's always more.

For the basic step and beginner level, I think this is also a great way of picking up new words and sentence constructions and can be very helpful later on, if you decide you would like to keep learning the language.
 
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Aurelia said:
Yes, I agree with this research. The audio-lingual approach has been popular for some time in learning new languages. You must have heard, dozens of times, if not even more, people say ''I've learnt Spanish watching soap operas'' or ''I've learnt English playing video games''. Hearing something makes it easier for us to understand. Just by seeing, we can't have a complete view of something. There's always more.

For the basic step and beginner level, I think this is also a great way of picking up new words and sentence constructions and can be very helpful later on, if you decide you would like to keep learning the language.
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You know, when I was in high school I took Italian classes and it was really difficult. I think it was mostly difficult because there was not any access to online learning tools like the ones we have right now: Skype, mobile apps, and websites. I used the cue cards method, where I just take notes of important phrases and use them in the context of class. I didn't use the language to order food, make conversations with people, or discuss general issues. I totally didn't consider playing video games to learn a language then. :cool:
 
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Pessel said:
You know, when I was in high school I took Italian classes and it was really difficult. I think it was mostly difficult because there was not any access to online learning tools like the ones we have right now: Skype, mobile apps, and websites. I used the cue cards method, where I just take notes of important phrases and use them in the context of class. I didn't use the language to order food, make conversations with people, or discuss general issues. I totally didn't consider playing video games to learn a language then. :cool:
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If nothing else there was always Rai Uno and Duo. I remember they had some very good cartoons, from time to time. When I was little, I also used to watch French cartoons. If nothing else, my love for the language came from the memories I had of these times. But it's true. Sometimes necessity makes you do things, even without the help of these little things. A few years back, I had accidentally messed up my Microsoft Office system and installed it in Swedish. It was a nightmare. But me being me, I swore I would deal with it, no matter what. I had used it for two years in Swedish and some things stuck. I can barely ''navigate'' the one in English now. It will take some time getting used to, but I know some phrases from Swedish now, even if they are related to printing and word editing.

Do you believe it would have been easier for you, learning Italian, I mean, if you had access to video games or something like that? Now the access to online material is much easier and there are numerous TV shows, video games as well. Assassin's Creed is in Italy (at least II and brotherhood are). It would be perfect - the language would match the setting just like that.

I am looking forward to hearing your opinion.
 
I think livemocha is the best site to learn Italian language as they teach language in a thorough way. I think it is always good to learn the languages with the help of certain video tutorials which are available in YouTube. I believe a combination of two or three sites can help you learn the language thoroughly.
 
shilpa123 said:
I think livemocha is the best site to learn Italian language as they teach language in a thorough way. I think it is always good to learn the languages with the help of certain video tutorials which are available in YouTube. I believe a combination of two or three sites can help you learn the language thoroughly.
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I'd like to agree with you here, but I am afraid I don't find this very thorough. I remember being frustrated about Livemocha as there were never grammar rules written down, only words and sentences, and you had to figure out on your own what happened - what is the verb was irregular? You couldn't figure out the pattern then.

You can't really know a language until you have no questions about the grammar - and Livemocha was raising a lot of questions, but providing little answers. I believe what's lacking in online learning of a language, is a person whom you can contact if you have questions. I mean, you can contact native speakers at LM, but you never know when you'll get your answer or whether you'll get it (neither party gets points for this - so you can imagine). There should be a language expert available, at hand at all times, in case someone has questions. This would make learning far easier and less puzzling. When you have this (a teacher in any form), you can try learning online. Otherwise, it's all very vague.
 
I will have to try Livemocha.
Has anyone heard of italki.com? It's a site where you can pay for professional tutor sessions, cheaper 'community tutors' or just search for language partners who are trying to learn your language and speak the one that you are trying to learn, the idea being that you have a 50/50 exchange, either written or on Skype. I write quite regularly to some people on there, but I need to practise more speaking.
 
Adam said:
I will have to try Livemocha.
Has anyone heard of italki.com? It's a site where you can pay for professional tutor sessions, cheaper 'community tutors' or just search for language partners who are trying to learn your language and speak the one that you are trying to learn, the idea being that you have a 50/50 exchange, either written or on Skype. I write quite regularly to some people on there, but I need to practise more speaking.
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That's the similar idea of Livemocha. You can have private tutoring, but you have to pay for it, naturally (not sure how much, though). I did have an offer for French tuition and I'd noticed that the teacher they had suggested was a high-school teacher and MA from Canada - so their staff is clearly competent. The reason why I gave up on this was Skype sessions - I don't like using Skype (I am well aware I may be the only person, but Skype is my ''archnemesis'', along with Facebook, Twitter and other social networks). I still don't understand, for example, the fascination with apps. Can't a language be learnt offline? And how much can actually one mobile phone application contribute to this? The puzzle of the modern world.
 
I don't like Skype either, I even find it weird with people I know well and in my own language, but much harder with strangers in a language I'm trying to learn. That is why I have mostly communicated in written messages with people on italki. I message in Italian and they reply in English, and we correct each other's mistakes. I do feel I have got to know a couple of people on there quite well so am planning to attempt a Skype conversation very soon.
Offline, I attend lessons with an Italian student who is studying at university in my home town.
 
I agree with you there. It is difficult to talk to someone you don't know, if it's not face to face (and even that can sometimes be challenging). I guess we are the generation which hasn't yet been completely ''digitalised'', (fortunately for us!). I can only imagine what ''conversation'' would look like in fifteen years' time.
This website you're using seems interesting. Is it only for English and Italian, or? What I'm really trying to find is a website focused primarily on syntax, but I haven't succeeded yet. It seems that I am a grammarian at heart.
 
Sounds like Livemocha is a the best way to learn the italian language online. I think I am going to give it a try. I can see that many people have tried this and have given it a positive review. That works for me.
 
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