What Is A Good Online Place To Learn Italian?

[serialexpat]

Oh I almost forgot. There is an online language course run by Icon which is a consortium of 19 Italian universities. It was put together to spread Italian language and culture outside Italy. Therefore, you must live outside Italy to attend. They also offer online Bachelor's and Masters degrees and you can apply for a scholarship. The language course can be taken before enrolling for the degrees or by themselves. More info on their site here: http://www.italicon.it

 

[Aurelia]

Well, yes, watching movies with subtitles and listening to the music is always helpful. It can help you learn some phrases quicker or even pronunciation. But that's more "passive" reception. It's also important to "actively" learn a language, by making effort. Music simply... comes. That way you learn words without even realising it. However, sometimes it will be difficult to remember them or if you have to use that word, all you'll remember is that you'd heard it in a song and sometimes you'll try to remember that song, but you won't be able to...

I mean, making connections is good. But sometimes you can't remember them.

 

[sammien94]

Duolingo is really great. I've been learning French on it and it's been awesome. I think learning Italian shouldn't be a problem either. It's free as well, which is nice if you wanna try it out. (I swear I'm not a rep for duolingo lol)

 

[tasha]

That's great and I will be letting friends know to have a look at duolingo too.

 

[OliveOil]

Has anyone used duolingo.com to learn Italian? If so, is Italian difficult to learn and is the site actually good? If not, where should I learn Italian? Are there any Italian chatrooms or YouTube channels I should check out? I've also heard of livemocha but have no idea what it is.

 

[sallymarie]

Duolingo is really great. I've been learning French on it and it's been awesome. I think learning Italian shouldn't be a problem either. It's free as well, which is nice if you wanna try it out. (I swear I'm not a rep for duolingo lol)

I went and checked out your recommendation. I am serious about really trying to learn Italian. I took a Spanish class last year, and did okay. I heard Spanish is a "little" similar to Italian. But truthfully, I think my level of Spanish only reached the stage of talking like, "I, dog, eat hungry food". Meaning I had it all mixed up, even though I pulled an A off in the class. I just really want to learn conversational Italian on my own terms without the stress of taking tests and memorizing just to pass. Anyways, after looking into Duolingo, I found out it was a phone app. Now, I like phone apps, but that is my problem, I like them too much. It runs out my data share limit! I know, haha, I need more self control. I am going to keep an eye on this thread for more suggestions. Maybe you have another?

 

[Clairelouise84]

I have been using a course I bought from a charity shop called "access Italian" and it has been so helpful, it does make you feel as though you are back in school to be honest but I have found it really useful and I am so glad I got it!

 

[pwarbi]

I think online learning as always been looked at as a secondary, poor man's substitute for real courses in the past but that is becoming less of an issue now. More and more people are choosing to study all sorts of courses, especially language courses this way and I think if you have to fit your learning around your work and family life then online courses are definitely worth looking at.

 

[Aurelia]

Well, it´s true. If you can´t afford to have a "real life" course, you go online. But there are also other aspects to be considered as well: sometimes you don´t have much time at your disposal, sometimes there are no courses being offered in your neighbourhood and sometimes you just aren´t really sure whether you´re committed enough. All of these are a part of our decisionmaking process: whether to enrol a course or not. We also have to consider the fact that learning in a classroom isn´t the optimal environment for a beginner if there are a lot of students. Working in groups up to seven is ideal - with fewer students even more so, but I´ve seen courses with up to fifteen. That´s too many students: you can´t help everyone - even if there are two teachers, for example. So until all the requirements are met, you take up an online course and see what you can do on your own. Not to mention that we have to adapt to the changing society. Everything is done online nowadays: from buying the shoes to groceries and many other transactions. Why not study online? It´s a logical step forward. We may like it or not, but it´s happpening. Many companies now offer good learning courses, in a few years time... well

 

[sallymarie]

I think online learning as always been looked at as a secondary, poor man's substitute for real courses in the past but that is becoming less of an issue now. More and more people are choosing to study all sorts of courses, especially language courses this way and I think if you have to fit your learning around your work and family life then online courses are definitely worth looking at.

Yes. Thank goodness online courses are becoming more acceptable and creditable. I have taken so many that I have lost count, lol. Today, universities offer free and paid courses. What I like is that you do it on your own time and pace within reason. As I said, my Spanish course (online) did not get me to the level of communication I wanted, but I did not give it the attention needed, either.

Well, it´s true. If you can´t afford to have a "real life" course, you go online. But there are also other aspects to be considered as well: sometimes you don´t have much time at your disposal, sometimes there are no courses being offered in your neighbourhood and sometimes you just aren´t really sure whether you´re committed enough. All of these are a part of our decisionmaking process: whether to enrol a course or not. We also have to consider the fact that learning in a classroom isn´t the optimal environment for a beginner if there are a lot of students. Working in groups up to seven is ideal - with fewer students even more so, but I´ve seen courses with up to fifteen. That´s too many students: you can´t help everyone - even if there are two teachers, for example. So until all the requirements are met, you take up an online course and see what you can do on your own. Not to mention that we have to adapt to the changing society. Everything is done online nowadays: from buying the shoes to groceries and many other transactions. Why not study online? It´s a logical step forward. We may like it or not, but it´s happpening. Many companies now offer good learning courses, in a few years time... well

Right! It is conducive to adapt to a changing society! At the same time, I have a hard time giving up on tradition, too! lol It is a balancing act, for sure! But when it comes to educational learning, I am all for the changes that we are seeing today with online opportunities! I mean, look at us here on this Italy forum. We are sharing information and learning a wealth of information online (and enjoying ourselves)!

 

[Aurelia]

Right! It is conducive to adapt to a changing society! At the same time, I have a hard time giving up on tradition, too! lol It is a balancing act, for sure! But when it comes to educational learning, I am all for the changes that we are seeing today with online opportunities! I mean, look at us here on this Italy forum. We are sharing information and learning a wealth of information online (and enjoying ourselves)!

I agree with you - completely. The world is changing. We have to change as well, adapt to it. This doesn´t mean that all of a sudden learning in a classroom is considered as outdated - quite on the contrary. It´s still welcome and desirable, but so are online courses. Why not do both if you can? Same could be said for typing machines. They are no longer used, they´re mostly replaced by the computers and such. And when they appeared... the same is with any invention.

And yes, you´re absolutely right: we are having fun here! It´s a very good example of how fun can be educational, as there are some things I´d learnt while here.

 

[pwarbi]

I also think maybe too much is made of the actual qualification at the end of a course. Surely, especially with a language course, at the end of it, it's important that you are able to speak and understand the language. That's the whole reason you took the course, so does it really matter what type of certification you get?

 

[sallymarie]

I agree with you - completely. The world is changing. We have to change as well, adapt to it. This doesn´t mean that all of a sudden learning in a classroom is considered as outdated - quite on the contrary. It´s still welcome and desirable, but so are online courses. Why not do both if you can? Same could be said for typing machines. They are no longer used, they´re mostly replaced by the computers and such. And when they appeared... the same is with any invention.

And yes, you´re absolutely right: we are having fun here! It´s a very good example of how fun can be educational, as there are some things I´d learnt while here.

I like the convenience of online courses vs going to a campus. Although, it is even better when the professor includes video taped instructions and lectures. I always think it a bonus, it the instructor has a sense of humor!

A little off the subject of language, but still relevant enough to mention, I think. Some of my most memorable courses covered the region of Italy from a historical context.

I also think maybe too much is made of the actual qualification at the end of a course. Surely, especially with a language course, at the end of it, it's important that you are able to speak and understand the language. That's the whole reason you took the course, so does it really matter what type of certification you get?

Of course, you are right about the grade or as you put it, the certificate. At the same time, to get a job or a promotion, it can be a requirement.

 

[Aurelia]

I like the convenience of online courses vs going to a campus. Although, it is even better when the professor includes video taped instructions and lectures. I always think it a bonus, it the instructor has a sense of humor!

A little off the subject of language, but still relevant enough to mention, I think. Some of my most memorable courses covered the region of Italy from a historical context.

Agreed. Sometimes video can make everything more memorable. I remember most of Byron´s and Keats´s biography simply because we´d seen a short documentary. It was very enjoyable.

Of course, you are right about the grade or as you put it, the certificate. At the same time, to get a job or a promotion, it can be a requirement.

Sure is. However, it is also nice to have some prior "online course" as a lead in. That way you could be already prepared a little when it comes to the course itself and it is easier then, especially if you don´t speak the language at all (or very little). Doing some easy exercises on your own could help you understand the course better. In this way, online courses complement the "real" courses.

 

[pwarbi]

There's certainly more pro's than con's when it comes to online courses. One of the main problems though is choosing the right one.

As with anything you search in Google or any other search engine, it pulls up a list of about 678,000 pages of online course to look through!

What ARE the most creditable ones around?

 

[sallymarie]

There's certainly more pro's than con's when it comes to online courses. One of the main problems though is choosing the right one.

As with anything you search in Google or any other search engine, it pulls up a list of about 678,000 pages of online course to look through!

What ARE the most creditable ones around?

I like the Free Harvard Extension Courses. Too bad, I did not see any free Italian language courses offered, right now. Maybe, I missed it. Anyways, here is a good reference starting point at Open Culture (all free).

http://www.openculture.com/free_italian_lessons

 

[pwarbi]

Thanks for the link, I'm sure it will definitely be a great starting point for anybody on the forum interested in learning online.

Imagine if we all signed up for courses with the same usernames as what we have on here...log into our course and all of us would be online! Oh hello again, Haha

 

[sallymarie]

Thanks for the link, I'm sure it will definitely be a great starting point for anybody on the forum interested in learning online.

Imagine if we all signed up for courses with the same usernames as what we have on here...log into our course and all of us would be online! Oh hello again, Haha

Haha! Actually, sounds like fun! We could report how we are doing on this forum! We could share the good, the bad, and the ugly! HaHa. We would see who was keeping up with the pace and who needed a little extra encouragement. Oh, the possibilities!

Vuoi imparare a parlare italiano?
Impariamo italiana insieme!

 

[oraclemay]

Reading through these posts has given me hope and real encouragement. I am going to take a look at all the sites mentioned so that I can get a clearer picture and listen the sounds of the language. The Italian accent is very important as it is recognizable anywhere!

 

[Francis]

"Babbel has 15 million users, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel” That is what was written in The Wall Street Journal. I have the app which has made learning Italian easy. You can also learn Italian through their free online courses.
You can also learn other languages on Babbel.