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They say that one of the best ways to learn Italian is to immerse yourself in the culture and interact with the people. If you can’t hop on a plane now and go walk the streets of an Italian city and hold conversations with native speakers, don’t worry, you can use Learn Italian podcasts.
Italians are very passionate and emotive people, so there are many nuances to the language that just aren’t translatable in a worksheet or a vocabulary list. You need to listen and hear to really understand and absorb what makes the language so unique. Listening is such a popular learning tool there is a learn Italian podcast Reddit.
While the goal of working with an Italian language tutor is to get you fluent enough to hold a proper conversation, one way to learn Italian free is to listen to Italian language podcasts.
Three Good Reasons To Listen To Learn Italian Podcasts
1. It will improve your vocabulary and pronunciation
While it’s easy enough to memorize a vocabulary list, the best way to really learn how to use the words on those list is to listen to someone else use them. It also helps with pronunciation as, as we know, how a word is spelled might not be how it is said.
With an Italian language learning podcast, you will hear fluent Italian speakers, native speakers, or both talk and interact and get to hear how that word is really used and really pronounced.
2. It's convenient
You can learn Italian for free using a podcast. While there’s no real replacement for a one-on-one tutoring session, listening to a podcast is a good supplement to lessons to a tutor.
Unlike meeting a tutor, where you need to schedule and set aside a specific time to learn Italian, listening to a podcast can be done whenever and wherever you want. Some of the podcasts that we will introduce you to in this post are as short as five minutes, though some are around 30 minutes or more. This means that you can listen to them while taking a break from work or while on a walk or even while taking a drive.
3. They are entertaining and informative
Italian is a fun language full of nuance and emotion, much like the Italian people. Many of these podcasts feature interesting conversations between funny and lively speakers. A lot of them focus on talking about Italian culture and life, so you also learn about that.
There are also podcasts that cover current events, science, history, and pop culture. All you have to do is pick the right podcast and you will learn something new about a topic that interests you as well as learning Italian.
Convinced yet? Well, try taking a look at the Italian language podcasts below. Find one that sounds interesting, download an episode, and listen and learn.
16 Best Italian Podcasts to Learn Italian
1. 5 Minute Italian
iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/5-minute-italian/id1217040140
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/5-minute-italian
Website: http://joyoflanguages.com/italianpodcast/
This is a great podcast to listen to on the go as it provides bite-sized Italian language lessons in only five minutes.
The episodes are hosted by the British Kate and Italian Matteo and they share simple learning tips to help you pick up Italian quickly. They cover many common mistakes and barriers that first-time learners may make or encounter.
2. 30 Minute Italian
iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/30-minute-italian/id677568406
Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/cher-hale/30-minute-italian
Website: http://icebergproject.co/italian/podcast-2/
This Italian language podcast has been producing episodes since 2014. Their focus is to help people improve their fluency in the language by presenting the Italian language in interesting and entertaining ways. They do so by tacking topics that are both practical and entertaining.
For instance, they have an episode called “Sexy Phrases to Seduce Your Italian Lover” and another that’s called “Phrases To Order Pizza and Gelato in Italian”. They also have episodes that tackle nuances in grammar such as “2 Must-Know Connector Words In Italian – Poi and Cosi” or “Figuring Out Verbs Like Andarsene, Volerci, Avercela.
All of their episodes are, you guessed it, about 30 minutes long. Just long enough to have you feel like you really learned something but short enough to be convenient.
3. Arkos Academy Learn Italian
iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/arkos-academy-learn-italian/id1151973121
Website: https://www.arkosacademy.com/
This podcast provides Italian lessons at the intermediate and advanced levels. The episodes feature conversations in Italian, but they are played at a slower pace allowing listeners to follow along. The idea is to strengthen you listening skills to improve your comprehension and pronunciation.
You can get transcripts of the lessons on their website. Their website also has some great articles to read about Italy, written in Italian, so they can help you improve your Italian reading skills as well.
4. Con Parole Nostre
iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/con-parole-nostre/id1459647119
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/conparolenostrepodcast
Website: http://www.conparolenostre.com/
Learn Italian with this podcast hosted by three Italian ladies – who are all language teachers. Every episode Elfin, Silvia, and Barbara hold a simple conversation on Italian life. These three friends speak in a way that is natural and authentic and share tips and explain nuances of language with there listeners.
While the three speak concisely and clearly, they also provide a transcript that you can follow to make sure you don’t miss a thing.
5. Da Costa a Costa
Website: https://www.dacostaacosta.net/podcast/
This Learn Italian podcast features the host Francesco Costa covering American politics, but doing so in Italian.
If you are American or are interested in American current events, this offers an interesting perspective on how Italians view the US and what happens there. This is a good podcast for advanced learners who want to improve their listening speed and their comprehension of everyday Italian speech.
6. Italiano Automatico
iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/italiano-automatico-podcast/id698154514
Website: https://www.italianoautomatico.com/
This is a long running Italian language learning podcast that has a hundred episodes and counting.
Geared towards intermediate and advanced learners, each podcast features conversations between the hosts where they discuss nuances about Italian life.
7. ItalianLingQ
iTune: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/italianlingq-who-is-she/id370436495
Website: https://www.lingq.com/en/learn-italian-online/
This learn Italian podcast provides lessons geared towards intermediate and advanced level Italain learners. The podcast episodes are only about 10 minutes each and come with a transcription.
Most episodes feature Italian speakers having conversations on a variety of topics, including sports, science, history, politics, and more.
8. ItalianPod101
iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/learn-italian-italianpod101-com/id273450951
Website: https://www.italianpod101.com/
This podcast from Innovative Language provides Italian language learning podcasts for beginner to advanced levels.
Each episode features the hosts covering both cultural topics as well as grammar and vocabulary topics in clear and concise language.
Most episodes are available for free, but you can sign up for their premium content to get additional learning materials such as lesson notes in PDF files, flashcards, and an active and helpful community forum.
9. BBC Language –Italian
Website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/italian/
This Learn Italian podcast is free from the BBC. The BBC, or British Broadcasting Corporation offers a number of language learning podcasts – including Italian.
The BBC provides online courses on the Italian language that will teach you grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. They also offer snippets of audio and video Italian language lessons that talk about a variety of topics to help improve your comprehension.
10. Let’s Speak Italian!
iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lets-speak-italian/id155864176
Website: https://letsspeakitalian.libsyn.com/
Mike, the host of the Let's Speak Italian podcast believes that the key to learning how to speak Italian is to just learn a little every day. To that end, he posts short clips explaining points of Italian grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. This podcast produces episodes that are posted five days a week, usually Monday till Friday, and are never more than 5 to 6 minutes and length allowing you to easily absorb the points.
11. Maxmondo Incontro Italiano
iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/maxmondo-incontro-italiano-learn-italian/id282469983
Website: https://maxmondo.com/
This podcast is meant for intermediate-level Italian language learners who don’t just want to learn the language but also a bit more about the country and the people.
Each episode features the hosts talking about a variety of topics such as sights in Italy, Italian cuisine, historical treasures, and even holiday celebrations. By featuring such interesting topics they hope to inspire you to really learn the language so that you can start planning that visit to experience Italy yourself.
While the podcasts are free, if you subscribe and pay you will receive a magazine with additional learning materials. This includes transcripts of the episodes, accompanying glossaries, and additional exercises that will let you practice your Italian.
12. News in Slow Italian
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.linguistica360.newsinslowitalian&hl=en_US
Apple Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/news-in-slow-italian/id771123949
Website: https://www.newsinslowitalian.com/italian-podcast
News in Slow Italian creates podcasts for beginner, intermediate, and advanced Italian learners. In each of the episodes, released weekly, the hosts will discuss top news stories from Italy and around the globe. Each story is discussed in Italian, naturally, but at a slowed down speed to make it easier for learners to keep up and absorb.
The episodes also have an accompanying transcript and the hosts will talk about nuances in grammar and vocabulary in the context of the news stories that they just read to you.
This is an interesting way to not just learn Italian via a podcast but also to learn a bit about Italian customs and culture. Aside from straight news, they also read news stories related to science, arts and culture, and even popular trends.
You can also download their podcasts via an app that you can get either on the Google Play or Apple Store.
13. Podcast Italiano
Website: https://podcastitaliano.com/
In this podcast in italiano, host Davide tells you stories from his own life to help you learn about Italian life and pick up everyday Italian expressions and phrases.
The episodes are mostly geared towards intermediate Italian learners and feature transcripts to help them follow along. There is also a handy section called “Usi Colloquiali” on the website which is meant to help podcast followers learn some Italian colloquialisms.
14. Radio Arlecchino: Italian Grammar And Culture Podcast
Website: https://coerll.utexas.edu/ra/
Radio Arlecchino offers podcast lessons that are downloadable as MP3 files. There is also accompanying transcripts available in PDF form.
The goal of this podcast is to help listeners learn about Italian grammar in a fun way using elements of Commedia dell’arte, a form of improvised theater performances using masks. By listening to this podcast, you are not just improving your Italian language skills but getting a dose of Italian culture as well.
15. Radio Lingua Italian
iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/coffee-break-italian/id958179457
Website: https://radiolingua.com/coffeebreakitalian/
Radio Lingua is actually a Scottish company that offers courses called “Coffee Break Languages”, these are a series of podcasts meant to help you learn a language while on a “coffee break.”
They offer free podcasts that you can listen to in order to learn a language whenever and wherever it suits you. They began releasing podcasts in 2006 and they now produce over 36 different podcast series teaching 27 language from around the world. Of course, one of those languages is Italian.
Aside from the podcasts, you can sign up for courses in the Coffee Break Academy and get access to video materials as well as bonus audio content and lesson notes.
Their Coffee Break Italian podcasts are geared towards learners who are absolute beginners when it comes to the Italian language and those who are already in the Intermediate level. So they have a “season” for beginners with 40 podcasts and one for intermediate learners, also with 40 podcast lessons available.
The lessons, regardless of level, last around 15-20 minutes each. As they put it, this makes their Italian learning podcasts the “perfect Coffee Break length!”
16. My Daily Phrase Italian
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/my-daily-phrase-italian/id211075561?mt=2
Website: https://radiolingua.com/landing-mdpi-01/
This Learn Italian podcast is also produced by Radio Lingua to give Italian language learners short and sweet daily lesson in common Italian phrases.
Designed for beginners, each episode is only about 5-minutes long and tackles a specific Italian phrase. It’s designed to help listeners grasp the meaning and nuances of the phrase so that they may not only understand it when a native speaker uses it but so that they themselves can use it correctly given the chance.
So, now you have an idea about what is out there in the world of Italian language learning podcasts. All you have to do is pick one that interests you, download a few episodes on your mobile device and start your Italian language learning journey. Enjoy!
Looking for other ways to improve your Italian? Here are some top picks for online learning: Start with Babbel for user-friendly, enjoyable lessons that integrate smoothly into your daily life. If you want a more extensive understanding of the language, Udemy’s detailed Italian course spans beginner to advanced levels. For personalized guidance, Preply offers sessions with native Italian speakers, significantly enhancing your speaking abilities. Enjoy a 50% discount on your first session at Preply through this special link.
How long does it take to learn Italian?
If you're learning Italian from scratch, you will probably need around 6 months to learn it on a conversational level. You'd need to study everyday and listen to Italian speakers as much as possible.
What is the best way to learn Italian?
There are many effective ways to learn Italian and become fluent. Speaking in Italian everyday and listening to native speakers is considered to be the best way to reach fluency. Apart from that, language courses can be helpful as well.
How can I learn Italian for free?
You can learn Italian for free by listening to podcasts, watching movies, TV shows and playing games.
