All resources are free unless otherwise noted.
BBC Learn Italian – it has a selection of resources from essential phrases for travel, a 12-week beginner course, level tests and links to Italian radio/ news, etc
Fantastic range of free courses, including video lessons with One World – try starting here with a first course of 37 lessons for beginners
L’italiano in famiglia – another brilliant online course complete with games, vocabulary, videos, etc
Italianpod101 – one of the best podcasts out there. Podcasts can be downloaded on itunes for free but there is a paid subscription option which gives you access to learning materials to support the podcasts.
FSI Italian – three different Italian learning programmes as used by the FSI (Foreign Services Institute) to train diplomats and armed forces – Headstart, Programmed Course and FAST course.
Sgrammaticando Youtube channel – explains Italian grammar and idiomatic expressions in Italian. Have a listen of the video below which talks about an expression which means ‘In your dreams!’ or ‘No chance!’
Online Italian Club – I haven’t tried this one yet but have heard good things about it. They send out a few e-mails a week with vocabulary and exercises to complete. It’s free, so nothing to lose by trying it out!
Various radio stations in Italy
Deejay – a popular radio station
ILUSS Italian online – has some resources available for free here. There is an option to pay for membership to access more resources.
Free audiobooks in Italian from Librivox
Learn Italian with Lucrezia – a great selection of videos, all in Italian with English subtitles and covering a wide range of topics and ranging from beginner to advanced level. See beginner’s lesson 1 below:
Studentessa Matta – a dual-language blog which has a range of interesting topics – you will definitely pick up some new words reading this!
An online guide to Italian Grammar from the University of Toronto – it is old and no longer updated, but may still prove useful to cover the main points of grammar you need to know.
Online grammar exercises
Al Dente Italian podcast – all in Italian but quite slow pace and very clearly spoken so great listening practice.
Dianne Hales’ blog – she talks about her life in Italy, scattering useful vocabulary throughout and including code-switching to embed the language.
Audio and exercises to support the Italian textbook – Rete!
Verb conjugator – you will need this! I use this or WordReference, alongside a paper book of conjugated verbs which I still find useful!
Watch Peppa Pig in Italian on Youtube – see the first ten episodes below:
News in Slow Italian: Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced Levels. It looks like you can listen to some of the episodes for free but there are also subscription options so you may have to pay for some of the content.
For a bit of fun and yummy food – an Italian recipe website with video tutorials for cooking some of the recipes – practise your reading and listening comprehension while dishing up a lovely meal!
Giochi Gratis – free online games, many with instructions in Italian.
Other resource lists:
Another list of resources for learning Italian
Mezzofanti Guild’s list of resources
Mosalingua’s Italian resource list
Chrikaru Reads 