By Katie Harris
Can you really learn Italian from an app? If so, which ones work best?
You need to pick carefully, otherwise you risk spending months tapping a screen… only to realise you can’t string a sentence together when you get to Italy!
So here you’ll find an unusual list of the best apps to learn Italian. It’s missing some of the big names and includes a few you’ve probably never heard of.
Why? Because we did something crazy and asked ourselves…
Does it actually work?
Apps only made the list when we felt confident the answer was sì!
Which Are the Best Apps to Learn Italian?
Let's address the elephant in the room first – the apps that shall not be named. You know the ones: after months memorising vocabulary like “accountant” and “giraffe”, you still struggle to string together a sentence in Italian.
Here’s how our students put it:
You're learning little sets of vocabulary you're never gonna use again, in the order in which they're presented to you.
We studied Italian before with Duolingo. I shouldn't roll my eyes, it was better than nothing, but when we got to Italy, we realized, oh we don't know how to put a sentence together.
Apps like Babbel dig into the minutiae of the language but not so much on the practical side, like being able to have a 60 second conversation in a shop.
The best apps to learn Italian are the ones that focus on natural conversations. They should help you do three things:
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Remember the words and phrases you’ll use most often
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Understand how to use them in natural conversations
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Practise speaking in full sentences
Let’s find some of those now!
Dictionary apps
OK, we know dictionaries aren’t sexy. But in our quest for flashy technology, we're losing a crucial aspect of language learning: looking up the word you need, when you need it!
This way, your brain associates the word with a real-life situation which helps you remember better (more on this later).
Google Translate isn’t always reliable, so a good dictionary, curated by humans, is essential. And the good news? These days, they come in pocket-sized apps!
Wordreference.com
This oldie but goodie was around as a website when I was learning Italian… before smartphones! Wordreference is still my favourite because it does all the essentials really well.
Let’s say you want to book a table for ‘Wednesday’ but you forgot how to say it in Italian. You can look up the translation, hear the pronunciation and see it in a sentence.
It also has a handy verb conjugator so you can understand how to use different tenses.
Reverso
A lot of Italian apps throw out random vocabulary you probably won’t use in Italy. When was the last time you needed to say ‘pencil sharpener’ or ‘squirrel’ whilst ordering a coffee or buying a train ticket?
Do you ever feel lost following a long explanation, only to understand immediately when you hear the example? Reverso is perfect for learning Italian in this way. When you look up a word it gives you many, many example sentences so you can see how Italians use it in conversation.
Apps to help you remember vocabulary
These apps are a little more flexible – you can use them to remember the words and phrases that will be most useful to you.
Language Transfer
It’s possible you know more words than you think in Italian. In fact, do you know how to say ‘possible’? It’s possibile! This handy app will help you cheat your way to knowing lots of words in Italian by making connections with English .
Ah, and wondering how we say ‘app’ in Italian? It’s really difficult…
L’app – The app
L’applicazione – The application
It really does work with a lot of words!
Youglish
Cristina, one of our Italian teachers, recommended this one! When you type an Italian word, you’ll see lots of examples of it being used in Youtube videos. Try it with those words you always forget: seeing words in lots of different real-life contexts boosts memory, so Youglish will really help them sink in!
Memrise
This app has courses which focus on everyday stuff , and you can choose based on the type of vocabulary you think you’ll use most. It uses something called “spaced repetition”, showing you the words you struggle with most often to help them stick.
Quizlet
The more control you have over the words you learn, the better! When speaking Italian, you’ll often need very specific words and phrases you won’t find in generic courses, such as your job and where you live. Quizlet is perfect because it allows you to create your own sets of words, based on what’s most utile (useful) to you.
Clozemaster
I love this app because of how nerdy it is. Neuroscience shows that humans process words based on how likely they are to appear in a sentence. For example:
Would you like _________ in your coffee?
Can you pick up some _______ from the supermarket?
It’s easier to learn and remember ‘sugar’ in the first sentence, because it’s one of the most likely words to fit there. So clozemaster shows you a bunch of sentences like the first one, and you learn Italian vocabulary by filling in the gaps. They also have handy sets which focus on the most common words in Italian.
Lyrics Training (Just for Fun!)
We admit it, this app is probably not the best for everyday conversations. But it’s very divertente (fun!)
If you like Italian music, Lyrics Training gives you a really fun way to learn Italian with your favourite songs. And with song lyrics you see full sentences, so it beats learning random word lists!
A Word of Warning about Apps
Did you know you can remember a word more easily if you’re surrounded by the same smell as when you learned it? Strange but true … but what does that have to do with apps?
The brain is a funny little machine that relies heavily on context for learning and memory. This explains why you remember an Italian word perfectly when you’re playing in an app, but when you need it in a real conversation… poof! It’s gone.
Tapping a screen is just too different from talking to a real person.
For this reason, we think most apps are ok as a contorno, a side dish, but you shouldn’t rely on them as your main source of learning.
Instead, you should seek out opportunities to practise having una conversazione – speaking Italian as soon as you can . These next three apps will help you do that.
Apps That Actually Help You Speak Italian
Ready to practise speaking Italian with a real human? No? That’s ok, no one ever does. The secret is to try anyway.
Hello talk
This app is a bit like whatsapp but for language learners: you find an Italian who wants to learn English and you can chat together, a little in Italian and a little in English. Hello talk also has lots of cool built-in features so you can check the translation and pronunciation as you’re typing. And once you’re feeling a little bolder, you can also chat via video!
Pss! Here’s how to speak Italian even if you don’t feel confident yet .
Tandem
In some ways Tandem is similar to hellotalk, but it’s based around meeting people in real life. A lot of the members are nerds who are learning a few different languages, so if you don’t feel comfortable in that crowd, we have a great alternative for you…
Conversation exchange
The conversation exchange website helps you find people in your area, so you can grab a coffee with a real flesh and blood italiano.
I used it in Paris when I was learning French and met a couple of really lovely women for coffee and walks. They also showed me new places in Paris, so this is the winner for me!
Learn More About Our Online Italian School
Remember that with language exchanges it can take some trial and error to find a good fit: Avoid anyone who dominates the conversation by speaking English all the time and instead look for someone who is patient and encourages you to speak Italian.
With apps, you can quickly feel like it’s not enough: you need something else to actually help you speak. Language exchange apps might work, but it’s awkward trying to find the right person. And even if it goes perfectly, you end up speaking in English half the time.
If you’ve reached the point where you need more structure and speaking practice to progress further, you might really like our Online Italian School .
We have learning paths suited to your level and kind teachers who gently help you start speaking. You’ll:
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Pick up practical language you’ll actually use in conversation
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Practice speaking in our conversation classes
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Get involved socially (more fun than tapping your phone screen!)
K: Ciao a tutti e benvenuti! Hi everyone and welcome to “Learn Italian with Joy of Languages”.
M: Before we get started – if you enjoy our podcast, could you do us a quick favour and hit the subscribe or follow button on your app now, as you’re listening? It helps us grow and keep creating free content. Grazie!
K: Speaking of which, how do you say “app” in Italian?
M: It’s very difficult: l’app (x2)
K: The app. L apostrophe app, l’app . It’s short for l’applicazione.
M: But Katie, you don’t like using apps to learn languages. Why are we doing an episode on them?
K: This is true! A lot of our students haven’t had good experiences with them either. They spent months playing fun little games, but when they got to Italy, they realised they couldn’t string a sentence together. So we’ve put together an alternative list of the best apps for learning Italian. We did something crazy and asked ourselves…
Does it actually work?
And we only included ones where we felt confident the answer was sì!
M: For this reason, our list is missing some of the big names and includes some you may have never heard of. Let’s start in the least sexy way possible, with dictionaries! Why dictionaries?
K: Sometimes all this technology feels like a distraction from learning Italian. We're forgetting the basics – like looking up words when you need them. I think we remember them better that way, in real, useful situations, rather than them popping up randomly in a game.
M: Google Translate is ok for this, but I’m always afraid it’s going to make me sound ridiculous. It’s better to use a good old-fashioned dictionary, curated by humans.
K: I really like wordreference.com (x2). I used the website a lot when I was first learning Italian, and I still do today! Let’s say you want to book a table for ‘Wednesday’ but you forgot how to say it in Italian. You can look up the translation, hear the pronunciation and see example sentences, so you get a feel for how Italians use the word in real life. Wordreference.com also has a verb conjugator.
M: What’s that?
K: So you know how Italian verbs have lots of different forms? For example, ‘to go’ is andare. But then ‘I go’ is vado.
M: Then in the past, I went is sono andato.
K: It’s one of the most overwhelming parts of Italian! With the verb conjugator in wordreference.com , you just type in the verb, like andare and you can see all the different forms.
Coming back to dictionaries, another one I like is reverso.com (x2), which gives you lots of examples. I think we often learn best when we can see the word being used in real examples.
M: Next, for learning vocabulary, there’s Language transfer, which helps you learn Italian through the similarities to English.
K: Yeah, so possible becomes possibile! I think it has a lot in common with the Michelle Thomas technique: I really like these courses for picking up the basics, and I think they probably have an app too.
M: What about apps you can use to learn and review vocabulary?
K: There’s Memrise (x2) which quizzes you on language for everyday conversations, such as travel.
M: That’s useful, or as we say in Italian utile (x2).
K: And I also like quizlet (x2) because you can make your own vocabulary cards. It’s better to focus on the things you want to say about your life, rather than memorising lists of jobs, animals and family members you might find in generic courses.
M: For my conversations in English, I had to learn ‘I’m a graphic designer’ and ‘I have a dog’ and ‘my partner is a crazy English lady’.
K: Then there’s clozemaster (x2), which I love because of how it helps you remember – I won’t go into it here but it’s really interesting, you can find more on the blog by clicking the link in the description.
M: Then there’s lyrics training, which is divertente (x2) !
K: That’s “fun”. Divertente.
M: You learn with Italian music: you listen and then fill in the gaps.
K: You’re not strictly focusing on phrases for everyday conversations. But you do see the words in real sentences, which helps. And you get to discover famous Italian songs and musicians.
M: Now, what about the fact that a lot of people don’t find apps useful?
K: To address this, we need to talk about smells.
M: What?
K: There’s a cool little study where they found that people remembered words more easily when they were surrounded by the same smell as when they learned it.
M: That’s weird! But what does it have to do with apps?
K: The human brain relies on context. You’re more likely to remember something in a similar situation to when you learned it. With apps, you’re tapping buttons on your phone. You’re not talking to a real human being.
M: Yes. That’s why we think they should be a contorno, a side dish, to the real language learning, which is practising having una conversazione (x2).
K: The best apps are the ones where you actually speak to Italians. There’s hellotalk (x2), which is a bit like whatsapp – you find an Italian who wants to learn English, and chat together, half in Italian and half in English.
M: Tandem is similar, and you can also find people in your area.
K: I really like the website conversation exchange for this. I used it in Paris and met a couple of really lovely women for coffee and walks. They also showed me new places in Paris, so that’s the winner for me!
M: Remember that with language exchanges, you need trial and error. So look for someone who is patient and encourages you to speak Italian. And avoid anyone who wants to speak English all the time.
K: Exchanges can be lovely, but even in the best case scenario, you’ll be spending half the time speaking in English. So we’d like to finish by shamelessly plugging our online Italian school!
M: If you’ve reached the point where you want to try more than an app, and you want to focus on speaking Italian, you might really like it.
K: Our teachers are kind and patient, so it’s perfect if you feel a bit nervous about making the jump to speaking.
M: We also focus on practical language you’ll use in conversation, and you can get involved socially with a lovely community of Italian learners, which is a lot more fun than tapping your phone screen!
K: Yes, languages are really all about talking to people, which is another reason I’m not a fan of most apps. It’s much nicer (and more effective) to make it a social thing, with real humans!
M: In the description, you’ll find a blog post with links to all the apps we talked about today, and a link where you can find out more about our school.
K - See you next time.
M - Or as we say in Italian.
Alla prossima!
Time to check your understanding and remember everything you just learned! Below you’ll find a mini-quiz and some vocabulary cards to help it all go in.
Quiz
How much did you learn? Find out in the quiz!
Click here to take the quiz for this episode: 11 Best Apps to Learn Italian
Vocabulary
L’app = The app
L’applicazione = The application
Possibile = Possible
Utile = Useful
Divertente = Fun
Una conversazione = A conversation
Un contorno = A side dish
Flashcards: 11 Best Apps to Learn Italian
Remember the vocabulary from this lesson by downloading the flashcards.
Not sure how it works? Click here to watch the tutorial
