italian apps

What’s the Best App to Learn Italian in 2024? 18 Tested and Reviewed Options

Traditional textbooks and language learning guides are great, but technology has added a whole new level of convenience to learning a language.

You can easily use your smartphone to spend more time studying Italian. Many apps are multimedia, so you can learn through audio, video and text—and maybe even connect with native Italian speakers!

Read on to learn about 18 of the best apps to learn Italian that should be considered for a spot in any Italian language learner’s pocket.

Contents

1. Best Free App to Learn Italian: Duolingo

iOSAndroid

italian-apps

Duolingo is a good resource for boosting your Italian vocabulary. It includes a variety of units for different levels of learners based around various themes, such as education or work environments.

Instead of focusing on grammar, the app helps you learn vocabulary and structures that allow you to communicate in particular situations.

The exercises include repeating audio, phrase translation, matching photos to words and other quiz-type features. Each lesson is designed to be short enough to fill your spare moments with Italian learning.

See our full review of Duolingo here.

2. Best App for Learning Italian with Video: FluentU 

iOSAndroid

fluentu-logo

FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.

You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app or Android app.

P.S. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)

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Click here to read our full review of FluentU.

3. Best App for Italian Language Nerds: Lingvist

Lingvist app logo

iOS | Android

Lingvist is a language learning app designed to accelerate vocabulary acquisition and enhance language proficiency.

Using a data-driven approach, Lingvist tailors its content based on individual learning patterns, adapting to each user’s strengths and weaknesses. The app focuses on high-frequency words and phrases—and it uses the learning concept of spaced repetition to optimize retention.

Through a combination of interactive exercises and AI feedback, Lingvist aims to make language learning efficient and engaging.

4. Best App for Italian Travel Junkies: Speakoo

Speakoo app logo

iOS | Android

This fun, highly gamified language learning app lets you virtually travel as you learn. Each level is based on a different city in the country (or countries) of the language you’re studying.

Level one might be Rome and two might be Florence, so you’re learning culture as you learn the language. 

I love this app because it teaches super useful phrases that can get you talking fast.

5. Best App for Italian Learning Community: Busuu 

iOS | Android

best apps to learn italian busuu

Like Duolingo, Busuu offers quick Italian lessons on a variety of topics at different levels. The lessons are not as culturally specific, but can be used in conjunction with other resources that give you more access to Italian culture.

There are a number of ways to use the app—useful lessons, a translator, word acquisition and more—but a great feature is the opportunity to interact with native Italian speakers.

You can write short texts or make recordings and have them corrected by native speakers. The chat feature will likely help you pick up some Italian idioms and slang!

Check out our full review of Busuu here.

6. Best Interactive Italian Learning App: Mondly

iOS | Android

Mondly is another “gamefied” language learning app that features interactive exercises, pictures and translation tests, which we’ve reviewed fully in this post.

Lessons contain simple conversations between native speakers in full, excellent audio. With the help of Mondly’s non-repetitive exercises, you’ll assimilate the vocabulary into your long-term memory.

What sets it apart from other programs is the chatbot feature, where you can chat in Italian with a bot that asks you questions just like a new acquaintance would!

7. Best Classic Italian Learning App: Rosetta Stone

iOS | Android

learn-italian-android-appRosetta Stone has been in the business for over 25 years, and the unique thing about their language programs is that you’ll hear a lot of the Italian language throughout your course.

The Rosetta Stone team believes that translation will only slow you down; you’ll have lots of pictures to guide you through the exercises and help you figure out the vocabulary.

You won’t explicitly learn grammar, either. Instead, you’ll learn to get conversational quickly by speaking often and moving your mouth like native Italian speakers do.

See our full review of Rosetta Stone here.

8. Best Italian Language Exchange App: HelloTalk

iOS | Android

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HelloTalk is a language exchange app that connects Italian learners with native speakers via text and audio messages. It’s ideal for enhancing conversational skills, practicing listening skills and learning slang.

This app comes with helpful features that facilitate interaction, like a voice-to-text capability and an instant translation feature. That means you and your Italian language partner can discuss anything you want!

HelloTalk is an indispensable tool for language learners who want to interact with native speakers, and it’ll help you get a taste of authentic Italian culture as well. 

See our full HelloTalk review here.

9. Best Italian Tutoring App: italki

iOS | Android

best apps to learn italian italki

Using italki is an ideal way to hone your Italian conversational skills. You can schedule a lesson with professional teachers or converse with language partners anytime, anywhere.

The individualized learning experience is an excellent way to strengthen your skills while learning about Italian culture. You can also practice writing and get direct help from the community.

Booking a lesson has a price but many other features are free.

Read our full italki review here.

10. Best App for Variety of Italian Lessons: Innovative Language

iOS | Android

learn-italian-words-free-appThe Innovative Language app will help anyone looking to build a powerful Italian vocabulary. The app ranges from absolute beginner to advanced, so the words presented are consistent with your abilities.

Line-by-line audio of words and phrases almost guarantees successful student pronunciation of unfamiliar words. There’s also a flashcard feature that presents new words in a familiar and fun way.

The free version nets you plenty of features, like weekly audio and video lessons, vocabulary lessons (via email) and offline learning. You can do a free trial of all the features before buying, and you can read our complete Innovative Language review here.

11. Best App for Italian Flashcards: Anki 

iOS | Android

italian-apps

Anki is one of the best flashcard apps that you can use to learn a language—here’s a full post about it. I particularly like that you can add media to your flashcards, including photos and audio.

This is a great way to study all those words from your vocabulary apps. You could even ask your Italian tutor or language exchange partner to record a word or phrase that you want to remember so you can quiz yourself on it later.

There are dozens of user-submitted Italian decks out there already, but I encourage you to create your own to study the vocabulary that’s most important to you. The process of making the cards will help reinforce the memorization aspect, too!

12. Best Italian Dictionary App: WordReference 

iOS | Android

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If I had to choose one Italian dictionary app, WordReference would be it. It contains an excellent, professionally edited Italian-English dictionary.

Also included is the vast Italian-English forum, which will help you find relevant conversations that can open doors to a ton of useful information.

The app also provides helpful conjugations of any Italian verb as well as a link to Google Image searches at the bottom of entries, to ensure you always understand what you’re reading.

13. Best Italian Radio App: Radio Italia

iOS | Android

best apps to learn italian radio italia

This app gives you access to a whole world of native Italian videos, podcasts, music and interviews from the station Radio Italia.

The app is only in Italian, so it’s best for learners of an intermediate to advanced level who want to find more material to study or interesting programming to listen to.

14. Best Italian Vocabulary Quiz App: 50 Languages

iOSAndroid

The 50 Languages Italian app pairs text and audio to teach you vocabulary. You’ll hear native Italian speakers pronounce the words, and there are flashcards to help you drill them into your head.

When you’re ready to be tested, choose from the five tests available: written answer, multiple choice, word order, fill in the blank or a bubble game.

You can also check out the Italian phrasebook, do some crossword puzzles, play “Find the Opposites,” and more. The interface is a little basic, but it can still teach you a thing (or 10) about the Italian language!

15. Best App for Learning Italian Fast: In 24 Hours Speak Italian

iOS

While you certainly won’t be fluent in 24 hours, this iOS app gives you the most useful words and phrases in the Italian language, including only the most common adjectives, adverbs and nouns.

There are 24 different categories that provide you the most important vocabulary on each topic. You’ll see just the translation and the proper Italian pronunciation. So, for “Excuse me,” you’ll get “Mi scusi” plus an audio clip. 

While it may seem minimal, the app is perfect for travelers, tourists and anybody who wants some quick, straightforward Italian lessons.

16. Best App for Italian Travel: Bravolol Learn Italian

iOS | Android

learn-italian-android-appIf you plan on traveling to Italy and need some language learning, this app divides phrases and expressions into common travel scenarios, like dining, shopping, asking for directions, etc.

Select useful English phrases from the list for a written and audio translation. Follow along and listen to the audio to learn the pronunciation. You can even switch between a male and female voice.

You can also record your own voice to hear what you sound like in comparison to the native speaker. Overall, this app is very practical to help you prepare for interactions in Italian.

17. Best Italian Vocabulary App: FunEasyLearn

iOS | Android

best apps to learn italian funeasylearn

This user-friendly app will teach you 6,000 Italian vocabulary words via several vocabulary lists and activities with modes from easy to difficult.

There are different categories that you can choose from, and each comes with various fun exercises. I recommend you choose “Vocabulary” as your first activity each time in order to learn the new words.

Words are pronounced by native speakers so you can hear authentic pronunciation. After that, you can take your pick of exercises such as “Find Image,” “Listen & Write” and “Match Words.”

18. Best Italian Phrases App: 5,000 Phrases

Android

learn-italian-words-free-appAlso from FunEasyLearn comes “5,000 Phrases.” Such a large repertoire means there’s plenty of potential to build an enormous Italian vocabulary.

Phrases showcase common vocabulary in typical, everyday situations. You can choose to study by level or select one of the 20 topics and 145 subtopics.

The app features phonetic transcriptions and audio recordings, and you can learn the words thoroughly with 11 fun game modes. You don’t need an internet connection, so learn anywhere at anytime.

 

Now you have 18 of the best apps to learn Italian and make your learning journey flow easier! Try them out and see which one you prefer. Before you know it, you’ll be speaking Italian.

Buona fortuna! (Good Luck!) 

And One More Thing...

If you're as busy as most of us, you don't always have time for lengthy language lessons. The solution? FluentU!

Learn Italian with funny commericals, documentary excerpts and web series, as you can see here:

learn-italian-with-videos

FluentU helps you get comfortable with everyday Italian by combining all the benefits of complete immersion and native-level conversations with interactive subtitles. Tap on any word to instantly see an image, in-context definition, example sentences and other videos in which the word is used.

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Access a complete interactive transcript of every video under the Dialogue tab, and review words and phrases with convenient audio clips under Vocab.

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Once you've watched a video, you can use FluentU's quizzes to actively practice all the vocabulary in that video. Swipe left or right to see more examples of the word you’re on.

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FluentU will even keep track of all the Italian words you’re learning, and give you extra practice with difficult words. Plus, it'll tell you exactly when it's time for review. Now that's a 100% personalized experience!

The best part? You can try FluentU for free with a trial.

Start using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)

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