Free Italian lessons

Want to count to a billion in Italian? Who doesn't? Italian numbers follow a simple pattern, and are close enough to their English counterparts to make you go, "Hey, don't I know you from somewhere?". This lesson shows you how to make all the numbers you probably need.

Learn how to say the days of the week so you can make appointments without sounding ridiculous. You'll also learn why being told you're "like Thursday" isn't all that flattering.

These are like the suave cousins of the months in English. Twelve suave cousins! Plus you'll learn a little ditty to help you remember some of them.

Italians are pretty passionate about their words for "the" — so much so that there are seven of them. Never fear! I'll have you talking about the horses in no time at all.

Where? When? How? Which? What? Who? Why? Sounds like a conversation with a three year old? That three year old will be you at the end of this lesson, once you master all these question words. You'll also learn how to ask "how much does it cost?" which I'm pretty sure doesn't enter the average three year old's vocabulary.

All the vocabulary you need to talk about your nearest and dearest. You'll also learn the important phrase, "My mom makes cookies every Sunday".

One time while driving through Spain I asked for directions and only understood the words "left" and "right". Don't let this happen to you! In this lesson I'll give you very roundabout directions to the Colosseum, and show you where you can always find the restroom.

The verb essere (to be) allows you to do all kinds of things in Italian. This lesson shows you how to use it, and how to say cheesy romantic things with it, like "I am so in love with you!" and "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me!"

Probably the second most important verb to have in your toolbox — avere/to have is used in a lot of places where we English speakers wouldn't expect it. This lesson shows you how you don't "be hungry" in Italian, you have hunger.

Let me introduce you to "comprare" ("to buy"). Once you master this one, you'll be able to use any old verb that ends in "-are". In this lesson you'll also learn how to make the blunt statement, "YOU BUY!" — one of my personal favorites.

"Prendere" (to take) is another pretty darn useful verb that Italians use in interesting situations. In this lesson I liken a verb to George Clooney, and show you the rules that apply to most all other Italian verbs ending in -ere.

I'm calling this my "train station announcement" lesson. You'll learn all those important words like "early", "late" and "on time" to help you figure out if you have time for another cappuccino, or if you should be hurrying your baggage over to binario due.

Possessive adjectives in Italian can be a little tricky to wrap your head around, since they often go hand in hand with the definite article (words for "the"). Make sure you've got a firm grasp on your "the" words before you dive in. You'll then be able to learn the useful phrase, "I found a hen in your car". Awesome!

The world would be a boring place without adjectives to describe it. In fact it would just be a place. (Get it?) In this lesson we'll meet these describing words, and see what hoops we need to jump through to use them correctly.

Let's dive back into the world of adjectives and look at where to put them in a sentence in Italian. (It's a little different from English.) You'll also see how changing the location of an adjective can change its meaning. Fun!