Italia 360°
Our podcast to learn Italian!
The podcast is dedicated to those who dream of Dolce Vita, love Mediterranean cuisine, want to learn the Italian language, and want to know every secret of Italian history and art.
Every season is an exciting journey that crosses all of Italy from a different perspective, letting us explore our 360º peninsula together!
The first season is entirely dedicated to the Italian cinema, one of the most famous cinemas in the world. From its beginnings to its triumph, Italian cinema has left an indelible mark on the history of film art.
News in Slow Italian
This free podcast talks about current affairs from all over the world, using simple and easy-to-understand Italian, and is presented by Carla and Stefano.
“News in Slow Italian” is an excellent resource for improving your understanding of news in Italian, essential for anyone who wants to live in Italy or who just wants to improve their vocabulary.
There is also a selection of podcasts that talk about politics on an international scale, like the effects of Brexit and the election of Trump. On their website, you can also find transcripts of the podcasts and flashcards as well as sections on grammar, pronunciation, and the expressions used by the presenters.
One drawback of this podcast is that while the audio files are free for everyone, the majority of the extra materials are only available for premium members. On their website, you can find the prices for Bronze, Silver, and Gold memberships, and with a weekly 10-minute podcast News in Slow Italian is the perfect website to improve your Italian. It is available on the App Store.
Learn Italian Pod
In this podcast, the theme is introduced in English and is followed by short stories that are easy to understand and are perfect for intermediate or more advanced students.
It’s possible to choose the difficulty level of the podcast, from beginner, intermediate, upper intermediate and advanced.
The themes are very interesting and above all useful for life in Italy and to know more about Italy in general. Some of the more recent podcasts, for example, have discussed issues like superstitions and lucky charms in Italy (a very interesting theme that shows just how superstitious Italians are) and tongue twisters, which are a great way to improve your pronunciation.
In this app and website, you can also find a vast selection of other lessons like Culture Shot where every podcast discusses interesting aspects of the Italian culture, like celebrations in different Italian cities or historical events.
There is also a new lesson called Fame and Fortune where they talk about the lives of Famous Italians. For anyone who wants to become a VIP member, there are even more stories, more English translations, and more activities. VIP membership costs $14.95 a month or $149.50 for the year.
Learn Italian Pod can be downloaded from the App Store or online.
Coffee Break Italian
This podcast has just won the 2017 Smartest Podcast Award in London, thanks to its innovative teaching style, which is perfect for beginners.
With this podcast, you can learn some more simple vocabulary, like how to book a table at a restaurant. Every podcast is made up of a lesson between a student and two teachers, so the listener can learn along with them. Recent lessons have talked about the difference between bello and buono, how to compliment people, and adjective agreement.
For premium members, there are also flashcards and videos to accompany every lesson and the prices are available on their website. Coffee Break Italian is available for iPhone on the App Store.
Eye on Italy
This podcast, even though it is in English, is very interesting as it talks about a lot of different aspects of Italian culture to get people interested and inspire them to learn Italian. Every week the presenters talk to different guests about a range of different topics, like Italian food, the mafia, politics, as well as other pieces of Italian news. The podcast also shares several different hints and tips that are useful for whoever wants to live in Italy. Even though the presenters speak English, this podcast is a great opportunity to improve your understanding of Italian culture.
ItalianPod101
With ItalianPod101 you can access all of the content with a free account.
The Podcasts are in both English and Italian and are very easy to understand.
Italian is taught using conversations between native speakers about themes like how to introduce yourself or how to order food in a restaurant. There are also other learning materials like flashcards or PDF files that can be downloaded and have transcripts of the conversations or the vocabulary used. There is also a forum on the website where students can talk about the lessons.
This podcast is more suitable for beginners as the conversations are very slow and repetitive which could be boring for students with a level higher than B1.
Italian LingQ
This podcast contains various audio files for students of every level, beginner, intermediate, and advanced. For beginners, there are discussions about general life in Italy and how to use basic vocabulary to order food and drinks, which is taught using simple conversations between a group of people at a restaurant.
For more advanced students there are dialogues about history, news, and other Italian wonders, one podcast even talks about the events that led to the sinking of the Titanic. Even in the more advanced podcasts, the presenters talk very slowly so that it is easy to understand every theme and teach new and useful vocabulary. Every podcast lasts about 10 minutes and are available on the App Store and the website.
Finestre sull’arte
“Finestre sull’arte” offers something different from all the other podcasts, as it is completely dedicated to the Italian History of Art. Every podcast talks about different works of art and exhibitions, the majority of which are found in Florence. Recently, the podcast talked about the exhibition “Jacopo Ligozzi, Pittore Universalismo” which was held in 2014 in the gallery at Palazzo Pitti. This podcast is perfect for more advanced students who want to learn Italian and at the same time learn something new and interesting about Italian culture.
Each podcast lasts about 35 minutes, and given the complex vocabulary used, is not suitable for beginners. You can access the podcasts on their website and they are available to download.
Al Dente
Perfect for students of A2 level, this podcast talks about a large variety of themes in basic Italian. Like how to take good photos in Italy or interviews and debates about the Italian language and whether or not it’s sexist language. Al dente helps you to quickly improve your vocabulary in a fun and exciting way, as well as helping you learn something new about Italian culture. The website is very useful as it provides a list of vocabulary with definitions in Italian to help less competent students. You can find all the audio files online.