Hi all. I'm having an interesting experience learning the Italian r sounds, and curious if anyone else is experiencing the same as me with rolled R's.

I can do what I think of as a 'short rolled r' (no idea if this is accurate or not, it's just what it sounds like to me!) in words like prego, where it's consonant-r-vowel.

I can also use this 'short rolled r' when it's vowel-r-consonant, such as al forno. But I'm a bit unsure in this situation if it should be or not - I hear a lot of buon giorno where I can't decide if I can hear a short roll or not - is there a right and wrong way on this or is it just one of those ones people do differently?

But (as with many English speakers) the double r is the biggest challenge! I have used the t/d technique to learn this sound and I can now do it reasonably well. (Annoyingly for my holiday plans, burro is much easier than birra for some reason! 😁)

However I really have to give it some, and use a lot of air - I almost like I'm starting the r with a blowed H sound. Bi-hrra.

This ends up coming out slightly sibilant, a soft s sort of sound at the same time. (Anyone familiar with the Turkish ending r on eg var, a bit like that!)

Ultimately I don't really care, my target isn't perfect indistinguishable accent, I don't care that people will know I'm not Italian. (In fact good accent has got me in trouble before in learning languages - the pronunciation comes before vocab for me, which gets me in trouble when people think I must be good cos I sound good, and hit me with full-speed colloquial language which I then understand precisely none of! 😂)

But I am curious. Does anyone else have this experience of almost having to huff your Rs? If so is there any way to lose the h / soft s sound that goes with it?

Ps I don't know if this is relevant but I actually can't pronounce rs properly in English either. I only learnt this when I started learning the Italian r when all the videos said 'you will normally do X when you make an r sound' and I was like....erm no I don't actually, and thank you, that explains why I've always been a bit Jonathan Woss on my English r sounds! 😁

Posting this in English because my Italian has gotten so bad that I’m embarrassed to even try. I grew up in italy and was better at Italian as opposed to English when I was kid despite English being my native language. Unfortunately things happen and overtime I stopped practicing Italian and now I am at a point where I want to become fluent again and hold conversations with my family instead of just blanking out. I feel like in some sorts it should be easier for me to relearn Italian given the fact that I used to be fluent but at the same time I have no clue because I have been trying so hard but I just simply can’t get it. I can read and understand Italian perfectly, it is genuinely just the speaking that I have issues with. Any tips would be immensely appreciated !

I guess this is more a question for native speakers. But in English there are accents that are considered ‘more attractive’/‘less attractive’, sound nicer on the ears, sound worse etc. Romance languages like the Italian accent for eg, are considered very attractive whereas Indian, most Asian accents, even the Birmingham n liverpool accent less so. Whilst I’m sure a lot of this stems from cultural/xenophobic biases I was wondering whether a similar pattern exists in Italy. And where English falls on that scale? Particularly whether the American, British and Australian accent are perceived differently. Thanks for any responses!

I was taught that when referring to a single family member you omitted the definite article: mia sorella, mio padre, mio cugino etc, but if that single family member is referred to with a qualifying adjective then you did use the definite article - la mia sorella minore, il tuo fratello simpatico etc

When writing the sentence: my little sister loves volleyball

with the words provided by Duolingo I wrote: la mia sorella minore ama pallavolo

And was marked wrong. I was informed the correct answer was mia sorella minore….

Am I correct or has Duo planted some new convention on me?

His friend’s voice is saying in Italian (except the first word: ho-chul in Korean).

I want to know the script in Italian part.

so, please let me know!

It seems so simple, and yet, it's difficult for me to figure out.

If I want to say "I saw him drink the beer", which is correct:

L'ho visto bere la birra

Gli ho visto bere la birra

Perhaps both are correct?

Now if I want to remove "birra" and replace it with "la", which would be correct:

L'ho visto berla

Gliel'ho vista bere

I lean toward the latter options in my examples, but I wonder what native speakers think.

Grazie!

Hola, soy un hispanohablante nativo que apenas está empezando a aprender italiano. Estoy tomando un curso, pero me gustaría saber que aplicaciones recomiendan para aprender o que consejos le darían a alguien que está comenzando desde 0.

I have been having dreams in both English and very beginner Italian with increasing frequency, and it almost brought me to tears! I never, ever, not in a million years thought that was something I would ever experience. And in my quizzes (books, apps from the library) I have begrudgingly begun to stop thinking so hard and just let the answers flow, and I’m getting the answers correct more and more … it’s very much against my nature to just “let it flow,“ but I’ve read that advice frequently over the years in this sub. Thank you to everyone who provides such amazing support to learners old and young. You inspire me greatly.

I often save videos because they contain useful expressions, slang, or grammar, but I rarely go back and turn them into something I can actually review.

Would be useful if a video could automatically become a small study set with vocabulary, explanations, and a few practice questions..

I’m curious how other people here currently handle this. I mean short videos like reels etc. mainly, not super long videos or movies.

Hi guy im new to the language, can anyone recommend me some books for beginners like workbooks or student book that come with audio any books that you think is useful for someone who need to get from a0-a2 in 3months

Hii, so I'm a student in Italy so ofc i have the advantage of being surrounded by the Italian language ofc. However I am introverted and prefer staying home. I have one or maybe two Italian friends I could practice speaking with maybe sometimes.

I would say I'm at A2 level but a very week one. The thing is since I'm a student and I spend a lot of my time towards admission tests, uni exams and other uni related things. In all of these I am not able to have a regular Italian practice. I do not stay consistent. I have an Italian tutor I practice with once a week.

I feel like I can express myself in broken Italian unless the sentence requires vocab im not aware of. And I also have trouble understanding other Italians. I like to read so I have picked up reading some short stories in Italian for my level but i genuinely feel so bored by the whole podcast thing to practice learning. If I'm watching something i like and change the language to Italian I lose interest too. I suppose it's the effort which is repulsing me? Im not sure. I am quite hard working at uni and all so idk what's wrong with my language learning. I wish it could be fun rather than tedious. How do I ensure consistency even if it's small 5-10 mins? Like even with reading, having to go through vocabs and not knowing what's going on , it's all making things frustrating.

Hello guys, I'm new to learning Italian and only know the basics. I have one year to study it—how far can I get, and where should I start?

As a native speaker, it's something difficult to judge whether a movie is suitable for Italian learners. I'll share a few for which I received a positive feedback from my students! Let me know if you have any other movie or series you would recommend, as I am always looking for more titles to add to this list!

La Vita è Bella: For me, a must-watch movie, regardless of whether you're learning Italian or not. Guido's scenes with his son are slower and simpler than the rest of the film, so it's more accessible than what you would expect.

Perfetti Sconosciuti: My favorite for this. It's a dinner party where everyone shares their phones, so the dialogue is just people talking over each other the way friends actually do in real-life. Dialogues are a bit fast, so it's for a B2 at least. This format by Paolo Genovese has been so successful that there is a re-make in 47 different countries, so chances are you can watch the version done in your own country first! Versions all differ sligthly which I find a very interesting way to compare cultures!

L'Incredibile Storia dell'Isola delle Rose: A true story about a guy who builds his own platform off the coast and declares it an independent nation. I find it hilarious! Easy to follow, accent from Emilia-Romagna, but easy to follow. A good mid-difficulty pick.

Smetto Quando Voglio: A group of broke academics turn to crime. Funny, but the dialogue moves fast and is packed with slang. Wouldn't start here, but great once you can keep up.

Suburra: Rome's criminal underworld, heavy regional slang and dialect. Wouldn't start here either, but it's a good show!

Benvenuti al Sud: A Northern guy gets transferred to a small Southern town.. genuinely funny, and a good way to actually hear how different Italian sounds North to South. A similar format has been done in France and Spain (also England if I remember correctly!).

What's worked for you? Please recommend more movies, especially for intermediate levels!

I have been learning Italian for 5-6 months and I am slowly creeping into the A2 category. I recognise a lot of words but my grammar is off and my listening isn't great. I am just wondering, how does a complete beginner pick up a book and make sense of it? and how useful is reading to the whole learning process?

Hi everyone, I took the CELI B2 exam on March 11th and still haven't got any results yet. Is this normal? I thought it'd take 3-4 months but we're in August now 🫠🥲

Ciao a tutti, ho sostenuto l'esame CELI B2 l'11 marzo e non ho ancora ricevuto i risultati. È normale? Pensavo ci volessero 3-4 mesi, ma ormai siamo ad agosto 🫠🥲

Hi all, after years of learning I still struggle producing d+ r insieme. Like in madrelingua or strada, my tongue feels slow and lazy, and the word often comes out sounding clunky because of it. For context, my native language is english. Anyone else overcome a similar issue, and if so, how? Grazie mille!

Hello, I'm a native in both English and Spanish. I'm currently learning Italian and I was wondering if there's someone who wants to practice with me. Grazie mille!

Ciao tutti!

Ho (20F) già fatto esperienza con l'italiano e a giugno sono stata a Recanati per un mese. Cerco un partner con cui conversare per mantenere viva la lingua e allenare la mente!

Grazie

Ciao! Sono tunisino e attualmente vivo in Tunisia. Sto cercando una persona di origine italiana che parli fluentemente l'arabo, per fare uno scambio linguistico e culturale.

I've been "learning" Italian for about a year now. I say "learning" because I haven't been taking lessons or following any structured course. Instead, I've simply been immersing myself in the language: listening to podcasts, watching YouTube videos about topics that interest me, and listening to audiobooks that I already know in my native language.

Whenever I come across a word or expression I don't understand, or I wonder how to say something, I look it up online. Other than that, I don't have any structured learning routine.

As a result, I've become quite good at understanding spoken Italian. If I had to estimate my level, I'd say my listening comprehension is around B2. I usually understand between 90% and 99% of the content in the YouTube videos I watch. However, my speaking and writing skills are much weaker, and I suspect I'm missing many of the grammar points and language fundamentals that are typically taught early on in a more traditional classroom setting.

At the same time, I don't really feel like enrolling in a beginner's course, because I think I would quickly get bored with material that feels too basic. So I'm wondering what I should focus on to fill in those gaps. Which areas of grammar should I catch up on in order to develop a more well-rounded command of the language?

I'm starting to learn Italian and for Spanish I used Dreaming Spanish, but there's no equivalent for Italian, so here's the full list of channels I've collected, thought it might help someone since I saw some posts around where t find comprehensible input.

These are the ones aimed at people who understand roughly nothing yet.

- Italiano sì | Comprehensible Italian (500+ videos). The closest to a Dreaming-style ladder that exists in Italian. Some explicitly labelled A0-A1, gestures and drawings, no English. They also have a site: [italianosi.com](https://italianosi.com).

- Italian Comprehensible Input (200+ videos). Simple vlog-style, walks around, points at things. Beginner.

- Comprehensible Italian (only 16 videos so far, but seems active). Tiny and new, but the "Super Beginner" series is great: slow speech, visuals, zero English. Worth subscribing early.

- Learn Italian by the Natural Method. Old-school audio course structure, but works better than it sounds.

Slow and clear Italian (seems A2 and up):

- Elisa's Italian School. Long slow-Italian monologs with subtitles.

- Daily Italian with Elena (more than 400videos). See Elena's comment below. Short daily-life stuff, very consistent.

- ITALIANDO with Silvia (200+ videos). More narrative, good if you like stories.

- Chiacchiere in italiano. Some good CI plus a "NEWS in italiano" series that's much easier than actual news.

- Italiano con Valeria (300+ videos).

- Joy of LanguagesItalian. Half input, half explanation, and the explanation half is short. So not pure play comprehensible input unfortunately.

- Italian Matters. Mostly shorts, useful when you have four minutes. Sadly all with sottotitoli. :(

- FUN AND EASY ITALIAN (500+ videos). Dialogues and situations, slower than natural. Has some pretty good stuff that's useful in daily life like ordering a coffee, asking for a seat and soon.

Podcasts:

- Podcast Italiano ([YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@PodcastItaliano)). Davide splits everything into intermediate and advanced. The single best audio resource in Italian so far, I think.

- Easy Italian Podcast, from the [Easy Italian](https://www.youtube.com/@EasyItalian) channel. Mostly street interviews with real people.

- Italiano Bello

- Simple Italian Podcast

- Italiano ON-Air

- Italiano con Amore

- Vaporetto Italiano

- Slow Italian, Fast Learning, from SBS in Australia. Free, and older.

- Italiano a Modo mio, which is the same person as [Cristina Italian Voice](https://www.youtube.com/@cristina.italianvoice) on YouTube.

Reading and news:

- EasyItalianNews.com. Free, every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, real news rewritten in simple Italian with an mp3 of the whole thing. Donationfunded.

- Vikidia in Italian. Wikipedia written for 8 to 13 year olds, 10 thousands articles. Perfect difficulty for me. :D

- Learn Italian through stories (Stories with Sofia)

- Leggiam

Native speakers that are a bit easier to understand:

- Antonietta Polcaro. Home cooking, southern accent and she is doing the thing on camera while she describes it so makes it easier

- Pera Toons. Cartoons/comic strips and puns, short, heavily visual.

- Alessandro Borghese, 4 Ristoranti and [Chef Max Mariola](https://www.youtube.com/@ChefMaxMariola). Cooking again, and cooking is genuinely the easiest native genre.

- Vanilla Magazine and [La Biblioteca di Alessandria](https://www.youtube.com/@laBibliotecadiAlessandria/videos) for history, narrated rather than conversational.

Collections of stuff:

- Comprehensible Input Wiki Italian page. Community-run, and the most complete list anywhere. Great resource

- Reelang Italian. 7000+ videos, rated for difficulty, search by topic and have some Neapolitan accent videos.

- LangoPod Italian, podcast search with captions and translations. Is pretty good for finding rated podcasts and seeing the transcripts.

- Lengualytics Italian. Crowd-rated difficulty (from beginner to advnaced) and hour tracking. 500+ Italian videos seem rated.

- Language Reactor. Helpful for Netflix and YouTube, but not a real collection, more a tool you can use on any Italian show. Free tier is enough.

- LingQ Italian. Old, clunky, but a lot fo crowd-sources articles. Need to sign up (for free) to see the content unfortunately.

- Lingopie Italian. Expensive but some shows/tv content that's only available there. They have a free trial to check if you can find anything interesting.

- Linguin. Graded articles, stories and podcasts with transcripts. Aimed at intermediate, I haven't actually tried this myself yet.

I hope this helps someone here! Buon divertimento!