Instant Italian

Instant Italian

Learn to express yourself comfortably in Italian. You'll be surprised how quickly and easily you are able to learn Italian in this course, which provides knowledge of practical, everyday words and phrases you are likely to hear if you vacation in Italy.
6 Weeks Access / 24 Course Hrs
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This dynamic course will teach you how to express yourself comfortably in Italian. You'll learn practical, everyday words. You'll read, hear, and practice dialogues based on typical situations that you're likely to encounter if you plan to vacation in Italy. The dialogues and follow-up exercises of each lesson will teach you to communicate in Italian in a wide variety of settings. You'll be surprised by how quickly and easily you can learn many useful expressions in Italian! This course will make it simple to master your pronunciation of Italian. Essential words and phrases are written phonetically by using sounds that are familiar to you from English words. The audio feature lets you hear the words and phrases spoken aloud with just a click of your mouse. Short exercises are included with each lesson to help you reinforce what you've learned and gauge your progress, making it easy to pinpoint areas that you still need to review. The exercises also give you immediate feedback—you'll know whether you answered correctly as soon as you finish.

By the end of the second lesson, you will have already learned about the Italian language's impact on the world, the Italian alphabet, phonetics, and pronunciation, proper forms of address, expressions of courtesy, and how to make introductions. When you reach your final lesson, you will know how to ask for help, ask directions, navigate Italian shops, book a hotel room, order a meal, and much more! Cultural notes are included throughout the course to help you better understand Italians and their way of life. You' will learn what various gestures mean to Italians, which ones to use, and those you should avoid. This course will convince you that learning a language is both fun and rewarding.

Enrollment Options:
6 Weeks Access Course Code: iit
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3 Months Access Course Code: T9684
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In this first lesson, you'll discover that, despite the Italian peninsula's long and rich history, Italy is actually a relatively young nation—much younger than the United States, for example. You'll also learn that many Italian words have been adopted into English, including many that you might say or hear on a regular basis—and not just spaghetti, pizza, and biscotti. You'll also be pleased to learn that there are many cognates in Italian. Cognates are words that share the same origin with English words, which makes them very easy for you to recognize and master. By the time you finish this lesson, you'll also know how to greet others properly and introduce yourself in Italian.

In the second lesson, you'll explore the Italian alphabet and phonetics. You'll learn all 21 letters of the Italian alphabet, along with the various sounds they make, whether alone or in combination with one or more other letters. In addition, you'll learn five letters that Italian borrows for writing and speaking words that originated in other languages. With the tools you'll gain in this lesson (and some practice), you'll be able to read and correctly pronounce virtually all words and phrases in Italian.

This lesson will discuss why, unlike in English, the names of places and things have gender in Italian. That's right, all nouns—even inanimate objects—are either masculine or feminine. You'll also learn that to pluralize nouns in Italian, you don't add "s" or "es" at the end of the word. Instead, you'll simply change the final vowel. For example, "one spaghetti noodle" is "spaghetti-o," while "spaghetti noodles" is "spaghetti-i." You'll also discover eight ways to say the word "the" in Italian. By the end of this lesson, you'll have a good grasp on some fundamental parts of speech, making it that much easier to put them together and use them.

In this lesson, you'll continue exploring some basic elements of the Italian language.

While visiting Italy's many spectacular sites, you'll want to be able to ask for assistance. In this lesson, you'll learn to ask and give directions to places, making it easier for you to navigate the country's many historic cities and towns. By the time you reach the end of this lesson, you'll know how to say "to the right," "to the left," and "straight ahead." You will also know how to ask whether a location is nearby or far away. In addition to all the practical navigating skills you'll gain in this lesson, you'll also increase your understanding of Italian culture by learning several ways Italians greet one another.

Numbers are handy in many daily situations, and in this lesson, you'll learn the numbers 1 through 100. You'll explore ways you can put these numbers to practical use by asking and stating phone numbers, addresses, and bill totals. You'll even visit an Italian bar or caffè and learn to order breakfast. At the end of this lesson, you'll be able to discuss telephone numbers and addresses, ask and say how much things cost at the bar, and how and where to pay for them.

In this lesson, you'll explore the calendar, learning to ask about and express days and dates. You'll learn some helpful techniques that make remembering the days of the week and the months of the year much easier. The lesson will also go over two key verbs—"avere" and "fare." Both verbs are especially helpful when discussing the weather. By the end of Lesson 7, you'll be able to talk about days and dates, and to ask about and describe the weather.

In this lesson, you'll apply the numbers knowledge you gained in Lesson 6 and 7 to the clock and schedules. You'll learn to ask and tell the time, and to ask and express key time-relate terms, such as "when," "early," and "late." You'll continue learning about Italian culture, and find out how important labor strikes are in Italy. Because strikes often impact travel, you'll learn how to ask when they'll begin and when they'll end. All of these things should help put you more at ease while traveling. By the end of the lesson, you'll know how to tell time and read business schedules in Italian.

Do you plan to make some purchases while in Italy, or take a train, boat, or bus? This lesson will go over how to handle these situations. You'll learn the vocabulary and phrases you need to discuss items such as transportation tickets and their prices. You'll learn to use the always-handy expression "vorrei", which means "I would like...", to request information or items. By the end of this lesson, you'll know how ask about and purchase train, boat, or bus tickets, ask about prices and make purchases, and even rent a vehicle while in Italy.

Even before you arrive in Italy, you'll probably need to discuss and book your accommodations, and you'll explore how to do just that in this lesson. You'll learn to describe the kind of room you're looking for and ask about availability. By combining new vocabulary with elements you've learned in previous lessons, you'll be able to ask very specific questions about your lodging. You'll know how to confirm whether your room has air conditioning and Internet service, and if the price includes breakfast. You'll practice making a phone call to a hotel to ensure you can book your accommodations long before you arrive at your destination.

This lesson will go over something really important: How to ask for help—"aiuto" [ah-YOO-toh]—in any situation. More specifically, you'll learn to describe health and medical concerns to a pharmacist or doctor. You'll practice an authentic dialogue with each to help put you at ease while you're in Italy. You'll also learn to ask others to help you by calling the police or an ambulance. By the time you finish this lesson, you'll be able to handle virtually any emergency situation in Italian.

Italy's world-renowned cuisine is as important as its many historical monuments (some might say it's even more important!). In the final lesson, you'll become well-versed in the various types of eateries in Italy, the types of meals you can expect to find in them, and how meals are typically served. You'll practice using all the vocabulary you'll need to order food, whether it's a snack in un bar or an entire four-course meal in una trattoria. You'll learn how to ask about typical regional or local specialties, and how to say that you'd like to try a particular wine or dish. When you reach the end of this lesson, you'll be fully prepared to order a meal at any Italian eatery.



Hardware Requirements:


Software Requirements:

  • PC: Windows XP or later.
  • Mac: OS X Snow Leopard 10.6 or later.
  • Windows Media Player or similar software.


  • Email capabilities and access to a personal email account.


There are no prerequisites to take this course.

Instructional Material Requirements:



Robert Bertoldi has been mastering Italian for the past 25 years, and teaching college-level Italian in the classroom since 1987. He holds a Master of Arts in Italian literature, and has taught the language at several universities, colleges, and private language institutions. Bertoldi's proficiency in Italian has earned him university scholarships and a resident academic position in Italy. His enthusiastic teaching style has earned him the praise of hundreds of students, including fellow language instructors.


So fun!! It was nice to be able to learn in a stress free environment on my own time and still be able to listen to the pronunciation of the words.

I thoroughly enjoyed this class and I learned a great deal. I had taken Italian in college and this was a great review. It gave me very practical information that I can use in everyday conversation. The grammar rules and tips were especially helpful. Also, the audio was excellent and really helped with my pronunciation.

I found the information in the class to be very useful and just the thing that I needed to be able to go to Italy and communicate in an understandable and basic way. Professor Bertoldi's explanations were very clear and the additional information available for each lesson was very helpful.

The course was very well organized! Each lesson was divided into chapters chunking the material into manageable amounts of information that was closely related. The professor provided interesting introductory material as well as helpful formats and thorough explanations. This was a refresher course for me but I still learned new material and gained more understanding of the language and its usage. I loved the additional material and web site suggestions and will continue to use them.

I thoroughly enjoyed the course. I thought it was interesting and very challenging. I learned a lot and had fun doing it.

The instructor was excellent. He was knowledgeable and friendly. The course material is relevant for travelers.

The course was an excellent introductory class. The content was thorough and it was prepared in a very easy-to-follow format. I hope there will be a "next level" course in Italian.

This was my first time taking a class online. Professor Bertoldi came across as a warm, kind, encouraging individual! I was so grateful! He gave me encouragement throughout his narration that kept me going...I could see myself repeating this class next year…just to hear it…and practice it just for fun! Thank you - buona fortuna!

This was a very good class for me. It filled in many of the holes that I've had in Italian, specifically with masculine vs. feminine verb and adjective forms. It also cleared up some questions that I had in pronunciation. I've been to Italy several times but I feel more confident in going again. Grazie Mille!

The fact that there is a hard eight week deadline was useful to me. Particularly with foreign language study many people, including myself, buy study material and then never get to it because there are too many other activities going on in life. The fact that there is a hard eight week deadline forced me to complete this course in a timely manner...If I bought a self-study package it would still be sitting unopened on my bookshelf.