Learn Italian
by playing
Italian reads almost exactly as it is written, so beginners make fast progress. Piquoli teaches each noun with its article, so you learn its gender from the start, and lets you hear every word in an Italian voice.
Why learn Italian with Piquoli?
- ✓Perfect for travelling in Italy: restaurants, hotels, transport and directions.
- ✓Regular pronunciation: once you have heard the rules, you can read anything.
- ✓The articles (il, lo, la, l') learnt with every noun.
- ✓Everyday sentences to build and write, so you speak sooner.
- ✓More than 2,700 words and sentences from level A1 to A2, in 43 themes.
A few words to start with
| English | Italian |
|---|---|
| hello | buongiorno |
| thank you | grazie |
| dog | il cane |
| house | la casa |
| Where is the station? | Dov'è la stazione? |
What makes Italian hard, and how Piquoli helps
Italian has seven forms of “the”: il, lo, la, l', i, gli and le. Instead of learning tables, you get every noun with its article, and hearing them together again and again makes the right choice automatic.
Double consonants matter: “pala” (shovel) and “palla” (ball) are different words. A recorded Italian voice pronounces every word, so your ear learns the difference before you have to produce it.
Verbs change a lot with the person (io parlo, tu parli, lei parla). Full everyday sentences show you these forms in context, where they are easy to remember.
What you learn, level by level
Piquoli follows the levels of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). You start with the essentials and move up at your own pace.
The basics: introducing yourself, greetings, numbers, colours, family, food, home.
Everyday life: shopping, travelling, health, work, weather, asking the way.
Levels B1, B2 and C1 are already written and arrive with the updates, at no extra cost.
Ten minutes a day, the right way
Learning a language is not an hour of revision on Sunday: it is a little every day. Piquoli is built for that. A game lasts a few minutes, the daily goal tells you when you have done enough, and your day streak makes you want to come back tomorrow.
Behind the games, spaced repetition decides what you review: a missed word comes back soon, a well-known word comes back less and less. You spend your time on what you do not know yet, not on what you already know.
Each word is practised in several ways: reading it, hearing it, recognising it, writing it, using it in a sentence. That variety is what makes it stick for good.
6 games to learn Italian
Flashcards
Spaced repetition: the words you find hard come back more often, the ones you know come back less.
Matching game
Match each word with its translation, as fast as you can.
Sentences
Build or write the translation of everyday sentences.
Listening
Hear a word and find it: to train your ear to the pronunciation.
Dictation
Listen to a sentence and write it without mistakes.
Memory
Find the word / translation pairs in as few moves as possible.
Questions about learning Italian
How long does it take to learn Italian with Piquoli?
With ten minutes a day, the essential words of level A1 stick quickly. Piquoli currently covers from level A1 to A2: enough to hold a simple everyday conversation.
Can I learn Italian for free?
Yes: the “Basics” and “Colours” themes are free forever, and the 7-day trial opens all of Piquoli, with no card needed. After that, the subscription starts at €2.99 a month.
Does Piquoli replace a Italian course?
Piquoli is ideal for vocabulary, listening and everyday sentences, and it works very well alongside a course or school: it makes you review every day what you would otherwise forget.
Start for free
The “Basics” and “Colours” themes are free forever, and the trial gives you 7 days of full access, with no card needed. On Mac, Windows, or straight in your browser.
€20.00 a year (−44%) or €2.99 a month, cancel anytime