Italian Readings
Simple, entertaining Italian readings at all levels with slow audio, Italian transcript, and English translation to help you improve your listening and reading skills.
- Think directly in Italian
- Audio + transcript + translation
- All levels
Latest Italian Readings
What's in a Reading?
Slow Audio
Every Italian text is read by a native speaker at a slow but natural pace to catch every word.
Italian Transcript
There's an Italian transcript to read along if you need a visual aid.
English Translation
No need to look up new words with the complete English translation!
Is it for me?
This podcast is for you if...
You enjoy learning something new
There’s a whole treasure trove of interesting and challenging material to get you to practice listening and reading.
You want to start thinking in Italian like a natural
Repeat what you hear and resist the temptation to look at the translation right away. I’m confident you’ll be thinking in Italian in a couple of days.
You want to make the most of your time
Listen to the material while commuting or exercising. You can do it anywhere!
You have time to practice a little every day
Being consistent is key!
This podcast is NOT for you if...
You’ll just listen passively and not properly
To make true progress, you have to speak and not just listen and read.
You’re too busy to practice daily
Many casual learners fail because they skip classes. Try to find an extra 5-10 minutes per day to listen to a story.
Italian readings to practice reading and listening
Listen to original Italian readings read by a native speaker at a slow pace!
A challenging way to...
- Improve your listening skills
- Expand your vocabulary
- Master grammar patterns and idioms
- Naturally improve pronunciation
The ideal podcast for beginners to intermediate Italian speakers
- Simplified for your level
- Slow, but natural pace to catch every word
- With an English translation
How to Learn Italian with these Readings
Learn in 4 Steps
Here’s a simple plan to learn effectively with these readings.
To get the most out of your short story, piece of news, or conversation, I suggest this 4-step approach.
1. Skim
Read the story for the gist, not the details. The first time, focus on trying to understand the main ideas of the story: the characters, the major plot developments, and the setting.
2. Scan
Take your time to read it again carefully. Look up unknown words, phrases, or grammatical constructions that are unfamiliar to you. Write them down in a notebook or on flashcards to help you memorize them.
3. Look up
Look at the translation to read the story one more time. This way, you understand the text fully and have access to the translations and explanations.
4. Sum up
For further practice, I recommend writing a summary of the story. This way, you'll have a more complete understanding of it and make new vocabulary and grammar topics easier to memorize.
There's no need to...
Catch every word
Listening is more difficult than reading. Don't be anxious to catch every single word right away. Don't stop the audio!
Look up every word
When you stop to look up words, you lose the flow. First, try to rely on the Italian version.
How reading can make you fluent in Italian
Reading is an essential part of language learning. Italian readings help you improve your proficiency in the Italian language in all aspects: vocabulary, grammar, speaking, reading comprehension, pronunciation, etc.
How can you choose what to read to improve your Italian skills?
Most of the time, textbooks or workbooks can be boring. What you learn is not put into context, and you don’t know how or where to apply the words and sentences you have learned.
The first, basic requirement to learn Italian through reading is to enjoy what you read. This is essential to make learning easier and smoother.
When you read something you enjoy, you forget that you are learning. You become so interested in the plot that you naturally absorb new words and phrases.
Additionally, when what you read evokes an emotional reaction in you, you’ll easily remember it because the human brain is wired to react to emotions.
So, what are some good readings to learn Italian?
You can read a book, a conversation or a short story, or also the news.
Reading a short story in Italian works quite well for beginners who are still unfamiliar with Italian.
Italian short stories are often based on real-life situations and is very entertaining. You can read it as many times as you need and underline the words or phrases you don’t understand.
You can also practice your pronunciation by reading the story aloud and trying to summarize it using your words.
Short stories are beneficial also to advanced learners, who can sharpen their language skills and learn more complex expressions.
You can also read books in Italian. A book is often more challenging than a short story, (especially for beginners), but it is very beneficial.
When you read an Italian book, you can expand your Italian vocabulary and learn interesting or specific words that otherwise you wouldn’t find.
For example, if you read a book about gardening, you can get introduced to specific words that most probably, you won’t find in an Italian textbook.
To find an Italian book that suits your needs, firstly, be aware of your proficiency level. Are you a beginner or an advanced learner?
Then, choose a topic you know you’ll like or something in which you are interested.
You can also read the news in Italian to keep up with what’s happening in Italy and know more about Italian culture.
Reading a newspaper or an Italian news website is helpful to get informed about Italian society and learn slang or idiomatic expressions.
Finding an Italian reading online is easy as today many websites provide reading resources (such as conversation and short stories in Italian).
You can download them in PDF, together with the English translation, and practice your Italian skills.
There are plenty of choices If you want to learn Italian through reading, and the benefits are countless.
Reading in Italian allows you to improve your language skills naturally and put all that you learn in context.
Your Italian Language Coach
Ciao! My name is Stefano. I am an Italian tutor and course author.
As a serial language learner, I’ve lectured in polyglot clubs about my method.
After learning 12 languages, I can tell you that we all master languages by listening and mimicking.
With my method, you’ll be speaking Italian from Lesson 1.
Stefano Lodola
Italian language tutor, translator, polyglot
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