How to Learn Italian Pronunciation Online

Why Improve Your Italian Pronunciation?

So that you can order your “gelato” in perfect Italian during your next trip to Italy

Mastering grammatical subtitles in Italian is good, but it isn’t essential to make sure people understand you. You can formulate excellent sentences from a grammatical point of view, but if you don’t pronounce the words well, then you won’t be able to discuss in a natural or fluid way with your the person you’re talking to.

It’s so frustrating to spend weeks or even months learning a language and not be able to communicate the way you want to. Don’t you think? With a little work and patience, you will perfectly master Italian pronunciation and you discussions with native speakers will be natural and fluid.

It’s no big deal if you’re missing some vocab words or haven’t totally mastered the grammar: focus on simple turns of phrase that you’re comfortable with, using the right pronunciation, and whoever you’re talking to will be able to understand you just fine.

To progress faster in your Italian learning

By being more easily understood, you’ll be more inclined talk with native speakers. And the better they understand you, the more likely they’ll be to give you corrections on the few mistakes you make. That gives you room to grow!

To have good Italian pronunciation, it’s also a good idea to identify and understand words that you don’t already know. By getting used to the subtleties of the accent, you’ll be able to easily identify new words and integrate them into your vocabulary.

To build your self-confidence

It’s the ethical circle of learning a new language: By confirming that you can be understood (and maybe get a few compliments on your Italian accent in the process), you’ll build confidence in yourself and be motivated to discover even more about the Italian language.

The Basics of Italian Pronunciation

Identify the Defining Characteristics of Italian Pronunciation

Getting started…

Just like with the American accent, the Italian accent is more or less pronounced based on the region you’re in. But it’s generally accepted that the North Italian accent is the standard. With very few exceptions, all letters are pronounced in Italian, which makes learning very easy.

The Tonic Accent

The tonic accent, as is common with other Mediterranean languages, can give some Italian language learners a hard time; however, it’s relatively simple. We can generally rely on this rule: the tonic accent puts emphasis on the second-to-last syllable, meaning it will be more accentuated than the others. And as a consequence, the last syllable is pronounced but not accentuated. There are certain exceptions where the tonic accent puts emphasis on the last syllable. But don’t worry about it at this point, Italian will write the tonic accent on the last syllable when needed like in “libertà”.

In other, more complex cases, the tonic accent isn’t put on the second-to-last syllable or written in. This is the case for the word “facile”,where the emphasis is on the “fa.” How can you tell? For those of you that already know Spanish, here’s a hint: the same word in Spanish often has the same emphasis in Italian. In Spanish, the tonic accent is indicated in writing, as is the case with the Spanish equivalent “fácil”. The hint is simply transposing the tonic accent from one language to the other.

Vowel Pronunciation

The vowel y didn’t originally exist in the Italian alphabet.

• A = [a] as in “bella”
• E = open [è] as in “bello” or closed [é] as in “peso”
• I = [i:] as in “grazie” or [I] as in “fig” in English or “figlio”
• O = open [o] as in “perciò” or closed [ɔ̃] as in “ogni”
• U = [ou] as in “acqua”

Consonant Pronunciation

The consonants j, k, w, and x didn’t originally exist in the Italian alphabet.

• B = [b] as in “bella”
• C = [tch] as in “ciao” or [k] as in “casa”
• D = [d] as in “al dente”
• F = [f] as in “farmacia”
• G = [g] as in “spaghetti”, [dj] as in “gemello”, [gn] as in “Spagna”
• H = the h is silent, except in foreign words and in the conjugation of the verb “avere”
• L = [l] as in “limone“
• M = [m] as in “mangiare”. The vowel before is never nasalized, as in “tempo”
• N = [n] as in “sono”. The vowel before is never nasalized, as in “pronto”
• P = [p] as in “pasta”
• Q = [kw] as in “acqua”
• R = [r] rolled as in “proverbio”
• S = [z] as in “sposo”
• T = [t] as in té
• V = [v] as in “via”
• Z = [ts] as in “scadenza” or [dz] as in “gazza”

Double Consonant Pronunciation

Italian makes a distinction between consonants and double consonants. It’s very simple! For example:

• “tono” is pronounced like how we would say it in English, [tono].
• “tonno”, is pronounced [ton’no], as if we were making sound for both consonants.

The Rolled R

The Rolled Italian R requires a bit of training to master. This particular pronunciation of the letter ‘r’ is seen in Mediterranean and Meridional languages like Spanish, Portuguese, and even Russian.We can hear the rolled ‘r’ in Italian words like “grazie” or “buena sera.” And don’t forget, the key to rolling your r like a true Italian is practice!

But don’t worry, our teacher Mara will explain everything you need to know about rolling the ‘r’ in Italian:

Pronunciation Dictionaries

In order to learn Italian pronunciation online and navigate through all the subtleties of the language, we recommend using a pronunciation dictionary. There are many pronunciation dictionaries available for free online. At MosaLingua, we like using Forvo.

Pronunciation Dictionaries are easy to use. Just type a word into the search bar and you will find several audio recordings of the word that you can listen to. The words are recorded by native speakers so you can enjoy a real pronunciation that isn’t robotic. These dictionaries are very useful tools to help you learn Italian pronunciation online.

The Best Online Resources to Improve Your Italian Pronunciation

In addition to pronunciation dictionaries that will give you pronunciations of one word or a group of words, there are also a whole lot of resources for listening to Italian pronunciation that you can familiarize yourself with. Depending on your preferences and language level, here is a (non-exhaustive) list of resources that you can listen to at any time of day to get your spoken Italian fix.

Speak with Natives

Online doesn’t necessarily have to mean all alone. There are many websites where you can practice speaking Italian with a partner. Italki, Speaky, HelloTalk, Conversation Exchange, etc. Choose whichever one you like best. Practicing the language with a native Italian or another learner, like yourself, will allow you to be corrected when you need to be. Being corrected is an essential part of fixing errors in your speech.

Specialized Videos and YouTube Channels

YouTube is overflowing with language learning videos, a wide variety of videos in Italian, documentaries, and more. It’s all free and easy to access. YouTube is a good alternative for listening to everyday Italian. MosaLingua has a YouTube channel focused on learning foreign languages, including Italian. Hints, hacks, grammar, pronunciation, interviews with experts, and more. Check out our over 250 multilingual videos and perfect your language learning!

Series and Films

Are you interested in familiarizing yourself with the Italian accent while having a good time? Opt for t.v. series or films as an alternative form of learning.

We recommend activating the subtitles in Italian while getting started to help your comprehension. We suggest not using English subtitles because that won’t help you progress unfortunately. Once you feel comfortable, you can deactivate the subtitles and watch without them. If you don’t have a lot of time to dedicate to daily practice, try watching a short episode from your favorite series: this will allow you to work on your Italian pronunciation more regularly.

Podcasts and Audiobooks

If you take public transport often, you like listening to something while doing your daily chores, or you like listening to a story to fall asleep, we recommend listening to podcasts and audiobooks in Italian. Podcasts typically cover a wide range of topics in a short format, and you can definitely find some that focus on your interests. Audiobooks, on the other hand, are longer-form audio recordings of books read aloud by native narrators.

Whatever your choice may be, podcasts and audiobooks are excellent tools to use for comprehension purposes and for getting your ear used to hearing a good Italian pronunciation.

Music

We don’t think about it often enough, but music allows us to familiarize ourselves with our comprehension and Italian pronunciation. On top of immersing you directly into the heart of Italian culture, listening to Italian music is a highly entertaining exercise that will help you make rapid progress.

The MosaLingua App

Naturally, when it comes to learning foreign languages online, we think about different apps. Apps are practical because they’re a little resource that you can keep in your pocket to work on Italian pronunciation whenever you want. MosaLingua created and developed an app to help you learn Italian vocabulary, Italian pronunciation, and important sentences, as well as to help you understand Italian.

• MosaLingua Recordings: all of the words and sentences available on the app were recorded by native speakers to show you how to pronounce Italian words and to help you understand good Italian pronunciation. Listen to them, repeat them, and simply familiarize yourself with how the words sound.
• Dialogues: the conversations included on the app are pulled from actual situations and can help you efficiently learn Italian. Each dialogue is inspired by everyday life and is rich with practical vocabulary. These recordings will allow you to get used to the Italian accent, intonation, and pronunciation.

MosaSpeak Training to Practice Italian Pronunciation

Last but not least, we’ve also created MosaSpeak, a language training designed to improve your Italian pronunciation. The program is divided into 8 modules so you can progress step by step. The training focuses on the most common errors that English speakers make. MosaSpeak will help you concentrate on your accent, pronunciation, and boost your confidence in naturally expressing yourself in Italian through our technical exercises, lessons, and advice.

To complete your Italian learning online, these articles might be of interest to you:

• Italian Vocabulary List
• Why and How to Practice Speaking Italian
• Advice for Learning Italian on Your Own