Skip to the content

Learn Italian

Italian, with a hook on every word.

Phonetic spelling and open vowels. Words are long enough to split into two keyword halves.

Italianmasculine

cane

dog

sounds like cane

A dog carrying a walking cane in its mouth and refusing to give it back. The cane is on fire. Masculine, il cane.

Il cane dorme.The dog is sleeping.
122words to start
12hand-written hooks
Not neededreading line
In the picturegender

Sample hooks

What the first words look like

Italianmasculine

cane

dog

sounds like cane

A dog carrying a walking cane in its mouth and refusing to give it back. The cane is on fire. Masculine, il cane.

Il cane dorme.The dog is sleeping.
Italianmasculine

gatto

cat

sounds like gotcha

A cat lands on you shouting GOTCHA, claws out. It is soaked, so remember il gatto is masculine and set it alight instead.

Il gatto salta.The cat jumps.
Italianmasculine

pane

bread

sounds like pan

A frying pan with one loaf of bread nailed to the base, sizzling. Masculine, il pane.

Compra pane fresco.Buy fresh bread.
Italianfeminine

acqua

water

sounds like aqua

A swimming pool of aqua so blue it stains your hands. Feminine, l'acqua.

Un bicchiere d'acqua.A glass of water.
Italianfeminine

casa

house, home

sounds like cassa

A house shaped like a cash register, drawer sliding out as the front door, sunk in a lagoon. Feminine, la casa.

Sono a casa.I am at home.
Italianmasculine

libro

book

sounds like library

One book so long it fills a whole library shelf, and the shelf is burning. Masculine, il libro.

Leggo un libro.I am reading a book.
Italianfeminine

finestra

window

sounds like fine straw

A window glazed with fine straw instead of glass, straw floating away underwater. Feminine, la finestra.

Apri la finestra.Open the window.
Italianmasculine

formaggio

cheese

sounds like for Maggie

A cheese wheel with a label reading FOR MAGGIE, on fire on the doorstep. Masculine, il formaggio.

Il formaggio è buono.The cheese is good.
Italianfeminine

testa

head

sounds like test

A head with a test paper stapled to the forehead, both underwater. Feminine, la testa.

Mi fa male la testa.My head hurts.

A story in Italian

What you will be reading first.

Il caffè delle seiA1

Il bar apre alle sei. è c'è solo un uomo, Marco, e la del caffè. Alle sei e arriva il Non Marco il caffè. L'uomo beve, ed

Tap an underlined word. In the app the same tap also tells you whether that word is already in your collection and when it is next due.

Italian, specifically

Is Italian worth a mnemonic system?

Italian words are long and cleanly pronounced, which makes them unusually good for keyword hooks. Long words split into two halves and each half can carry its own picture.

How many words are loaded for Italian?

122 to start, chosen by frequency, each with a gloss, a part of speech, an example sentence and a hook. You can import your own list on top at any point.

Is the audio real Italian?

The audio uses the voices installed on your own device, picked for Italian and set per sentence. On a modern phone that is good. On some desktops it is only adequate, and recorded native audio is the next content investment.

Start Italian tonight

Thirty days free, no card. When the trial ends the account drops to the free limits and nothing is deleted.