Travel

Italy is a beautiful country with so much to offer. The food is amazing, the people are friendly and the scenery is stunning. Italy is also home to some of the world's most famous art and architecture, including the Colosseum, the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Sistine Chapel. Whether you're interested in art, architecture or simply want to enjoy some of the best food and wine in the world, Italy is the perfect destination.

While it is not absolutely necessary to know Italian to travel to Italy, learning some basic Italian will make your trip more enjoyable. English is widely spoken in Italy, particularly in major cities and tourist areas. However, even if you only know a few basic phrases, making an effort to speak Italian will show locals that you are interested in their culture and willing to try to engage with them on their terms.

You can start speaking these phrases from day one! Our talk-first approach not only helps you learn a new language fast, but we build your confidence to speak from the very first lesson.

When you worry too much about grammar and rules, it can make you feel like you’re never ready to speak and start disconnecting from the language. That’s why we get you to start speaking from the beginning, and let you choose to learn what’s important to you. If you like to travel, learn that first. If you need it to further your career, learn phrases that’s useful there instead. When you focus on material that excites you, you'll be more motivated to practice regularly and immerse yourself in the language. Soon enough, you'll be chatting away in your new language like a native speaker.

These hand-picked words and phrases are chosen by our language experts for two reasons: that they are useful in real-life situations, and they are spoken in the same way that a local would.

There is nothing more discouraging to a language learner than finding out that the phrases they’ve spent hours learning are irrelevant or outdated. You trust us to not only to teach you the language but to do it in a way that is useable in the real world and can connect with native speakers. Otherwise, what’s the point in learning a language if you can’t use it in real situations?

There are three problems that Memrise addresses from textbook learning. The first is that people often feel disengaged because they feel the content is either boring or irrelevant. We let you choose what’s important to you so you don’t have to wait to learn those phrases. Second, you can’t hear how the language sounds in a textbook. That’s why we have thousands of videos of native speakers to teach you instead. Lastly, you don’t get to speak it out loud. Our talk-first approach not only helps you learn a new language fast, but we build your confidence to speak from the very first lesson.