Learn Italian by reading

To learn Italian by reading, start with stories written for your level and read a little every day. Contos has 45 Italian series from A1 (beginner) to B2 (upper intermediate), in standard Italian, set in Milan, Turin, Bologna, Rome, Venice, Tuscany, Liguria and Puglia. Tap any word to translate it; chapters 1 and 2 of every series are free.

Italian stories by level

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Italian vocabulary

How do you start reading Italian as a beginner?

Begin at A1 and keep it short: one chapter, then stop. Italian beginner chapters set the scene in a couple of plain sentences before anything happens, like the start of this romantic comedy in Turin:

Sono le sette e un quarto. C'è nebbia al Parco del Valentino.

It's a quarter past seven. There's fog in the Parco del Valentino.

From La Panchina delle Sette e Un Quarto, chapter 1 (A1)

Read for the story, not every word. Who is there, where are they, and what is odd? That is enough for a first read.
Let the verb ending tell you who. Italian usually leaves out the subject. È grande, luminoso, perfetto (it's big, bright, perfect) is Marco's first look at his new flat in La Chiave di Via Garibaldi, with no word for "it": è is the verb that does the job.
Watch the adjective endings. They agree with the noun, so luminoso describes the flat (l'appartamento, masculine), while a woman described as anxious would be nervosa.
Read chapter 2 the next day. The cast and places come back, and so do the words you tapped yesterday.
Review what you saved. Contos turns the words you tap into flashcards, and moves you up a level at 500, 1,500 and 4,000 known words.

What changes as you move up the levels?

Mostly the tenses. A1 chapters are told in the present. At A2 the passato prossimo arrives for things that have already happened, and from B1 most series are narrated in the passato remoto, the past tense of Italian novels. The flagship, La Pensione Bellavista, is written separately for each level, so you can watch it happen to the same characters:

Marco arriva alla piccola locanda di Nonna Pina con una valigia grande e uno sguardo stanco.

Marco arrives at Nonna Pina's little guesthouse with a big suitcase and a tired look.

A1, chapter 1: present tense, one sentence, one action.

Ha già pagato per tre giorni, tre settimane fa.

She already paid for three days, three weeks ago.

A2, chapter 1, about Giulia, the guest who never leaves. Ha pagato is the passato prossimo: avere plus a past participle.

Quella mattina di settembre, mentre Pina preparava il pesto nella sua cucina profumata, Giulia scese le scale lentamente.

That September morning, while Pina was making pesto in her fragrant kitchen, Giulia came slowly down the stairs.

B1, chapter 1. Preparava (imperfect) is the background; scese (passato remoto of scendere) is the event.

The passato remoto looks alarming but is mostly regular: arrivò, guardò and trovò are arrivare, guardare and trovare. Learn a handful of irregular ones by sight, such as disse (dire), vide (vedere) and scese (scendere), and B1 chapters open up. For the A2 step, the Who Kidnapped Micio? page explains the passato prossimo with avere and essere using its own chapters.

Frequently asked questions

Can I read Italian stories for free?

Yes. Chapters 1 and 2 of every Italian series are free, here and in the Contos app, in your browser or on iPhone and iPad. Contos Premium unlocks the rest of each series and a new series every week.

Which Italian do the stories use?

Standard Italian, the Italian of books, newspapers and television. The settings bring local colour, from Turin's Porta Palazzo market to a lemon tree in a courtyard in Ostuni, but the language is the same everywhere.

Do I need to know the passato remoto?

Not at the start. A1 chapters never use it and most A2 series avoid it. From B1 nearly every series is narrated in it, so learn to recognise it then; you will rarely need to say it yourself.

Which Italian story should I read first?

At A1, La Pensione Bellavista (a seaside guesthouse with a secret) or La Chiave di Via Garibaldi (a key that opens a door it shouldn't). At A2, try Who Kidnapped Micio?, a comic mystery in a Milan courtyard.