Check out the checklists (they’re not a syllabus…)

No time to read this? Why not find something to study instead? A1 – Beginner/Elementary | A2 – Pre-Intermediate | B1 – Intermediate | B2 – Upper-Intermediate | C1 – Advanced | C2 – Proficiency | What’s my level? | Italian level test

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Buondì.

And indeed ‘buon anno’, as I didn’t email last week, except for promotional stuff, which doesn’t really count.

So what’s new this new year?

On Monday I had an email from someone who had recently come across the website and said she was excited to use the mass of materials she found there.

She wrote that she’d found the downloadable checklist for the A1 level but was confused about how to use it, specifically that the lessons/materials in the checklist were in a different order from the way the A1 material is displayed on the website.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, look here to find both the free A1 materials and the downloadable checklists. Links to the other five leveels are at the top of that page, so if you’re not beginner/elementary you can go right to materials which are more suitable.

While the emailer said was happy with the idea of using the checklist to measure her progress, she admitted that she couldn’t quite see how to use it, for example the studied on/score and reviewed on/score columns.

This was my reply:
…
“The checklist is not a syllabus or a plan of any kind, just a tool to record what you’ve done, what you haven’t, and perhaps to remind you of what you might have missed or put off that could still be useful.”

“In which order you use the material on the website depends entirely on your objectives – for instance, some people may already have studied Italian extensively but have zero listening skills. So they’d prioritise the listening material and ignore everything else. Whereas a beginner might choose to study grammar, vocabulary, or whatever.”

“It doesn’t matter that much where you begin, as long as you do begin, and then make better choices as you learn more (or you could look for an app that will tell you precisely what to do, whether or not that’s appropriate.)”

“If you haven’t read this article, you should: How to learn Italian (or any language)”

“And to answer your other questions briefly, the columns in the checklist for dates allow people to record the date they used something and to note the date they came back to revise it. Many wouldn’t bother, but you could.”

“And the ‘Lessons’ are just grammar, not in any way integrated with the other materials on the site, as you would find in a coursebook or app.”
…
Whether she found that helpful or not, I couldn’t say, as there was no response. But anyway, just to reiterate the point, OnlineItalianClub.com is NOT AN APP (you probably noticed) OR A COURSE, but a collection of resources and opportunities for people who are making their own language-learning decisions.

Compare our site with the famosissimo Duolingo (“The world’s most popular way to learn”), for instance.

First difference? The internet says they’ve raised $183 million US dollars in capital over the years, while I’m sitting on the couch in my toy-scattered living room with a laptop on my knees working entirely for free.

Second difference, their courses have pre-planned ‘learning trees’. You can’t just start where you please.

I used Duolingo’s free Swedish, Turkish, French and Spanish ‘courses’ (thanks, venture capitalists), which each had a starting point (for beginners) and got gradually more difficult as I progressed, exactly as you’d expect from a language app/course.

But while at that time I was a beginner in Swedish and Spanish, I totally wasn’t just starting out in either Turkish (I lived in Ankara for three years) or French (studied it at school). So ideally I’d have wanted to ‘place’ myself at an appropriate point in the Turkish/French ‘courses’, rather than starting from zero like a newbie.

That’s how ‘real’ language schools operate, by the way. For example our Italian school in Bologna). When someone signs up for a course there, we evaluate their level, including speaking not just their theoretical knowledge, and assign them to the most appropriate class where, hopefully, they’ll feel comfortable interacting with other students, and go on to spend their days doing something appropriate to the level they already reached.

Back to the club, though, where we organise our free materials for learning Italian in different ways. Browse the menus and you’ll find alphabetical lists of grammar topics, listening tasks and so on.

But we also group materials according to the six levels of the CEFR (see “Italian Levels: What’s my level in Italian?“)

There’s a menu item on the website that looks like this: Six Levels!

It takes you to the ‘Levels & Level Test‘ page.

What we’re hoping to do with that is to help you orientate yourself, and to give you CHOICES about how to proceed…

Click on any of the ‘level’ links, for example A1 – Beginner/Elementary and at the top of the page you’ll see this:

“Materials organised by level: A1 | A2 | B1 | B2 | C1 | C2”

See? This is not like Duolingo at all. Not only do we not have $183 million in the bank, there’s no fixed path. Start where you like, study what you like, when you like, how you like. Or don’t study (I never do…)

Below the level links on each of the level pages (we’re looking at examples from the A1 page, but they’re all organised the same way), you’ll see this text:

“Want to plan your studies with this free material and track your progress?”

“Download the A1 – Beginner/Elementary Study Checklist:”

“printable .pdf | editable .doc”

Which is where we came in. SCROLL ON DOWN PAST THE CHECKLISTS and you’ll find links to all the A1/Beginner/Elementary materials, organise by type, then alphabetically.

That’s helpful, but true, it’s not a syllabus. There’s no ‘path’ to follow. Think of it, instead, more as a ‘menu’ of options, from which you get choose.

As I replied to the email writer, “if you haven’t read this article, you should: How to learn Italian (or any language)”

And when you’ve done that… avanti! There’s the whole of 2026 to make progress in!

Alla prossima settimana.

2026 January Sale! Save 25% on Ebooks for Language Learners!

The EasyReaders.org 2026 January Sale has begun!

Which means that students of Italian, Spanish, French, and German can save 25% on ebooks to supplement or guide their language-learning.

Everything in our ebooks store, EasyReaders.org, is a quarter cheaper if you remember to use coupon code: 2026-January-Sale-25%-Off

Ebooks for students of Italian, Spanish, French, and German can be found on our Catalog page, where everything is organised by language, type, and level.

Or follow these links:

Italian | Spanish | French | German

Use the following coupon code to save 25% on your orders, for as long as the promotion lasts, with no minimum or maximum spend:

2026-January-Sale-25%-Off

First make your selection from our range of ebooks, which have been especially written to keep you interested and so making progress.

Then go to your shopping cart and apply coupon code 2026-January-Sale-25%-Off to reduce the cart total by 25%.

Scroll down to verify that the cart total has been reduced by 25% BEFORE proceeding with your payment…

Coupon code 2026-January-Sale-25%-Off is good until midnight on Sunday February 1st 2026.

You can use it as often as you wish until then, with no minimum or maximum spend.

Do find some time to stock up on the easy readers, parallel texts and grammar workbooks you’ll need to improve the language you’re learning in 2026 –  at an unbeatable price – as the next sale won’t be until May, so a long way off!

Browse our Catalog now: Italian | Spanish | French | German

And don’t forget to apply Coupon code 2026-January-Sale-25%-Off in your shopping cart, to reduce the total price by 25%.

P.S.

And here’s the usual Wednesday morning reminder to read/listen to Tuesday’s bulletin of news from EasyItalianNews.com.

Reading/listening practice will help you consolidate the Italian you’re studying, expand your vocabulary, and build vital comprehension skills.

EasyItalianNews.com is FREE to read/listen to.

Subscribing, and so receiving all three text + audio bulletins of ‘easy’ news via email each week -on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays – is also FREE.

Just enter your email address on this page and click the confirmation link that will be sent to you.

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OnlineItalianClub.com | EasyItalianNews.com | Shop (ebooks) | Shop (online lessons)

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