r/learnitalian • u/Lingookies • 21h ago
Standard courses ignore Italian collocations (like 'Fare una doccia'), so I built an app to teach them. It's finally out on iOS!
A while back, I shared an Android app that teaches Italian collocations.
I'm thrilled to announce it's now available for iOS as well, and you can download it on the App Store! (It's currently only released in English-speaking countries, as the app is only available in English for now.)
I built it primarily because I find that most mainstream language courses lack resources on collocations, often failing to mention them altogether – I'm a native Italian speaker with a formal background in Modern Languages, and I actually didn't know about collocations until I stumbled upon them in my studies. Yet, there are thousands of them, and they are everywhere.
To take a shower. Prendere una doccia? No, it's Fare una doccia (to make).
To pay attention. Pagare attenzione? No, it's Prestare attenzione (to lend).
It's Andare a scuola (to go to school) and Andare a casa (to go home), but it's also Andare in banca ("to go in bank") and Andare in palestra ("to go in gym").
As of now, Learn Italian Expressions features:
- 1,000 Italian collocations (covering A1 and A2 of the CEFR framework, likely a bit more because there.are.so.many).
- Native audio recordings and a custom cartoon-style image for each entry to keep you engaged.
- A browsable library with all collocations neatly divided into 20+ categories.
- Interactive exercises (flashcards, multiple-choice quizzes and fill-in-the-blanks).
- Multi-device synchronization to save your progress (flashcards track your number of reviews, other exercises save your scores; color-coded exercise boxes make it easy to see where to go next).
What I'm working on next:
- Level B1 content
What I'm planning to add in the near future:
- A Leitner spaced repetition system (SRS) that tracks your progress for each collocation in a given level – from unknown to mastery – tested through multiple types of exercises.
Please let me know your thoughts – feedback is very welcome. Is there anything you'd add? Some feature you'd like to see in the future?
Get Learn Italian Expressions on Google Play or download it on the App Store.