Learn Italian with short stories
Read 5 free graded stories in Italian, written for beginners at A1 to A2, right in your browser. Tap any word for its meaning in context, listen while you read, and save the words worth keeping. No sign-up, no install, works on any phone.
Stories in Italian
How it works
Italian articles are the part beginners quietly get wrong for years, because il, lo, la and l' depend on the sound a word starts with rather than on any rule you can recite. Tap a noun in these stories and its article comes with the meaning, so il mercato, la biblioteca and l'ombrello arrive already correct instead of needing a second pass later.
Common questions
What level of Italian are these stories?
Graded for beginners at CEFR A1 to A2: short sentences, everyday vocabulary, and ordinary scenes like a market morning, a forgotten umbrella and a dinner for a friend. Three are A1 and two are A2.
Is the Italian reader really free?
Yes. The browser reader is completely free, with no account, no sign-up and no trial timer. It is a free taste of the full oqou app for iPhone and iPad.
How do these help with il, lo and la?
Tap any noun and its article appears next to the meaning. Meeting articles attached to real nouns in real sentences, over and over, is how the pattern stops being a rule you recite and starts being something you hear.
Can I listen to the stories in Italian?
Yes, every story can be read aloud with follow-along highlighting. The voices come from your browser and device, so how natural they sound varies from device to device.
Is this the full oqou app?
This is the free web reader with oqou's Italian starter stories. The iOS app adds your own books, articles and PDFs, in-context word explanations, and spaced review for the words you save.
Read the guide
- How to Learn Italian: A Complete Beginner's GuideOne of the friendliest languages to start with — where to begin and how to reach reading and conversation.
- Italian for Beginners: A Step-by-Step Guide to Starting From ZeroThe concrete, week-by-week plan for starting Italian from zero, from pronunciation to your first 30 days.
- How to Learn a Language by Reading: The Complete GuideA complete, step-by-step method for turning everyday reading into real vocabulary and fluency — at any level.
Read your own books this way, in the oqou app for iPhone and iPad.