Simple Italian Podcast

Simone Pols built Simple Italian Podcast on a single idea borrowed from language acquisition research: if you listen to enough comprehensible Italian, you will acquire the language naturally without memorizing grammar tables. That theory — comprehensible input — drives every episode. Simone speaks entirely in Italian, but adjusts his vocabulary, pacing, and sentence complexity so that learners at roughly A2 to B1 level can follow along without a transcript in hand. With 340 episodes, the show is one of the most prolific Italian learning podcasts available. Topics range from Italian cinema history and the story of the Knights Templar to personal travel stories from Simone's nomadic lifestyle and interviews with other language educators. Episodes run 17 to 30 minutes and drop weekly. The variety keeps things fresh — you are not stuck repeating the same tourist phrases across dozens of episodes. The show holds a 4.8 star average from 203 Apple ratings, and listeners frequently credit it with helping them push past the intermediate plateau where many learners stall out. Simone's speaking style is calm and deliberate without sounding slow or patronizing. He pauses naturally, repeats key phrases in context, and uses simple synonyms when introducing harder vocabulary. There are no English explanations, no grammar drills, no quizzes — just sustained, engaging Italian that trains your ear. For learners who believe the best way to learn a language is to actually spend time in it, this podcast delivers hundreds of hours of exactly that.