Finished Duolingo Italian? What to use next

I teach Italian to foreigners and I built one of the apps mentioned below, amo Italian, so read this knowing that. The short version: Duolingo is a good habit, and since April 2026 its free Italian course goes further than it used to. What it still won't do is the part that gets you a certificate or a conversation.

Alessio, Italian teacher since 2018 · 25 October 2026

Where Duolingo leaves you now

On 22 April 2026 Duolingo announced free advanced content up to B2 in nine languages, Italian included, with longer stories and an audio feature called DuoRadio. Before that, its courses topped out around A2. So "Duolingo stops at A2" is no longer true, and any page that still says so is out of date.

Two things have not changed. A Duolingo score is not a certificate: for Italian citizenship, a visa or an Italian university you need CILS, CELI, PLIDA or cert.it. And an app that marks taps and short answers is not the same as someone reading what you wrote.

What to add after Duolingo

• Find out your level first. A short placement test tells you whether you are at A2, B1 or beyond, which matters more than how many lessons you finished. Free level test.
• Grammar explained, not only practised. At B1 the hard parts are the subjunctive, pronoun combinations and the past tenses together. Free grammar, A1 to C2, explained in English.
• Longer reading. Short stories in an app are a start; a whole book at your level is what builds vocabulary. Graded readers or the classics rewritten for your level do this.
• Writing that someone corrects. A teacher, a tandem partner or a class. This is where most self-taught learners lose points in the B1 exam.
• A timed mock exam, if you need a certificate. Four parts, two hours, the pass mark in each part. B1 citizenship test practice.
• Speaking with a person. Not optional: no app scores your speaking the way an examiner does.

Where amo Italian fits, and where it doesn't

It is a course rather than a streak game: the CEFR path from A1 to C2, more than 700 exercises, 25 Italian classics rewritten level by level, a 4,000-word dictionary in 17 languages and a full B1 exam simulation in which every wrong answer comes back with the reason. Half of A1 is free with no sign-up; after that it is a subscription (€69.99 a year on the Italian App Store, prices vary by country).

What it isn't: it runs only on iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, there is no Android version, it has fewer games than Duolingo, and it has 19 ratings worldwide against Duolingo's hundreds of thousands. It does not score the speaking part of the exam either: for that you need a person.

Sources

• Duolingo, advanced content courses, April 2026.
• TechCrunch, Duolingo is now giving users access to advanced learning content, 22 April 2026.
• B1 for citizenship by residence or marriage: Italian law 132/2018.
• Ratings: App Store, all countries, 24 October 2026.