Declan’s Italian Flashcards is a useful program for improving your grasp of Italian. The program uses a series of activities, modeled like flashcard exercises, to practice vocabulary, listening comprehension and spelling.

Each word is accompanied by audio clips of native speakers, which make the program useful for learning how the language is verbalized. The audio is clear and accurate, too. Different activities emphasize translating from English to Italian or from Italian to English. Declan’s Italian Flashcards comes with different lists of vocabulary based on topics, and the Declan Software website has other vocabulary lists available. Each topic has to do with everyday items, animals and locations.

While the scope of this program is limited (it can never be more than a flashcard program that improves vocabulary), it is still the most useful and easiest to use flashcard program that we reviewed. It can’t teach Italian grammar, but it would make a useful addition to an existing Italian curriculum. Declan’s Italian Flashcards can certainly bolster vocabulary retention and help students learn how Italian is written and spoken.