Only at an advanced level. Il commissario Montalbano uses Italian with a strong Sicilian flavour, and that is why it is worth your time once standard Italian feels easy, since you will start hearing the country's regional variety.
- Level
- Advanced
- Format
- Show
- Year
- 1999
- Episodes
- 37
- Length
- about 63 min each
- From
- Rai 1
Why it works for learners
These are self-contained investigations of around an hour or more, so you settle into one story at a time. Police questions, interviews and small-town encounters repeat the vocabulary of crime while Montalbano's interactions with locals expose you to regional speech. It teaches you something that mainstream shows rarely do: how Italian shifts with place and class. There is also a lot of talk about food and Sicilian life, which makes the setting memorable.
What makes it hard
Sicilian words, regional accents and word order will catch you out, and some characters are harder than others. A few comic side characters are particularly tricky. Long episodes need stamina. Plots with many names and family connections can be difficult to follow when you miss key lines.
How to use it
Watch with Italian subtitles if possible, and pick one episode at a time. Notice when speakers shift from standard Italian into Sicilian. Do not try to learn the dialect; simply collect a few common words. Summarise the case aloud afterward to check your understanding.
More for Italian learners: our Italian guides.
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