Language Lessons

jessica,

You might be able to find them on E-Bay? Have at look at the Pimsleur series also, as they're very good.

Cheers!

Don't waste your money. Rosetta Stone is good for a long, slow introduction to the absolute basics of a foreign language, but it's a terrible tool for gaining any kind of conversational skills. Even if you started now and devoted two hours a day to the program, by September, you would only be able to say useful sentences like "The cat is old" or "The dress is red".

For a free introductory language course, check out BBC languages (google search for the link). They have free online courses that cover basic traveler language skills in a wide range of languages.

Another free option is to check out your library. Mine carries a variety of language programs. If nothing else you can try a lot of different programs so you only spend money buying the ones you like.

Your library might also have Rosetta stone but as was said earlier, it's for someone who wants to commit time to learn a language rather than pick up a few words and phrases before a vacation.

If you prefer to learn some conversational language in a classroom setting, perhaps you can check with The Seattle Language Academy or The Seattle Language Institute. Another option might be to contact the UW French and Italian dept and ask them to recommend a good, inexpensive course for learning at home. Just a few ideas.

jessica,

See if you can find the Pimsleur Levels 1, 2 and 3 at your local Library (on either CD, Cassette or Bookchips). These can be listed to while you're driving or whatever, so unlike the Rosetta Stone, you don't have to be sitting in front of a computer.

Be sure to start with Level I. Don't try to skip ahead to the more advanced levels.

Cheers!

If you know Rosetta Stone is right for you, then get it. But if your only info comes from their ads ...

What I would suggest will cost you $35 a language, and get you pretty far. Start by checking the Pimsleur I course (30 lessons) out from your local library. Do each lesson twice in a day, and in 30 days you have a rudimentary knowledge (very rudimentary!) but easily more than 90% of the tourists. Then spend $35 to buy the Assimil course with CD for the language. It's important to start with Pimsleur since it is audio based, and you'll be off to the right start in pronouncing words correctly. Assimil comes with a book that you need to work with, but if from day 1 you are reading the language your English system will overwhelm your attempts to pronounce words correctly, especially in French. Also if you don't have any exposure to these languages before Pimsleur provides a gentle start; Assimil goes quite quick, too quick for an absolute beginner. But I wouldn't do more than the 1st 60 lessons in Pimsleur (they have 90 available in each language) because after a while the pace is too slow compared to other methods; the 1st 30 is probably enough.

Here is what a professional linguist says about Assimil: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5021582

And the documentation on Assimil is not very clear; here's a discussion of how to use it: http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=15048&PN=0&TPN=1

jessica-Bellevue Community College offers French for Travelers and Italian for Travelers through their Continuing Ed department. They're five sessions long and once a week; Italian runs from 8/4-9/1 and French from 8/5-9/2. They teach practical conversation for travelers - food terms, hotel terms, directions, time, numbers, etc. and phrasing into questions, with a little bit of culture and "dos and don'ts" thrown in. I've taken both several times and think that it was the best thing that I did to prepare myself for my trips. You should check them out.
http://conted.bcc.ctc.edu/

I agree Rosetta Stone is not good, very basic despite the high price. And Primsler is the same.
Your local library is your best source for free language program. Look into a few of them from different companies and see which one you like.My local library offers something called Mango languages. I took a look and it is basic, but its free. It's online and it is pretty much like Rosetta Stone. Since you don't speak any of those languages, I would say that Mango languages would be a good choice.
I have not found any foreign language course to satisfy me. The way I have learned foreign languages was studying grammar at the same time as vocabulary. I never memorize sentences as all the courses found in the US teach. If you study this way, you will never be able to speak a language well.

I just started using rosetta stone and i have to agree with some of the people here. I would rather learn conversational language then the basic run of a language. If you are really content with using rosetta stone and can not find one cheap enough for you on ebay, you can use BitTorrent and download it. thats what i did and glad i did because i would have been mad if i paid hundreds of dollars for it

I like Pimsleur, but only in conjunction with other programs. I like to see the words I'm learning; It helps with reading signs and menus and helps me pronounce the words better. Get Pimsleur and use it when you are driving. Pick another program and dedicate about an hour a day at home.

"The way I have learned foreign languages was studying grammar at the same time as vocabulary. I never memorize sentences as all the courses found in the US teach. If you study this way, you will never be able to speak a language well."

These courses are just trying to find an easy way for people. There is no easy way if you really want to learn the language fully. And, it takes time.

Another good resource is the BBC series "Talk Italian" and "Talk French." They are designed to be used by complete beginners and emphasize "tourist talk," with dialogs on hotel reservations, directions, ordering in a restaurant, etc. The audio CDs or tapes come with a small book of exercises, but the audio can be used by itself in a car. Along with the vocabulary, the guides provide periodic and brief introductions to basic grammar and extra vocabulary throughout the course, so you end up with a rudimentary knowledge of how to put sentences together. Given your time frame, it is not realistic to think that you will become well versed in either language, but it is realistic to think that you can get enough of a grasp to travel more easily and interact with non-English speakers. I used the Italian one before my first big trip to Italy a few years back and learned enough Italian to make a real difference in my enjoyment of the trip.

I should note, however, that although I was a complete beginner in Italian, I did have a reasonably good basic knowledge of French and Spanish beforehand. On the other hand, I had no German at all before using the Talk German course, and I ended up with enough German to get directions when we got hopelessly lost once and to discuss food options for a picnic at a little grocery shop. Not bad for a small investment of time and money.

Hi Jessica,

I would try a site called livemocha.com. I'm going to Germany next month and I signed up with LiveMocha about 3 months ago. It's great, plus it's free! Now I can speak basci traveler questions, talk about the past and the future, etc.

I also checked out some onlnie courses from the library (obviously for free,) and I have learned so much. I also speak French and Italian, and if you have no knowledge whatsoever of the languages I would just focus on learning basic questions that you might want to know.. I mean it's not like you'll be talking about works or art with the locals, know what I mean?

Pimsleur is absolutely worth every penny imo especially with their new pricing (about 2/3 less than their old prices.) Check Amazon or some of their online resellers. Pimsleur will get you speaking the language. Get you conversing. RS builds great vocab but doesn't compete when it comes to building conversational skills.

That said, if you want to try Pimsleur, you can get 8 free lessons from getpimsleur.com :) It's a site authorized by their publisher. Not sure how long this offer is good for but I've never seen more than one free lesson being given away by Pimsleur in the past. So it seems like a pretty hot deal!

Good luck.

having seen Henry's post, I have a different point of view about Pimsleur. As you can see by my earlier post, I like Pimsleur a lot for getting a start but find it hard to justify the $264 Amazon charges for each 30-lesson set. Free from the local library is a better price, or a used set from eBay.

Also it isn't my experience that Pimsleur "will get you speaking the language. Get you conversing." I've actually completed all 90 lessons in Italian, which does not seem to be the standard experience; if you read the reviews on amazon, most are by people who are partway thru the program and love it, can't wait to keep going on. It's a good starter program, but way too light on vocabulary to have more that the briefest conversation.

If Pimsleur is all you'll do you'll be fine meeting basic needs; simple directions, buying things, numbers, etc. It makes traveling much more enjoyable when you can get around speaking just the foreign language. But after you tell someone sitting next to you on the train "We arrived last week, and are leaving next Monday" (which you will learn in Pimsleur) you won't have enough vocabulary to understand any following comments/questions, nor to go much farther with comments of your own.

Mike brings up a good point in judging any language program- look at the final results of people who have completed the entire course, not just those who have done a few lessons. In this regard, I can re-emphasize that Rosetta Stone (having completed all three levels of it's Dutch program) is a huge monetary investment for a very minimal benefit. Even the "Advanced Level 3" only offers fairly simple, fairly useless sentence constructions. Yes, you do learn something, but not much. I love the print advertisement that reads "He was a simple, hard working farmboy. She was an Italian supermodel. He had just this one chance to impress her." If he used Rosetta Stone, he could wow her with romantic phrases like "The boy is outside." or "The bus has departed."

There is another series called "Tell Me More" published by Auralog that I have found infinitely better than Rosetta Stone. The downside of Tell Me More, however, is that even at the most basic settings, it still requires some prior knowledge of the language. Perhaps, then, there is some use for Rosetta Stone- it gave me the minimum amount of language skills I needed to use a much better program!

A few months before I travel somewhere I don't know the language...I....

1) Get the Pimsleur Tapes (library or buy them used on Ebay--and then resell them on Ebay.)

2) Get a copy of a newspaper in that langauge

3) Find radio broadcasts in the language.

After I finish Pimsleur, I start with the newspaper and the radio. It's amazing how fast you can get a basic understanding even if you don't know all the words.)

I've never had a problem making myself understood using Pimsleur.

I tried Rosetta Stone. I agree it's not very practical for basic conversation. And those courses where you just learn sentences verbatim are worthless.

Mike,

If you are paying $264 on Amazon you are being taken. You can get it brand new / factory sealed on Amazon for $128 per Comprehensive including shipping. So roughly 1/3 of the publisher's list price of $345 as I said previously.

I stand behind what I said, Pimsleur will get you conversing. I didn't say that you were going to be conversing art history with a professor or engage a politician about immigration issues. But it will get you conversing at an intermediate level. You will be able to ask questions, order food, pay in a store, ask for directions, book a hotel, etc. and UNDERSTAND a NATIVE speaker when he answers you. That's something Rosetta doesn't provide and that I think is critical for someone learning a language for mainly travel and tourism purposes. None of the courses out there are an end in all but especially for tourism purposes, I think Pimsleur is most worthwhile.

Armed with the foundations of the language that are taught in Pimsleur and an Italian pocket dictionary to supplement your vocabulary, you should be OK.

Hi Jessica,

When we travel, my daughter downloads podcasts of various languages - she has French, Italian, and German. They are conversational and right on her iPod and best of all they are free. I'm not sure if she got them from iTunes or elsewhere but if you google free language podcasts you may find them. PM me if you want me to ask her where she got them.
Michelle

I am surprised that no one (didn't see anyone) mentioned Michel Thomas. From my experience learning French and then German:
1st Michel Thomas
then Pimsleur 1&2
Both are audio and learning is "easy" downloaded to MP3, driving or whatever.
For vocabulary go online to one of the French (or Italian) newpapers like LeMond. To become familiar with the pace of the language find a French (or Italian) television station and watch/listen to news broadcasts.
Books and comics targeted to children and youth will also build vocabulary and are easier to read than adult literature.

Pimsluer was too slow for me. For the French part I got Michel Thomas speaks French - it is excellent 8 CD's & 2 review CD's I played them every day for a month whenever I was driving and did really well in Paris. Also took Rick's phrase book.

I will second Michel Thomas. He teaches how to construct sentences then the rest is just vocabulary. In a short time (3months) I was able to learn a lot of basic phrases for buying tickets, asking directions, asking for a room etc.

The Pimsleur beginner German is a bunch of rote phrases repeated. Judging by the sentences used in the Pimsleur course it must be aimed at poor, hungry, drunken college students. Many of the phrases are asking someone to dinner, or asking for drinks, and saying that you have little or no money. Pretty funny really but not as practical.

Luckily, I was able to get the Michel Thomas tapes from the library. Didn't have to waste any money.

Reg...I've done Pimsleur French, German and Italian and what you describe is on none of those...nor was it memorizing sentences. You are taught to "construct" sentences. Quite often you are asked to repeat things when learning proper pronunciation or asked "how do you say...." but nothing like you described.

On the other hand, I tried Michel Thomas and got sick of him yelling in his thick German accent..."don't think." It was like I was being interrogated in a bad WWII movie.

Frank 2,

I'll trade you my Pimsleur for your MT.