Italian language classes?

I learned Spanish before I learned Italian, so with my knowledge of HOW I learn best, basic Italian came quite easy.....but that only goes so far to present, past, lazy past, future, and imperative tenses.....I have no clue about the CRAZY LARGE amount of pronouns and all the other way complicated tenses....all of our Italian friends that were in English classes said that English is MUCH easier to learn than Italian, since they were still in Italian classes! I really liked that our Italian teachers ONLY spoke Italian (just as my Spanish teachers did when I was in Spain).

Knowing German gives you one advantage in Italian - for the present perfect form of verbs, you will know which ones take "to be" and which ones take "to have" (like the difference between Er hat gesungen and Er ist gestorben in German). For English speakers it's difficult, as we use "to have" for all verbs. I don't know if absolutely all the verbs take the same forms in German and Italian, but looking at a grammar book, it seemed very close. This is not true in the other Romance languages, by the way.

Otherwise, you just have to commit to learning from "scratch." In fact, sometimes that helps - just expect to have to laboriously learn every single aspect of a new language, and be pleasantly surprised when you find it easier than expected.

we are preparing for our next trip in August

August in a few weeks or August 2017?

In any event my experience has been that a class isn't a great way to learn as an adult. I took a class at a local community college that met one night a week. That's way too much time between sessions. You have the book and some recordings to use during the week, but to me the class didn't really seem to add a lot to what you can do on your own with similar materials such as Pimsleur or Michel Thomas. These two are actually oriented towards the independent learner, while in a class you get a textbook with a lot of dependence on an instructor. And in a class of 30 your slice of the teacher's time is something like 5 minutes; its actually a lot less since much of the class is spent on preplanned activities and saying things out loud with the other students who don't speak the language any better than you. Learning nuances of pronounciation or anything else just doesn't happen.

I am on lesson 7 of the Pimsleur series....I tried several other "apps", and they just didn't do anything for me. I know I think I am making progress, but we'll see what happens in September when I actually try to speak a few words! I spent summers with my Italian born gramma when I was growing up, and she spoke little English, but that was several decades ago, and the only things I remember I hope to not have any occasion to use! Lol

Agreeing with John's experience. I've taken some community education classes in French, Spanish, and German. Most of the adults who take a class like that just don't put in the time and effort to learn more than very basic vocabulary, and lose interest quickly. It slows the class down. I also think that it makes a difference if the instructor is experienced and trained to teach, not just someone who speaks the language.
For me, listening to language CDs in car while driving was much more useful.

there is also the problem that comes up in academic learning, you aren't focusing on conversational Italian, more like grammar and nouns, instead of words you will probably be using a lot more......in that situation, the pimsleur or other options are a leg up on that....

I also used Pimsleur CDs - got them from the library and found the basics very useful. I listened in the car and went thru them several times.
(I had the 4 CD set and made copies and still have them. )
I would recommend giving them a try.

@jillmc : I am on lesson 7 of the Pimsleur series....I tried several other "apps", and they just didn't do anything for me. I know I think I am making progress, but we'll see what happens in September

I found going thru the 1st 30 lessons useful (not sure if that's how they still package them). The instructions say to do each lesson once, but I found it better to go thru each at least twice until I could comfortably give the expected reply to almost every prompt. I wouldn't go past the 1st 30 (I think they have published 120 lessons in some languages) because the amount you learn for time invested starts to drop off.

I also found the Michel Thomas set of lessons to be complementary to Pimsleur. There are many similarities but the Michel Thomas angle is to help you remember with little stories about words or verbs. The scenario of the recording is you are in a 3-person class with Michel and you play the role of the 3rd student. The vendors constantly repackage these sets but I used the old 8-disk "Michel Thomas Italian for Beginners" from the library. You could do both Pimsleur and Thomas at the same time if you wanted.

Bravi! Good for you! It is astounding how confusing it seems at first, but stick with a term and supplement the classes (where you can ask questions) with Pimsleur. You will learn enough niceties and vocabulary words to help you ask directions, order meals, read a bit. I do think a combo of class and audio is a great approach. A few years ago I started where you are and now I get along quite well in Italian. Piano piano you will get there!

I took classes for about a two years or so - it helped that the class was twice and week and it focused on conversational Italian and constant practice. I was lucky in that a few of my teachers were truly outstanding and the classes were were not too big, especially as you advanced from one level to another. The key is to have someone to practice speaking with (I can memorize vocabulary and the written part on my own). In all, the classes gave me confidence to travel in Italy on my own in my late 20s and to have a great time. It was money well-spent and I used what I learned. Now I just brush up before a trip (or I can take a quick refresher course) and I'm actually pretty decent (it comes back once I'm in the country). Like you, I learned German first and it was much easier in comparison.

John this August we are leaving in 30 days :) You guys have some great ideas about how to learn . When I came here from Germany at a tender age of 21 I had English in College but not much. I actually learned the English language watching TV specifically I watched The Price is right . I don't watch it anymore lol but that's how I learned it. I think its awesome learning new languages. Anyone else knows more then just 1 language?

I used the Rosetta Stone program. It worked well for me. Gave me the basic conversational skills in about a month. At least I could understand the basics when I got to Italy. Whether or not the Italians could understand me is another topic! :-)

I can converse fairly well in German, I understand and read quite a bit of Russian but can't speak it, and I can read French easily.

I tend to not concentrate on the tense, gender or any of the fine details - if I can put together a basic pronoun, verb & noun - it gets the point across! Its not pretty but it works - I may not be able to hold a regular conversation but I can exchange pleasantries, ask for directions, where are you from, etc...

It is difficult when one is visiting multiple countries with multiple languages - I brush up my French, Spanish, Italian & German - after that I stick with the polite words!

I used Rosetta Stone as one other poster. It was GREAT for me. I really worked at it for about 2 months, went through all of Level 1 and into Level 2. I did the studio sessions, but didn't enjoy them much.

What I found was...I learned a lot of vocabulary. My grammar isn't good, but I can now communicate when I'm in italy.

Fact: I took a trip with my daughter to Florence, when we checked into our hotel, the woman checking us in spoke only in Italian to me. I replied in same. I understood what she was telling me, and translated for my daughter. When we walked away to our room, my daughter told me that I didn't speak one work of English...I didn't realize that!

Rosetta Stone really worked for me. Have to state that I only make it through all of Level 3, and then found it got way more difficult, I guess if I was moving to Italy, or had business there, I'd continue with lessons.

I've gone back over the last couple of years and repeated lessons to refresh my vocabulary.

Traveling to France in Sept, and seriously considering investing in RS French so I can communicate in smaller towns.

RS has certainly gotten less expensive too. Less than $200 for Level 1-3...

Download the free App Duolingo on your smartphone, you can use it anywhere anytime your phone is with you, just remember your earbuds.

Also consider going to a good bookstore and buying up all their Italian language workbooks, you can practice in them and refer to them as needed.