Learning a bit of Italian

In the back of Rick's Italy guide books. You can get around just knowing that I think, unless you go into rural areas where not much English is spoken.

Look at Fodor's online Italian for travelers. They list basic phrases and you can listen to the pronunciations.

If you decide you want more than a few phrases or just want to develop an ear for pronunciation, try the free Duolingo app. It can also be accessed through their free website.

While Duolingo is good, it's a bit light on explaining why things are as they are. I combine it with Coffee Break Italian. Coffee Break Italian is designed to be learned in short segments approximating the time one might have for a coffee break. The teachers are a Scotsman (Mark, a professional teacher), Francesca (native Italian speaker) and Katie (language learner). Lessons progress from basics like greetings and introductions through asking directions, shopping, etc. while. Have confined myself to the free podcast, there is also a plus edition available at cost, with expanded lessons.

I found "Future Learn" to be a great way to learn some essential Italian. And their courses are essentially free (certificates are extra). Link at: http://www.futurelearn.com

They also have courses available on a multitude of subjects.

Grazie mille......😀This should be fun!

I got CDs from my library the Pimsleur Italian.
It is really basic stuff and it was very very helpful.
I listened to them several times for practice.
(4 CDs in the box - each is 30 minutes)

David, my low budget solution: I bought the audio CD set (with phrasebook) from Sam's Club for around $25. Loaded all the CDs in the player in my car and practiced with them continuously on my commutes to and from work for a couple of months. Did this for French too. It was enough for me.
I had access to the Rosetta Stone for German for awhile, but did not have the time or self-discipline to do the interactive work with it.

I have an app on my iPhone called "Italiano." The free version lets you practice 100 basic words and simple phrases. You can set it up in different ways. For example, I have it set up to display the English word, followed by the Italian word, which is spoken at the same time so you know how to pronounce it. I purchased the "deluxe" version for $9.99 to try to learn a little more, but the free version would probably give you enough basics to get by as a tourist. I wanted to learn the simple courtesy phrases, but I'd also like to be able to navigate an Italian restaurant menu and have a clue what I'm ordering.

I went to a local Books-a-Million store and found a basic, cheap Italian language set for $35. I am not going to give you the name, because parts of the set were hard to use and not helpful. However, parts of it were useable. It helped a lot. The RS phrase book helped when I needed specific phrases to use at a bank, etc.. The point is - go to a bookstore and find a basic, travel language set to help you. Rosetta is more expensive and more in-depth than what you need. Learn numbers up to 20 or so. Learn hotel words like room key. How to ask for a tab, basic greetings, restaurant talk, etc.. It does help.

I have used Duolingo and Rosetta Stone to learn a bit of French before our trip a year or so ago. Duolingo is easy to use.although sometimes I had to search elsewhere to gain some understanding of the grammar structure. You can do Duolingo in short segments. Rosesetta Stone is more intense but does a good job a replicating your attempts to speak a phrase . I learned few key phrases to help me feel comfortable when entering a shop or ordering a meal,, say good morning, hello, where's the toilet etc. I didn't learn enough to speak conversationally or try to try to talk to the toll booth guy. I am using Duolingo now for Italian. The Rick Steve's phrase book is great and his description of food really helps you better understand a menu. Study it before your trip and then carry it with you when you go.

Years ago, my husband and I took an Italian class at the local community college. Our teacher was from Italy and most of the students were people who had traveled to Italy or were about to. We made good friends and had a lot of good times. I think I learned so much more from taking a class and being able to ask questions and discuss different topics. Nowadays I keep brushed up with Duolingo.

Like Jeanine, we took a short Italian conversation class at our local community college. And like Frances, we've used Pimsleur, and love it. We also found it at the library, but the one we got is more detailed - it's three sets of 8 discs each; each disc is two 30-minute lesson. The one she mentions is the starter version. They are great for pronunciation; all the "teachers" are native speakers.

We also like the Michel Thomas series, especially for Italian and French. That series uses the format of Michel as teacher, and two students: one American and one British. That one has you using complex sentences within 30 minutes! I like it because he teaches you correspondences between English and the target language, making it easier to "guess" how to say something.

They're all great fun. I'm a language junkie, in case you hadn't noticed.

One of the challenges with any learning program is that it's not enough to learn how to say a few phrases. You also need to learn how to understand the possible responses. You might check around in your area and see if there are any Intro Italian courses being offered, say at a community college or a language academy.

I, too, highly recommend actual classes if they are a practical option for you. In the lucky event you have more than one choice of economical classes, favor the one that includes tapes or CDs you can use at home (the modern equivalent of a language lab). The additional practice makes a lot of difference.

I also like the Pimsleur Language Program, and found it at my local library.

I like to listen to the CDs when I'm driving to/from work.

I also found out that my library offers the Rosetta stone language program on their website, so you may want to see what your local library offers.

Taking a class is also a great idea.

I am going to Italy for 2 weeks in July. My plan was to use phrase books and a dictionary to teach myself a few phrases. My plan is to figure out what I want to say first, and then figure out how to say it, perhaps by writing sentences from a phrase book or language teaching book but then substituting in the words I want from the dictionary. Perhaps most of the time, we will keep quiet in Italy. My college degree before I went to library science school was actually in linguistics - read about the phonology of Italian. Other languages may have sounds and sound combinations that don't occur in English. I know that if I hear a word in another language, I can't repeat it. I can only "repeat" it with the nearest sounds in my English, but I have the ability to approximate the pronunciation of another language if I see IPA symbols next to words in a dictionary or if I read about the phonology (sound inventory and rules for how sounds combine into words) and pronunciation of the language.

Mike, I find Italian pronunciation comparatively easy, so I imagine you'll do quite well. Most of us have had some exposure to spoken Spanish, and the Italian vowels are pretty similar. The consonants can be tricky. It helps to remember that Chianti is "key ahn tee" and ciao is "chow".

For our past two trips in 2010 and 2015 I spent a couple months each time working on the Rosetta Stone Italiano. And other than maybe learning the correct pronunciation and inflection on words and phrases, I was pretty much lost when I got over there, especially when having to form a response (as stated above) after I would initiate a phrase and get the reply. I just couldn't process it quickly enough, and I'd stand there like an idiot while the gears were turning in my brain. In fact, I did better in that respect in Paris, having not prepared at all to speak French, but I had had 4 years in high school, nearly 40 years before!

Of course, immersion will help. I really didn't have to speak much Italian in Rome, Florence or even Salerno, unless I initiated it. But when I did a geneological daytrip up into the foothills SE of Salerno to Sant' Arsenio in the middle of March, we were positively the only tourists in town that day and it was sink or swim. Over the course of four hours, I actually improved to the point of initiation--reply--response--response--response, which was altogether exhilarating. However, I did have to occasionally interject the phrase "Mi dispiace, si prega più lento" (I'm sorry, slower, please!)

Not this upcoming trip--which is to Rome & Sorrento where there will be little if any immersion--but maybe the next one I want to stay in a little non-tourist town for 3-4 days and try speaking Italian only.

I'm currently taking the "Speak Italian From Day 1" online course. The instructor, Manu Vendetti, is originally from Rome and studied linguistics in college. He is fluent in English and now teaches Italian to English-speaking students at a college in Australia. He's also the Italy Made Easy guy (the Italy Made Easy YouTube channel has TONS of videos).

The course is 6 weeks, and it's basically a series of videos with matching PDFs. I've just gone along at my own pace — there's nothing live or timed, so I watch the videos and take notes whenever I find the time. The very nice thing about the course is that it's designed for travel in Italy. I now know how to read menus, interact with hotel staff, converse with servers at restaurants, ask for directions and understand what someone tells me, etc.

I took German all four years in high school (which was 15+ years ago, I'm starting to feel old!) and I honestly have learned more Italian in this online course than I did German all four years of high school!

Manu is a very good instructor and teaches relevant topics, phrases, verb conjugation, etc.

It's $90 but absolutely worth every penny.
http://www.speakitalianfromday1.com/

I am using duo lingo and it's a good start. I am fluent in Spanish, so Italian just seems like a close sister language. In past travels to Italy Spanish was very helpful, but this time I'd like to communicate a bit more. Thank you all for the great tips.