Learning Italian

Hi Bev, If you have a lot of time on your hands Rosetta Stone is very thorough BUT it is time consuming, I know I am trekking through it. It is very good BUT you have to have the persistence for it. Primseleur is probably not as intensive and may fit the bill OR go to your local community college and see if they are offering an Italian for Beginners.

BBC Steps is a nice introduction, too. http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/italian/lj/ And I also liked My Daily Phrase Italian podcasts, available from ITunes.

I recommend searching this forum since this question comes up regularly, and in fact came up a few days ago.

Thank you all. First day on the forum and I'm thrilled to be going back to Italy 28 years later! I know I'll ask lots of crazy questions! Bev

My husband and I have done some Rosetta Stone and various other programs. We finally enrolled in an Italian conversation class at our Community College. We are now learning and understanding the rules of the Italian language. Our comprehension increased dramatically. We also have a community of other people who share our interest in Italy. It was a very good decision for us.

Check your local library to see if it has CD-based instruction programs such as Pimsleur which you can use in your car or computer. Pimsleur is almost completely audio-based which I liked as it suits my learning style.

Bev, I would also recommend the Pimsleur courses, as they worked well for me. I've found the audio courses to be a convenient format, as I can cover a lesson at the Gym or whenever convenient. They're a bit pricey, but you may be able to find some at your local Library, or find discounted copies on the net. The lessons won't provide complete fluency in Italian, but will provide "rudimentary" skills. Each lesson reinforces the previous one, so it's important to complete at least one half hour lesson per day or you'll start to forget the material. Buona Fortuna!