Learning Italian

I am particularly interested in Fluenz which seems to be a supercharged version of Rosetta Stone. Within reason price is not the key factor. I am more interested in good results for the time invested.

Mike: You came to the right place, this his has been frequently discussed here, but not in the last few months--this link will get you started on finding those prior discussions: http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm?topic=526and to find other discussions, enter "learning Italian" in the search box at upper right of this page, you'll get about 500 hits on this site including 90+ on the Helpline.

I used Michel Thomas (8 CDs) and supplemented with some good "learn to speak Italian for a trip to Italy" material. I got everything at the Library so it was all free. Michel Thomas was excellent for learning how to form sentences (needed for true conversations- many tourist cd's just teach how to say specific phrases) You need to supplement it though because it does not teach important things like days of the week, numbers, direction phrases etc. I first used Michel Thomas in 2003 and I was amazed at how much I learned in a short amount of time. I did it again for my trip in 2008. It really did pay off on the trip. (Like the time we asked a lady if we could park in a "free" spot. She replied that in the summer it was 1/2 hour parking but it was now October and if they had taken that sign down we could stay for as long as we wanted-all in Italian of course-she spoke no English. The sign was down and we were off to Vernazza for 2 nights with our car parked for free. Needless to say- my husband, sister and brother-in-law were all very impressed by my Italian after that) Also, try to get tapes and things where you can listen to Italian. And learn the phase "Please repeat slowly" as you will need it. I saw many tourist who had learned the Phrase "where is the bathroom" but then could not understand what was said back to them.

I recently came across this FREE website called LiveMocha with in-depth Italian lessons! I've just started but so far it seems quite good (especially for the (non) cost!).

I'm a fan of Pimsleur. Thirty minutes a day and even after Level 1 (30 days) you can hold a decent"tourist" conversation. It's not just memorizing phrases. You learn to build sentences and hear them as well. The program is built around conversations.

I second Michel Thomas. He really helped me learn Italian. I am about to start on Spanish. That being said, I am waiting on my Instant Immersion CDs to arrive. I will listen to them first to get a feel for pronunciation and to learn some vocabulary, but then it is on to Michel for grammar and structure.

I have used Pimsleur, Rosetta Stone, Living Language, Berlitz, and think the combination of Instant Immersion and Michel Thomas is the best.

Mike, I recommend starting with Pimsleur. It's an expensive program but you can often borrow it for free from your local library, or find people selling it at low cost on places like craigslist.

The Pimsleur approach is based on the idea that if you learn something new you'll forget it quickly, but if they repeat it just about the time it would be lost it comes back a bit stronger. They keep increasing the time between reinforcing the material. And it isn't just reciting lists of words; they're real sentences that you'd be likely to use. The lessons are 3 sets of 30, each 1/2 hour lessons. After doing just the 1st 30 I was able to ask prices, knew the correct greetings, could order drinks and food, etc. While the program suggests doing each 30-minute lesson once, many people (me included) have found repeating each lesson twice really helps cement it in. About about every 10 lessons go back and repeat 3 of them (say lessons 3, 6, 9).

I've also used Michel Thomas and I think it makes a good successor to Pimsleur. Its genius is that Thomas really explains how the grammar works (present, past, & future tenses, 1st person, 2nd person, etc) all without EVER mentioning grammar. Its great to help put together the ideas and consolidate what you've learned once you've got a bit of the language under your belt (I'd say the at least the 1st 2 Pimsleur sets of 30). But it goes by too quickly, IMHO, to really learn it as a true beginner. You can actually see transcripts of his lessons at http://tinyurl.com/9ag6m9 and if you read thru you can see how quickly things are introduced; but promise me you won't try to learn from the transcripts because hearing it and trying to make the responses yourself is a key to learning for both this and Pimsleur.

My husband started with Spanish and purchased many courses, including Pimsleur. He feels that the Penton Overseas "Learn in Your Car" series is the best value (it is quite inexpensive). He used this for only six weeks prior to our first trip to Italy and was able to get along. We're about to make our eighth trip to Italy and he now has "abbastanza Italiano per chiacchierare." Have fun!

I like combining Pimsleur in the car with a decent PC based course. Instant immersion is my least favorite.

Try the free online course with BBC (under BBC languages) and combine it with programs you can get at the library. If you like one, you can always buy it online for half the bookstore price.

Do you have a community college nearby or a university that offers continuing education courses? I took Italian I at my local community college and found it really helpful, not only for the language lesson but also for the practical and cultural information the instructor provided. I only recently found out about Pimsleur which I can get through the library I work for and have played around with it briefly. So far, I like what I've experienced with it.

If you have an iPod, there is an excellent (and FREE!!) webcast called 'Learn Italian Pod' that I highly recommend. I listened to the short lessons everyday for a couple of months before going to Italy and when I got there I was more than comfortable with the language.

I got the Pimsleur CDs at the local library and downloaded them to my computer and made CDs of my own.
I listened in the car going to and from work and found that I was really able to get along pretty well in Italy. (I did listen to the lessons about 3 times over a 4 month period.)
Frances

Mike, www.survivalphrases.com is all you need. Cheap and instead of you learning words you are learning the most common travel PHRASES. Each language has about 60 phrases for about $20-$25. Did the french one last year... only learned the most important ones... and I parle voued my way everywhere. They provide the lessons in mp3 nad pdf format for that price for both audible and visual learning. Check it out... you can download a few lessons of each language for free as a trial.

Jack