Rosetta Stone does it work well?

I can't comment on Rosetta Stone (the price scared me off) but a few weeks ago I bought a "Learn Italian" CD by Transparent Language. It's OK but after a couple of weeks I really wasn't feeling much progress. Last week I bought Rick Steves' Italian Phrase Book and Dictionary and I've learned a LOT more from this little book than from the CD. The greatest help was all on one page near the front, where he explains the basics of pronouncing Italian. Study that page a while and the rest comes easy. I read the book cover to cover over a couple of days and am now speaking Italian basics pretty well.
At my age, I'll never remember/learn all that's necessary to carry on full conversations in Italian. I only want basic travel phrases and the Phrase Book gives exactly that. The book's less than $10 (I found mine at Amazon) and well worth it!

I bought the Rosetta Stone italian level 1, last year from Borders when I had a 30% off coupon. It's all visual learning and it teaches you italian language in general. I wish they had one specifically for travel only (learning travel phrases). It's good if you are a visual learner (which I am). Plus it comes with a headset/microphone and it tests your speaking skills. The only downside of this program is that you have to make the time to sit in front of your computer to use it.

Hazel

I went to my local Library and borrowed a couple of drive time Italian courses. The Fodors program is pretty good, it gives you two times to repeat back the italian phrases and the translation. I'm planning on surprising my husband when we get off the plane by conversing with the locals. I also purchased the Rick Steeves phrase book to bring along on the trip but I feel that the CD is very helpful with my pronunciation and I don't need to make time in my already busy day since I'm learning while driving back and forth to work! Ciao!

I haven't tried the Italian, but I started using the Rosetta Stone German about a week ago. I really like it. I have used the Living Language programs French, Italian & Portuguese, and find this much more effective.

Hi Tom, I'm using the Rosetta Stone program to learn Spanish, and it seems to be quite effective and easy, so far.

Hi Tom;
I've been plugging away at Italiano from Rosetta Stone and have enjoyed it so far; although I feel it can be a little boring. Having spent so much money on it, I hate to admit that I seem to be getting more out of the iTunes podcasts of Italian lessons; called Italianpod101.com - they also have a website for non-iTunes people. Perhaps the podcast is more appropriate to what I want; that being more of a conversational format. I found RS to be slightly less applicable as it teaches you short and sweet statements (and vocabulary), but the context doesn't feel consistent. For example you will learn what to call a ball or a plate and how to say the boy is sitting on top or underneath the table, then all about people running, walking or falling off a horse; before you learn how to greet someone and have a pleasant conversation. RS must work for some though, they are indeed very popular!
RjK

Roberta said, "[With the RS Phrase Book,] For example you will learn what to call a ball or a plate and how to say the boy is sitting...before you learn how to greet someone and have a pleasant conversation."

I don't think you're expected to LEARN all these things. I think you're just expected to learn that they are in the book if you need them, and you'll turn to those things in the book IF you need them "in the field".
As far as "greet someone and have a pleasant conversation", I can't imagine that will happen with Rosetta Stone or any other CD or book. I took 2 years of French in high school and 1 year French in college and I still can't carry on an adult conversation when I visit France. I can stumble along and pretty well make my thoughts known, but when the native French speaker responds I catch just about 3 words and the "conversation" ends very quickly! I say you'd have to live there MONTHS to master the language well enough to have meaningful conversations with locals.

Patrick, I agree. It wasn't until I lived a year in Mexico that I began to carry on conversations and understand the native speakers. I watch TV in Spanish and read novels as well to keep my language skills. Even read Da Vinci Code in Espanol!

These tapes (which I have been getting myself) are just to help with a few buzz words as I see it. To be able to read a menu, a sign, or pick up a few words is about all I am expecting with my home study French and Italian.

I found a BBC website that offers online interactive Italian language lessons. As a beginner, I found this is very helpful -

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/italian/lj/menu.shtml

since no one has mentioned it yet, let me add a plug for Pimsleur. An expensive course, but free if you borrow it from your local library which often has copies. It is composed of 30 minute lessons in 3 groups of 90. After the 1st 30 I was able to travel in Italy and do simple things like ask basic directions, order food & drinks, ask for a hotel room, etc. It's all audio based so I did the lessons in my car driving to work. BTW the instructions say to do each lesson once, but most people (including me) have found that you need to do each lesson 2 or 3 times to really master it.

What I really like about it is the things you've learned, you LEARNED. No pauses to put sentences together or recall words; it really just flows fluently.

I've used Rosetta Stone for both Italian and French. They aren't as helpful for simple travel survival phrases, but you get a sense of the rythym of the language in a better way than the travel phrases alone. I especially enjoyed the option of hearing a phrase and repeating it and having the computer "evaluate" my accent, especially for the French where I was most self-conscious.

Check out the Radio Lingua podcast called "My Daily Phrase Italian". It has 100 five-minute lessons that are focused on travel needs. I loaded them as a playlist on my iPod and practiced during the lead up to my trip.

As an aside, I almost never had to use Italian; most Italians speak amazing English. But it was nice to be able to belt out a solid "Buon Giorno" like a native.

I tried rosetta stone and I love the approach, but it doesn't teach you to have a conversation, and in my opinion, it IS NOT worth the money. It is a good program, though, to build your vocabulary, but I would DEFINITELY reccoment Take off In Italian, from the oxford university press. It is THE BEST self-teach language learning program out there, and it only costs 25$. The CD guides you through the course, so it is just like having your own teacher. This is THE BEST way to learn how to have conversations in Italian. If you want to spend all day learning how to say "The boy is swimming" "The man is eating" then get Rosetta Stone. If you want to have meaningful conversations with Italians, buy Take Off In Italian, and you will be really glad you did.

I'm with Mike on Pimsleur; used their audio tape system for Serbo-Croation and it enabled me to get on well with day-to-day stuff in short order while working in the former Yugoslavia. Through work have used Berlitz and full-time (8mos) French language training over the years and Pimsleur, IMO, did if better for the do-it-yourselfer with limited time.

I also agree with Mike and Geoff in recommending the Pimsleur lessons. I studied Levels I & II (and part of Level III) before my last trip to Italy, and was able to get along quite comfortably (although certainly not fluent).

The lessons are structured in the same way that children learn a language, using repetition to build comprehension. It's also necessary to try speaking to match the pronunciation on the lessons. There are some reading lessons at the end, so that one can visualize the words.

I found that the "Bookchips" were the most suitable format for my circumstances. The 30 lessons are contained on an SD card that fits into my Palm PDA. Since I usually have this with me, I can listen to the lessons whenever it's convenient.

One disadvantage of using Pimsleur is that sometimes the "locals" over estimate my fluency, and hit me with a barrage of words that puts me into "brain lock"!

I'm heading back to Italy this year, so am working on the lessons every day!

Cheers!

One final comment - I'm not sure, but the Pimsleur lessons might be available in I-Pod format now???

I had the same problem, Ken; you call it brain-lock, I called it 'deer in the headlights' -same experience I expect and that's when hand gestures kick in...... Geoff

I'm using Pimsleur right now to learn some Italian for a trip in May. I am very pleased with the course.
I bought it online at a good price, but since have found out it is available at my local library. That would be a good place to start for anyone the check it out. I've ripped the CDs to my iPod for convenience and the fact that I can scroll back and forth if I need to. You cannot do so with the CD itself. I must say that the course provides very useful phrases, is easy to use and works remarkably well. I was never very good picking up a language but I'm having a lot of success with Pimsleur.

If you can find it, the best value I've found is Learn to Speak by the Learning Company. The company does mostly children's educational stuff but made computer language courses for Spanish, Italian and German. I had studied three years of German in School and bought this to get up to speed before an exchange program. It worked great and has sections for a variety of travel experiences including restaurants, transportation and medical care. It includes voice recognition and interactive dialogues. It worked great so I bought the other two when I got home.

IMO the best idea is to get a computer based program for studying at home and add some recorded programs for your car (I liked Pimsleur) that are widely available at the library.