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Italian is a Romance language spoken as mother-tongue by about 60 million people in Italy, and by a total of around 75 million in the world. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four official languages. It is also the official language of San Marino, as well as the primary language of Vatican City. Standard Italian, adopted by the state after the unification of Italy, is based on Tuscan (in particular on the dialects of the city of Florence) and is somewhat intermediate between the Italo-Dalmatian languages of the South and the Gallo-Romance Northern Italian languages. Its development was also influenced by the other Italian dialects and by the Germanic language of the post-Roman Barbaric invaders but first and foremost it has been directly and heavily influenced by Latin.

Unlike most other Romance languages, Italian has retained the contrast between short and long consonants which existed in Latin. As in most Romance languages, stress is distinctive. Of the Romance languages, Italian is considered to be the closest to Latin in terms of vocabulary.


	Michel Thomas ( by Michel Thomas) No memorizing, no text books, no drills, no homework!
	The Italian series by Michel Thomas is another extremely popular and effective course which is again taught in small pieces and gradually build up. For Italian there is a complete series from Introductory (taster) to Foundation (beginners), Advanced, Language Builders (Vocabulary) and a second vocabulary course. After just an hour you will yourself being able to say long and fluent sentences. The Michel Thomas method has only been mainstream for the last 10 years, previously it was only accessible to the super rich who paid around $18,000 for lessons with the great man. You will understand why when you use it! Again though the students can be annoying but its all part of the learning experience and is truly wonderful. The courses are all audio. Please also look at the reviews others have given.

Italian Pod ( Praxis Language)

This is a fun and easy way to learn Italian through humorous and topical real life dialogues. The dialogues are kept fairly short and are then discussed and analysed down to the important meanings. I liked the Italian Pod because it covers real Italian conversations which teach you the most commonly spoken words and phrases in around 70% of Italian conversations. The team behind Italian Pod are very enthusiastic about the language and can teach it to you in a relaxed and easy way. Some similarity with the relaxed style of Michel Thomas but far more in the way of vocabulary. Take advantage of their FREE 7 day trial to get some very useful starting tools! The service is subscription based as follows:

7 Day FREE Trial - Covers all the Newbie lessons (MP3)

BASIC ($9 a month) all lessons + transcripts

Premium ($29 a month) as above + lesson dialogues, reviews and study tools

Praxis ($39) all of above + full access to the other language pods of Spanish, French, English, Italian and Chinese

See their subscription page for fuller details

C1 Fluency

Complete Italian ( by Lydia Vellaccio)

Following hot on the heels of of Assimil is this completely revised and user friendly pack for learning Italian to B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. This is a more traditional learning process rather than the mainly "intuitive" learning you get with Assimils'

The thematic approach is much in line with traditional language learning and does cover the subject in depth and more importantly progressively so you can see progress being made. Each unit starts with a "Statement of Aims" and completes the section by

a) Presenting the language

b) Practicing it

c) Description of language forms: For producing your own sentences

d) Pronunciation and Intonation

e) Information on Italian People and Italian Life

It is essential to buy have the CD's that go with the course to get the language practice and work through the book since a lot of the exercises are listening and commenting. Its a very bad idea to try and learn a language without hearing it!

A very enjoyable course indeed and a great improvement on the older versions. Extremely well taught and presented. We recommend that you follow only one unit a week and really absorb it ! There are 25 units in total so will take 25 weeks to complete. Level B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages compares to a very good A Level.

There is now a follow on course for C1 Fluency, entitled Perfect Your Italian

Assimil Italian With Ease ( by Assimil)

Assimil has a glowing reputation for language learning based on their simple two fold approach. The first stage is known as "Passive Learning" which requires you to listen to the lesson, say it aloud (or to yourself) so you get pronunciation right and then to follow it again using the translation conveniently written directly opposite. The second stage is called "Active Phase" and starts approximately half way thorough the book. At this time you carry on doing the Passive phase (daily) then you revert back to the first lesson and translate it yourself without looking at the translation. It is more effective if you approach this as a written exercise rather than trying to recall it in your mind only. Then you do your next passive lesson and go to the second lesson of the book to translate and so on.... Don't worry, though, the instructions are clear and you won't go wrong. You need to do one lesson a day (also a translation when you reach that second stage which adds another half an hour). The dialogues are expertly written and played out by professional voice actors of the country. They are lively and humorous and keep your interest. The lessons are ordered so you build gradually on what you have learnt. Don't be tempted to do more than one lesson a day, there is a reason why its "little and often" so to maximise your learning capability and keep you excited to continue.. This is an approach that will take at least 6 months to complete and by then you will acquire a level of understanding comparable to B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. The lessons/stories are different for each language.

Smart Italian ( by Christian Auberti)

This is the same principle as for the Smart French series in that you learn the art of the real spoken language. The Italian taught in colleges is correct but Italian is spoken very fast by native speakers and its also pronounced differently, not just depending on the region but just by the natural way of speaking, in the same way as you do in your own language. We strongly recommend Smart Italian to compliment any Italian learning as it really is the icing on the cake for attaining fluency and interacting smoothly with Italian people. The Smart Italian series is a follows:

Smart Italian Vol 1 - This is just basic vocabulary and conjugations of common verbs.

Smart Italian Vol 2 - Finer points to the language

Smart Italian Int/Adv - More difficult conversations

Linguaphone All Talk (Linguaphone)

Linguaphone's "All Talk" range is surprisingly good in that it is entirely audio and revolves around a soap opera type style of dialogues, involving a 'posh' English lady called Sarah arriving on business in Florence and being helped by a native speaker, Lorenzo Conti who speaks little English. You are always wanting to hear what happens next to our hapless heroes!

The dialogues are lively and funny, with background sounds (much like a radio play). After you are introduced to each dialogue you are then tested on the vocabulary and structure and also you are expected to apply it to alternative scenarios. These complete "All Talk" programs are 16 hours in duration and will give you a vocabulary of 2000 words, which is good enough to make yourself understood and converse simply with native speakers. We have given them 4 stars because of the cost. This could be cheaper if produced on CD's and then you could rip them to your own player. However it is a painless way to acquire an excellent understanding!


	*Berlitz* (AvanQuest)
	Be aware that to get the product at this price you need to choose the Amazon link on the right of the page after clicking the picture here. Back to the review, this is a very good value and media rich package incorporating elements of Rosetta Stone and Tell Me More with lots of video and rich content. The content is also downloadable from the software to a portable device such as an MP3 player or Ipod so you can take it with you on the train, car or jogging. Berlitz have essentially devised videos scenes to take you through the Italian and there are three levels of teaching (Beginner/Intermediate/Advanced). The pace is lively and the videos interesting and you learn some great Italian! I have used this product for 2 months now and I still have lots more options for really studying the language with the huge amount of extras such as Videos, Flashcards, Puzzles, Quizzes and even voice recognition.

Pimsleur ( by Paul Pimsleur)

Pimsleur Italian is another of many languages in the Pimsleur range. These are all audio courses and teach conversational Italian by using them for 30 minutes each day. There are 3 levels and each level comprises of 30 half hour length lessons, each level building on the previous one. No explanations regarding verb conjugations though but there is an English speaking host who guides, prompts and gives you not much more than word meanings. However it is an extremely effective method and has been used extensively within Govt and educational establishments. The price is however quite high ~£200 per level. You can read about the method here. Download more detailed information on course content here (PDF)

Level 2 - Click Here

Level 3 - Click Here

	Rosetta Stone ( by Rosetta Stone)
	Another language from the expensive Rosetta Stone range. As before there is no translations or explanations and you learn by intuition and association, matching words or sentences to pictures. You will definitely need a bi-lingual dictionary and preferably a basic verb book. Its actually quite an enjoyable experience but expensive. It is very expensive and it can get a bit boring after a while. Nevertheless you will be a confident speaker with this software

Earworms ( by Marlon Lodge)

This is a very simple idea that makes learning Italian fun and easy. Its an English man conversing with a Italian woman and asking her how to say things in Italian. All the time there is a rhythmic sound/beat going on to her syllables which is designed to stick in your mind rather like a catchy song. The vocabulary being taught is basic but essential and is a relaxing experience. You don't need to make any real conscious effort as your brain is absorbing it through the beats. There are two cd's in the Italian range and you can listen to samples by clicking the pictures on the left. Overall a fun and enjoyable experience, reasonably priced and it works! But only for basic survival skills.

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