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Summary: How to learn Italian by talking to yourself
Review: This is the second Pimsleur tape series I have purchased. I bought the first through Sybervision (the company that advertises in airline inflight magazines). The Sybervision introduction to Italian doesn't appear to exist anymore, although I've tried to find it. This is a pity, because it takes the best of the Pimsleur method and weaves it around a goofy but engaging storyline of a British husband and wife taking an Italian vacation.Unfortunately, Italian II skips the story and gets right to the learning. The result is that this version is as dry as a summer brushfire in Campania, but it still delivers the best system for learning to speak a foreign language that I have yet encountered (you will learn nothing about how to write or read it, by the way.) What makes the Pimsleur method special? For my taste, the Pimsleur method of self-learning is far and away the best because of its graduated approach and outstanding use of English and Italian to prompt your answers and confirm your comprehension. Fundamentally, the Pimsleur method introduces vocabulary and then tries to spring a quick quiz on you when you least expect it. Either you know the answer or you don't. When you can't immediately recall the right answer, you know it's time to go back and review. The Sybervision-Pimsleur Level I program I started learning Italian with had the virtue of being mildly entertaining while it taught. This level II course is all business. It is grunt work slogging through it, but it packs the same rewards as the Sybervision version. If you apply yourself, you will learn a lot of Italian and pronounce it well. The proof of any language course is in the pudding, and I spent two weeks in Italy this summer after having drilled myself on Italian II. All my practice came during several months on my morning commute on the train to Manhattan. From the moment we arrived in Italy, my ability far exceeded my self-confidence. I was able to speak almost effortlessly to cab drivers, waiters, hotel employees, and most importantly, my wife's relatives. My new Italian friends couldn't believe I learned the language from tapes. There's no question that buying Pimsleur's Italian II is a significant investment. But I guarantee if you stick with it you'll surprise yourself, your traveling companions, and the wonderful people you'll meet in Italy.
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