Rating: 
Summary: If you can only buy one - pick something else!
Review: After listening to 3 other sets of Italian tapes, I came across these and found them to be the least useful.The tapes are arranged into subject areas that they think you will find useful as a traveler. Then, supposedly related sentences are blurted out in English, then Italian with an all-too-short pause, then they are repeated. As far as I can tell this goes on continuously without variation. My review will only cover the first tape because I haven't bothered with the second tape in this set. The problems are 1. There is little or no narration to explain things or break up the tape. Just a continuous drill. 2. The first pause is insufficiently long, making it difficult to respond at times. The second pause is even shorter, making it nearly impossible to repeat the sentence you supposedly just learned. 3. Very little conversation. Few examples are given of how the sentences might fit into the context of an actual encounter you might have. 4. Emphasizes quantity over quality. Over the course of two tapes I'm sure you'll hear more sentences in Italian than most other sets of language tapes. However, they accomplish this at the expense of focusing on and repeating more important phrases that you're sure to use over and over and over. 5. Expectations of the listener are too high. I actually tend to learn foreign languages quickly and easily. In fact, my complaint about the highly regarded Pimsleur tapes is that they're TOO easy! I have not had problems with other tapes to learn French, Italian or Spanish until I encountered these. The reason is that they don't break the language down into phrases and instead expect you to learn fully intact new sentences in which all or 75% of the vocabulary in that sentence is new. As soon as you hear it once and it gets repeated, you're done with that sentence for the rest of the tape. A smarter way to train the listener would be to build on phrases that the listener has learned from before. I listened to these tapes in my car and did not even look at the accompanying booklet.
Rating: 
Summary: BEST OF ITS KIND
Review: Best of the three quick-learn language books I read for our trip to Italy. We were able to make friends and converse -- though a bit haltingly-- in Italian!
Rating:
Summary: Travel with ease
Review: I bought the "Italian for Dummies" and this dictionary together. They complemented each other well. If you are planning on doing some traveling for a short period of time, this is more than enough for you. Even those who want to start studying seriously will benefit greatly. However, I should warn you that in both Rome and Venice, while on vacation, usually I would try to speak Italian only to be responded to in fluent English. You definitely do not need to know Italian in Venice. It you are only going to the tourist spots, you might not need it much. It's cheap, pocket-sized, and comprehensive. If you are planning to spend some real time in Italy, it may save your life and/or sanity on more than one occasion.
Rating:
Summary: Travel with ease
Review: I bought the "Italian for Dummies" and this dictionary together. They complemented each other well. If you are planning on doing some traveling for a short period of time, this is more than enough for you. Even those who want to start studying seriously will benefit greatly. However, I should warn you that in both Rome and Venice, while on vacation, usually I would try to speak Italian only to be responded to in fluent English. You definitely do not need to know Italian in Venice. It you are only going to the tourist spots, you might not need it much. It's cheap, pocket-sized, and comprehensive. If you are planning to spend some real time in Italy, it may save your life and/or sanity on more than one occasion.
Rating:
Summary: Great way to learn Italian
Review: I lived in Italy for 9 months and when I got there I didn't speak a word. I had lots of books and resources for learning the language, but this book was the best for learning grammar and conjugation. It very clearly lays out all of the most essential Italian grammar and is very easy to learn from. This book combined with a good Italian/English dictionary is the way to go for learning Italian!
Rating:
Summary: Great way to learn Italian
Review: I lived in Italy for 9 months and when I got there I didn't speak a word. I had lots of books and resources for learning the language, but this book was the best for learning grammar and conjugation. It very clearly lays out all of the most essential Italian grammar and is very easy to learn from. This book combined with a good Italian/English dictionary is the way to go for learning Italian!
Rating:
Summary: Definitely not a stand-alone tool
Review: I paid full price for this set because I'm planning a trip to Italy. The book isn't bad but the CDs are pretty terrible. They have boring drills on numbers and vocabulary. Not at all interactive. The phrases are read in Italian and then English, but sometimes in English and then Italian without warning. Since I know no Italian, I had a hard time knowing which English word went with which Italian word (and since I was listening in my car, I couldn't check the book while driving to find out). All in all this is a pretty poor set of language tapes, and it's way overpriced. I'm sure one can do better.
Rating:
Summary: CDs are poorly organized.
Review: I paid full price for this set because I'm planning a trip to Italy. The book isn't bad but the CDs are pretty terrible. They have boring drills on numbers and vocabulary. Not at all interactive. The phrases are read in Italian and then English, but sometimes in English and then Italian without warning. Since I know no Italian, I had a hard time knowing which English word went with which Italian word (and since I was listening in my car, I couldn't check the book while driving to find out). All in all this is a pretty poor set of language tapes, and it's way overpriced. I'm sure one can do better.
Rating:
Summary: Definitely not a stand-alone tool
Review: I strongly agreed with the reviewers who described the Fodor's CD as poorly organized, too quickly spoken, and not terribly useful. In some instances they stated the English term and then followed it with the Italian; in others they stated the Italian term first. Because there was no warning about the switch, if you're not on your toes you may find yourself repeating the wrong Italian term for the English word you believe you are translating. The dialogues, while spoken at natural speed) are often not translated into English on the CD. You can go to the book to read the translation, but if you're using the CDs in traffic as I did, that's impossible. The CD ended so abruptly I thought perhaps my player had failed. All in all, it seemed as though the DC was designed and produced rapidly and without much thought. The book and CD are a great combination when your goal is to learn specific vocabulary and then hear the pronunciation of those specific key words. What I learned on the first CD - particularly numbers, dates, and times - was extremely helpful during my trip to Italy. (Although I have to admit that I listened to these sections of the CD repeatedly because I knew they would be essential.) But the CD would be a much stronger tool if it were consistently organized and included translations of the dialogues. When I had time to work on the language before my trip to Florence, I often put the Fodors CDs aside in lieu of the Michel Thomas "Speak Italian" CDs, which were also a two-CD set, but taught me the basics language rather than memorized phrases. Using Michel Thomas, I was able to construct my own, fairly complex sentences in Italy by simply looking up one or two additional vocabulary words. In terms of a phrase book, I preferred Rick Steve's. Steve's contained more practical phrases and information - some downright amusing - and it fit better in my pocket during the trip.
Rating: 
Summary: Useful introduction to Italian for travelers
Review: I thought this book was great. It was very easy to use and is organized very well. I used this book while on vacation, and I was able to find the phrases I needed fast. It has a great grammar section, too. It's divided into many sections like, dining, finding your way, shopping, etc.. Great little book!
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