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Rating: 
Summary: Really loosens up your tongue
Review: I agree with previous reviewers who say this course should be a supplement to a college class or a comprehensive book/tape course. Visual learners or those with an analytical thinking style will appreciate separate grammar instruction. That said, no one I know (nor myself with French or German) ever acquired fluency in a foreign language taking college-type courses alone. The Pimsleur method brings innumerable phrases/sentences to the tip of your tongue for immediate use or modification.Yes, Pimsleur is ridiculously (...), but I don't agree with suggestions to sell the course after completing it. I can tell you that the material is forgotten as quickly as it is learned if you don't practice the language. The tapes/CDs are a great (if time-consuming) way to review Italian for future trips. Also, I found the lessons to greatly improve my pronunciation, even though I have a native Italian as my classroom teacher. It's a big help to be able to replay sentences to hear subtle pronunciation differences and imitate them repeatedly. They work very well in the car. But I wonder whom other drivers think I'm talking to?
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Summary: It is the best audio learning option I could find
Review: I just completed Pimsleur Italian I and I'm very pleased with it. I am now beginning Pimsleur Italian II.
The course is not perfect but it is far superior to all of the other audio courses I have tried or examined. As somone familiar with earning theory, I absolutely agree that Pimsleur duplicates the same language acquistion method we use to acquire language as children. I have, however, some suggestions for gaining the most from the course.
1. Get a good dictionary, a verb conjugation book and look up words in the lessons so that you can write them down. Aural learning is great but accompanying visual learning it is even better.
2. After listening to each lesson a few times, write them out, in sequence, on 3x5 cards and use them as "drill flash cards" (I put the English on the front and the Italian on the back and fill each card up with as many phrases as would fit). This is a bit of work but also extremely helpful for forming a Gestalt. My wife and I drill each other using the cards and it is a nice change from the CD's.
3. Since Pimsleur does not systematically or comprehensively offer those specific phrases and nouns that tourists need (e.g., helpful travel phrases, helpful in-hotel phrases and objects like "pillow," "soap," etc.), as you go, put such phrases together on "Extra" 3x5 cards and commit them to memory. This is easy within the context of the Pimsleur method because you will already be learning how to put sentences together--one of Pimsleur's strengths.
4. Each lesson starts with a dialogue. After a few listenings, be sure to write the dialogue down in sequence so that you can read aloud along with the CD. This combination of aural and visual learning greatly enhances your ability to cope with the speed with which the speakers on the CD speak the language. I found at times that ther speed was so confusing it sounded like they were using words that had not yet been introduced or included in the lesson under consideration. However, once I figured out and wrote the dialogue down (using the forward/back buttons on my CD player to re-listen multiple times) it all came very clear and my ear improved dramatically.
5. Don't expect to learn each lesson after two or three listenings. We listen to the lessons at least 10 or 15 times each. We also, for the first few times through a new lesson, hit the pause button after being asked to translate a phrase from English into Italian in order to avoid the pressure resulting from the short space of time they give you to come up with the answer-translation. We found that we could, after a few listenings, dispense with the longer pause as we learned the phrases.
6. Finally, I suggest that you wait until you've learned all the lessons before bothering with the reading practice. You can do the reading at the end because the reading is not connected in any meaningful way to the lesson that precedes it. The reading is useful however, because it helps you to read and pronounce more accurately.
In summary, I'm very pleased with the Pimsleur approach and plan to buy and study Pimsleur II and III.
Incidentally, I called Pimsleur and asked them if they sold an addendum transcript booklet of the disks but was told that such a transcript flew in the face of their theoretical belief about how one should learn a language. While I don't agree, I admire their integrity. They could sell a ton of such transcript booklets if they so chose.
Rating:
Summary: Phenominal
Review: Pimsleur Italian I is the most effortless language program I've ever encountered. The program introduces new material at such a gradual pace that it's barely perceptible. I was astounded, however, at how much I had learned by the end of the program. Before starting Pimsleur I read a few pages from an Italian grammar book and was completely overwhelmed. After finishing Italian I, I reread the grammar material and, although Pimsleur rarely presents grammatical rules explicitly, I was able to infer them to such a degree that not only did the grammar seem manageable, but it felt more like review.
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Summary: Pimsleur Italian I : Very Impressive !!
Review: Pimsleur Level I is the best introduction to the Italian language you can have. At the end of Level I, you will not have an in-depth knowlege of the Italian language, but what you will have is a thorough grounding of how to use many essential greetings and phrases. The key here is - you will KNOW what you have learned. You will NOT have to refer back to the phrase book from your other, less expensive course. This is the success of Pimsleur products, you actually LEARN and AQUIRE language! Furthermore, you will be well grounded to move on to more advanced Italian fluency found in the other Pimsleur Italian levels. I am now well into level III and I am not disappointed or sorry for having taken my time and money into these programs. If you are serious about language aquisition, you will soon realize fluency demands dedication and months of practice. I listened to almost every lesson 2 times, and I soon learned that if you listen to a lesson, and then go back to it the next day (instead of repeating the lesson within a few hours), your comprehension is greatly enhanced. If you are genuinely serious about learning a language, particularly Italian, get Pimsleur I and then levels II and III. These are not the "express" way to get through Italian, but "express" methods simply do not work unless your language needs are for hailing taxi's in Rome! You will find Pimsleur Italian I (and the others) quite enjoyable as well, and I don't think you will be disappointed! Good luck!
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Summary: Pimsleur Method by far the best
Review: The bottom line is, when you're trying to use the language in a foreign country, you need to have a a few dozen words and phrases on the tip of your tongue at all times (e.g. dove, abito, che cosa, Quale la strada per Roma etc.) Pimsleur is the best at doing this. The Pimsleur Method is excellent in that it beats these basic phrases into your head by introducing them to you, making you say it multiple times, then asking you to repeat it again 10 minutes later. You're asked to recall a phrase sometimes when you least expect it--forcing you to truly know your comprehension. Most language tapes I've used just get too overwhelming--they pack dozens of words and phrases onto an hour cassette. The Pimsleur tapes take the same material and stretch it out over several tapes and build in the repetition exercises. There's an English speaking narrator which is essential when you're getting started. Eventually there's less and less English, but always enough so you know what's going on. You do need a grammar book to supplement your learning as there is a dearth of written material that I haven't found helpful as other reviewers have mentioned. Often times you hear a word and don't know if it's Che or K--seeing it written was extremely helpful. I used Italian I last fall before going to Italy and it worked wonders. I'm on to Italian II now where you get into past tense--which wasn't covered at all in all 30 tapes of Level 1. Finally, check with your local library if the cost is prohibitive; it's worked well for me.
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Summary: This will get you talking!
Review: This is the program to buy. If I were to start over again on learing Italian, I would purchase Ultimate Italian for the understanding of the language and Pimsleur for the verbal skills. I spent 9 months in lessons and was unable to engage in conversations. It wasn't until the I went through the Pimsleur programs (I'm currently on the III level), that I felt comfortable enough to go to the local conversation group in town. Level I gets you started by going very slowly and methodically. The first few tape take you syllable by syllable. As I progressed I felt confident that I had gained a solid foundation before advancing. This program can be used on it's own, but the benefits increase dramatically when supplemented by more traditional materials (such as Ultimate Italian). The book learning helps to better understand the conjugations in Pimsleur, while Pimsleur makes the it possible to speak in logical sentences.
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