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Summary: Great way to learn italian.
Review: After getting Ultimate Italian, I was suprised at how fast I started picking up the language. The audio cassettes are excellent and get you speaking italian quickly. To pick up a few phrases go through the lessons quickly or take your time and learn all the grammatical details. Well worth the price and should be on the top of your list if you would like to learn Italian!
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Summary: Outstanding Italian language course
Review: As a language major I have taken many university classes and used numerous audio-visual home-study courses over the past 36 years, and I feel that this is quite simply the very best language set available. After going through the book and home-use set of 4 tapes once, I listened several more times to the set of review tapes for use "on-the-go". I had no problems traveling alone throughout Italy, and even received compliments on my Italian. The lessons cover nearly all the verb tenses, grammar, and syntax of the Italian language and provide a good vocabulary to start speaking, reading, and traveling. If you're serious about learning Italian, you'll find this set to be a real bargain.
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Summary: Good course (and 'weekend' IS used in contemporary Italian!)
Review: Even with its problems (not enough time for learners to voice answers during speaking exercises, etc.), this course is one of the better ones on the market and I highly recommend it. By the way, 'il weekend' is indeed part of contemporary Italian and, as I noticed during a recent stay in Italy, is used by many people, including those who have little or no knowledge of English. It has become so common that in teaching publications such as 'Acquerello Italiano' it is rarely glossed, and it appears even in the smaller editions of the Harper Collins dictionaries. (In the HC 1995 New Standard Edition, interestingly enough, the Italian equivalents for the English entry 'weekend' are listed as 'weekend' and 'fine settimana', in that order.)
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Summary: Limited Usefulness
Review: I have now completed the first eleven lessons in Ultimate Italian. I enjoy the program of text and CDs, and certainly am learning some Italian -- the pronunciation is excellent, the text is clear and logical [but with errors! attenti!], but I find the Learn on the Go CDs almost useless. The speakers speak too rapidly; the phrases and sentences are too complex; not enough instruction is given in order for the student to reply; and there is little repetition.
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Summary: This is how I learned Italian
Review: I have spent an enormous amount of money on materials and lessons in order to learn to speak Italian. Most of the money I spent, unfortunately, was wasted. If I had it to do over, I would simply invest in Ultimate Italian for understanding the mechanics of the language and the Pimsleur program for gaining the verbal skills. Ultimate Italian is systematic in it's approach, which helped me to move steadily through the chapters. I've been through this book three times now. A tremendous value.
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Summary: This is how I learned Italian
Review: I have spent an enormous amount of money on materials and lessons in order to learn to speak Italian. Most of the money I spent, unfortunately, was wasted. If I had it to do over, I would simply invest in Ultimate Italian for understanding the mechanics of the language and the Pimsleur program for gaining the verbal skills. Ultimate Italian is systematic in it's approach, which helped me to move steadily through the chapters. I've been through this book three times now. A tremendous value.
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Summary: Good for Beginners
Review: I have wasted so much time (and money) trying to locate a good program for learning Italian. The Ultimate Italian: Basic Intermediate is worth every penny.Pros: 1) The first 4 CD's leave no guesswork as to what is being spoken because the manual has all the dialogue for you to follow along (not so common with book/CD combinations). 2) You can start using the CD's on day one. You don't have to read several "primer" pages before jumping in. 3) The lessons are actually IN ORDER. This may sound strange, but many books jump around in a sequence that confuses the reader. Such as; from verbs to indirect objects THEN to introductions and vocabulary. 4) The CD's are NOT boring...a big plus because you'll find yourself using them OFTEN, especially the last 4 CD's which are designed for "on the go" listening, in the car or wherever. 5) After completing the program (if you apply yourself), you will no doubt be able to carry on a useful conversation and write with grammatical accuracy. 6) The program states that it is "equivalent" to 2 years of Italian college study. This is true. 7) 8 full hours of audio...excellent. Cons: 1) Not enough vocabulary. However, this is true for every Italian program I've bought. Make sure you have a good, up to date English/Italian dictionary if you buy this program. 2) Lack of computer CD. This would have been an excellent plus to augment vocabulary.
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Summary: .:: THE BEST ::.
Review: I simply wish to affirm the above comments [including the oddity of the translation of "weekend" as "weekend" when it should be "fine settimana". This is a wonderful and easy-to-use kit. My only regret is that it wasn't available on CD sooner [before Nov. 2000], so I could use it more readily [such as in my car].
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Summary: An excellent program for studying the Italian language.
Review: I've been looking around for a good study program for Italian for quite some time. This is it! Very complete and well-written. Even though I've just halfway completed all the lessons, my Italian friends are quite surprised by my progress. And I owe it to this book. I'm looking forward to the Advanced version.
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Summary: One of the best yet!
Review: I've self-learned languages using audiotapes and CD's before. This particular series "Ultimate Italian" has got be one the top three. What's useful is that there are two versions - one for "in the car" and the other for "at home". This program was designed for both separately. It is up-to-date and addresses all daily usage vocbularies. Good one!
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