In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
I found the Michel Thomas ones forked best for me......that said, Mrs Tusk disagrees and found the Rosetta Stones ones worked.
One tip; get them out at the library rather than shelling out ;)
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Although very expensive (maybe the library is an optioon) I personally think that Pimsleur is the most effective.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Thank you everyone who has given me feedback on this. I'm going to research all of the recommended programs. I also googled programs as Noble suggested and found this one in a consumer review. Does anyone have any experience with it?
Tell Me More Premium *Est. $270
Best all-around language softwareWith more than 850 hours of instruction for most languages and over 4,500 exercises for learning reinforcement, Tell Me More Premium is the most comprehensive software choice for language fluency. Available in nine languages, Tell Me More Premium has four levels of difficulty and focuses on all areas of development: speaking, listening, reading, writing, grammar, vocabulary and culture. Rosetta Stone (*est. $500), a competing comprehensive program, also gets good reviews and covers more languages, but overall, reviewers prefer Tell Me More Premium, which costs half as much.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Hey, happy to give my opinion.........but I'd seriously recommend that you save cash & "test-ride" each with the lending library :)
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
I've read about someone being irritated by the sound of Michael Thomas's false teeth!!!
This is the one I have and it got great reviews at the time I bought it. - It's in The Living Language series and entitled "Ultimate Italian" Basic To Intermediate Learn At Home or On The Go Eight CDs and 448 Page Textbook Salvatore Bianchi Published by Randon House Company. It cost around £50 (and I confess I've only got around to listening to the first disc but seems fine.
[url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_w_h_?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Ultimate+Italian+Random+House+Company&x=0&y=0]Amazon.co.uk: Ultimate Italian Random House Company[/url]
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
I would not spend money on audio-visual methods to use on your own. As suggested, try to get something from your library or there is some free software which you can download:
[url=http://www.linguasaver.com/free-italian-learning-software.php]Free Italian Learning Software[/url]
These methods are just an aid. If you want to spend money pay a teacher to give your son proper lessons. Also self-teaching, without a qualified tutor, is only for very few people who manage to complete courses on their own. Most of these expensive tools end up not being used after a few lessons.
In a way, you could say that it is like learning to play the piano on a kitchen table.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Thanks everyone! Our library is very limited in what they have - I already took out a Living Language Series from there, but it got me thinking that perhaps I could get another series through the inter-library loan program. We own the Pimsleur Series which we tried but it was so repetitive that my son and I were ready to take a sledge hammer to the disk!
We have only one other Italian speaker that we know of living in our area who is a local science teacher and an Italian. He did tutor our friend's daughter some years ago but wouldn't take any payment for it so I am hesitant to ask him. I'm also going to download the free software Gala mentioned to try.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Lisa, Libraries here in my borough in London will order most things on your behalf. Maybe yours too has the same policy. No harm in asking.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[FONT=Arial]The Michel Thomas worked for me as at the time I had little free time and have a short attention span anyway so I did it while communting to work.
I did find the two students on the CD [B]very [/B]irritating after about CD 5 but it is now sold with the revision CD's too and there are no students on the revision CD - just in case they drive you mad as well.
I think it really depends on how you learn. BBC do an integrated course which has a book, CD's and there is a TV programme if you prefer that sort of thing.[/FONT]
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[FONT="Comic Sans MS"]I agrree with a lot of what has already been said. I tried a couple of different audio courses from the library before settling on the Michel Thomas. Stuck it on the MP3 and lsiten to it whenever I can. Tried evening classes but too much asking directions etc and not enough basic grammar. Though not good yet I am trying - or so the other half tells me!![/FONT]
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Lisa, either pm me or email if you still have my details and will give you some info where you can download language progs for free as you are in the US. You do need to be computer literate, which I am sure you are!!!
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
I've just sent you a pm. Thanks so much!
I recollect a survey or Which type report, that tried to answer your question and Linguaphone got the best all round marks. Perhaps you can Google the word and see what comes up apart from the company itself?