For our upcoming trip we plan on driving through Tuscany. So I think it might be helpful to learn a little more Italian than "hello" "thank you" and so forth. Can anyone recommend a good audio CD to help me learn? I don't live in a large city with a library decent enough to provide me with any useful materials. Thank you all for you assistance!

For our trip last September I tried to learn some Italian and was very glad I did. I really enjoyed my attempt at conversation with local people and they seemed to really appreciate my efforts. I had studied French in school and I live in a Hispanic area of the country so I have picked up some Spanish. I found Italian very easy to learn, especially since it seemed so much like Spanish in many ways. At our local bookstore I found 2 beginner textbooks/workbooks on Italian. These were very helpful. I also ordered a CD from National Geographic on teaching yourself Italian. In addition, I bought a CD called "Learn Italian in Your Car." Finally, there is a very helpful website: http://www.geocities.com/f_pollett/
I hope this is the correct web address for "Teach Yourself Italian."
Good luck and have fun.

There are a few free online resources for learning italian. Most are pretty basic, but this one has an excellent amount of useful info, including word lists, useful phrases and an extensive section on grammar:
http://www.abavagada.net/tongues/italian/index.php


studiarlo bene!

Do you live near a small community college or university? Maybe you could take a class. Might be a fun thing to do alone or with a travel companion to get ready!

Hello! barnesandnoble.com has language classes online. Go to their site and click the link for B&N University. I took the Italian one a couple years ago and found it useful. I just checked it out and they now charge for the class but it seems more complex than when I took the free class. Good luck!

I picked up a set of CD's from my local library..Pilseur is the name I believe. They are in my car right now. Easy to listen to in the car. I would recommend them. I tried Berlitz and couldn't stand it!

Thank you all for your responses. After looking at the wide variety of CD's available online, my head was starting to spin and I needed some direction.

I was in Italy several years ago and agree that they did appreciate my efforts at basic phrases. At times I'd even ask them how to say something and that was a good way to pick up some key phrases. I learned how to order a small cone that way - that came in handy at least three times a day!

I checked at the local library and, despite not having one book from Fodors, Frommers, Loney Planet, etc., they do have the Pimsleur Italian CD's. I'm very excited (and stunned)! So I'll give that a try and let you know how I do.

Thanks again!

I'm working with Transparent Language's Italian cd. I'm not listening/studying it every day but I am remembering bits and pieces - which is convincing me to try and do it every day.

www.transparent.com

I've used the "Living Language" guide. It comes with audiotapes, a book that goes along with the tapes, and a dictionary. I really enjoy this method because it's multi-sensory; you're reading it, hearing it, and speaking it all at the same time. The dictionary is compact and easy to take along with you. I probably got this set online through Barnes and Noble or Amazon--can't remember. I agree, Italian is an easy and fun language to learn!

My husband and I have taken community courses, and gotten workbooks and Pimsleur tapes. Now we can understand simple Italian.

I just got the "Learn in Your Car Italian" and it's wonderful. It's good to know that I can at least figure out directions, how to order and just make an effort in someone elses country.

The Linguafun card games come with a cassette tape. The cards are divided into a red set, a white set and a blue set. When you combine them, they make hundreds of sentences. You can go through it with the cards so you recognize the words too.

These are great because when you learn all the cards (17 of each color), you can combine them in all kind of ways to make your own sentences. You can also substitute other words you learn into the sentences. There are card games to play for reinforcement, and the back of the tape has a language "test" game which is useful.

I used these for a couple years before I took a real language course at the local college and discovered I was way ahead of the class.

There is a "Family Series" and a "Travel Series." There is some overlap, but we got both and you really can converse after you've used them a while. They're available at Borders, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com.

Good luck.

I just bought Primsleur Russian CD's that I am working on every time I get in the car to drive somewhere. I did not get the huge (and expensive) set. Being very realistic, I bought the conversational set (8 CD's with two lessons on each CD). If I get through them all, I will reevaluate getting the more expensive set.

What you learn is simple tourist vocabulary. You are certainly not going to be fluent in a few months. That would require much longer serious study. The goal is to just help you get around.

I will be taking an elderhostel tour to Moscow and St. Petersburg in June focussed on theater and the arts. Given that it is a tour, I will probably have someone around most of the time to help me out. I just thought it would be fun to learn a little Russian.

By the way, I did have a year of Russian in high school and a lot of it is coming back due to the CD's. You sometimes have to play them a few times before you "get" the lesson in its entirety.

I am sure the Italian ones are similar.

there's a Hugo one that's excellent

PIMSLEUR is the best!!! I have checked out many different Italian tapes from our library and Pimsleur is by far the most helpful. He/she breaks each word and sound down and continuously reviews. It is a quick way to learn while sitting in traffic.

Thank you all for your excellent advice. There are so many to choose from. I have some time, so if one method doesn't work for me, I can always try another.

Soleil - I'm so jealous "I have checked out many different Italian tapes from our library." I wish I had that option. I miss living in Raleigh and having everything I want at my fingertips.

By the way, a friend suggested using Muzzy to learn a language. I think Muzzy is a children's cartoon and the lessons are geared towards children. But my friend said he knows of two people that learned Spanish with Muzzy.