First trip to Italy, pretty much a tourist trip. I have been brushing up on my high-school Italian with 6 CDs by Living Language. I feel confident that I can order a cheese sandwich, and thank everyone who helps me.

Will there be a need to have a real command of the language or will there always be someone around to bail me out ??

I want to respect the people and culture and really make an effort to speak the language. Are phrase books/dictionaries or translation software useful, or am I better off just speaking english when in doubt ??

il vostro aiuto è apprezzato

hi DonnieD-Ihave used the Living Language sustem when I first b egan to study the language and think they are good. I think you are learning for the exact right reason. It takes quite awhile to have a "real command" of any language, and IMO, if this is a tourist trip, you should be fine with this method, and then by trying to use what you have learned every day as much as possible, even if you make a few mistakes at first, you'll probably easily find those who will gladly help you. Learning a language adds a wonderful new dimension to travel, so enjoy yourself, and best of luck to you!

Donnie,
I think it's great that you're working on your Italian! Too many people don't make any effort to learn or speak the language of the country they're visiting.

I'm kind of a fanatic about trying to learn the language of any country I visit. (How many people are crazy enough to work for months studying Czech for a 4 day visit to Prague!)

But I think people really appreciate any effort you can make to speak their language, and it's also great mental "exercise" to learn languages.

I've used Living Language CDs, and they're good, but my favorite language system is Pimsleur. The Pimsleur language CDs are terribly expensive, but they reinforce each lesson over and over until you really know it.

Now Barnes & Noble (and probably other book stores, too) have started carrying introductory Pimsleur sets that are less expensive than the complete sets.

If you're interested in learning more, you might check them out.

The truth is, though, you'll be able to get by just fine with very little Italian. That's not to say that everybody speaks English, but you'll be amazed how well you can communicate with a few words combined with gestures and sign language.

We just got back from Italy last night. I don't think you'll find anywhere on earth where people want to be able to communicate more than in Italy regardless of any language barriers. It was interesting that everyone working at McDonald's (after 3 weeks I had to finally give in to the often repeated request by an 11 year old) spoke English perfectly, yet at Fiumcino Airport the woman responsible for approving the VAT tax refunds spoke none. Perhaps that's just their way of making sure the tax money stays in Italy because we can't figure out what they're saying. By and large however I found that everyone is willing to listen to our very bad Italian but prefer to answer in English (particularly in Rome and Venice). Even if they don't speak English well or at all, Italians are the great communicators of the world so whatever efforts you have made to learn their language will be appreciated but not necessary. Therefore, whatever method of learning Italian you have chosen should be the right one. One thing is for certain, you'll have a great time.

I join the other posters in congratulating you on trying to learn some of the language of the country you will be visiting. Far too few people do...

As a little bit of encouragement: I've traveled to many countries in Europe and the one where your effort to speak the language is most appreciated, in my experience, is without a doubt Italy.

Hi, try

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/italian/

very useful, and free.
HTH

A sincere thanks to all who replied. I really appreciate BKD, who logged on this website the day after returning from Italy.

The message that I got from all of you has encouraged me to continue learning and I now know that my best effort will be appreciated by the Italian people.

I plan on having alot of fun with this. I'll post upon my return to let you know how it went.

Io parto in sei settimanne per Roma e Positano.