taconictraveler

I was wondering if anyone has taken their Italian language tapes or CDs along with them to Italy (or other Europe) so they could listen to them on stereos at hotels and rentals??

I wonder if the CDs are like video tapes, (they, like phones, don't work on same frequency, or whatever you call it for video tapes??)

Anybody know about this?? thanks.

ira

Hi ta,

AFAIK, unlike DVDs, CDs work all over the world.

Enjoy your visit.

taconictraveler

Thank you! what is AFAIK? (showing ignorance here)

Lindateach

As Far As I Know

taconictraveler

OMG. I'm REALLY ignorant. thanks.

J62

What is OMG?

J62

Just kidding - I do know what OMG is.

I'll use language CDs when I travel the TSP, but I don't like to lug around a bunch of CDs to Europe. Also, not every hotel will have a CD player. This is where having an ipod, or even a cheap little MP3 player and some airplane headsets is great. They take up no room, and you can fit many, many cd's on one player.

suze

I would use the CD's in advance at home and learn as much as you can. I don't see any point in taking them along on the trip. And I'll bet you a million bucks right now, once you get there you won't use them!!

I do travel with both a phrase book & a small dictionary.

kybourbon

Or you can download free language lessons to your Ipod.You might start with My Daily Phrase Italian. I think there are 100 lessons you can d/l. Much easier to travel with than CD's/tapes. You might want to download some of the free walking tours of the Colosseum/Forum, etc. by Rick Steves and others.
http://www.ricksteves.com/news/podcast_menu.htm

Pierreci has d/l's for various sites in Rome and Naples.
http://www.pierreci.it/EN.aspx?DefaultLanguage=EN

Just find the site you want and scroll down to the language choices.
http://www.pierreci.it/en/museums-an.../colosseo.aspx

StCirq

Yeah, I wouldn't take language tapes ON the vacation - I'd use them right up until you leave, and then assume your exposure to the language while there will bolster what you've learned. I bet you won't use them, either.

Just turn on the telly in your hotel room every night for an hour or so and you'll learn loads. Read signs as you move about. Listen to people's conversations. Take notes. But listening to CDs on vacation? Not going to happen, IMO.

Peter_S_Aus

Maybe St Cirq and I have been watching different television in Italy. My take on Italian TV, from when we stayed there 18 months ago:

We don’t watch television much. Venetian TV seems to comprise movies dubbed into Italian by interpreters whose first language is Arabic. The alternative is soap operas that make “The Bold and the Beautiful” appear quite Shakespearean, or game shows that make “The Price is Right” look philosophically sophisticated. One particular game show seems designed to provide a venue for a woman with exceptional legs and miniskirt with a length measured in microns to prance across the stage, shaking her Watusi. Shot, as one would expect, from low camera angles.

But the language WAS Italian, and probably more interesting than the set of language CD's that the OP thinks of taking.

Enjoy Italy - it's tthe best.

taconictraveler

Well thank you all for your ideas. You are prob. correct StCirq, I've done such things before: ambitiously brought all sorts of study stuff that never came out of the suitcase, and Peter: I'm afraid we won't have a tv at the little house we are renting. Too bad, watching those soaps would be so much fun, I'd never want to go out an enjoy Umbria!

I think I'll try to get the Italian version of LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL, the Italian is supposed to be very beautiful and very "Tuscan" whatever that means - and I can watch that before I leave.

taconictraveler

Well thank you all for your ideas. You are prob. correct StCirq, I've done such things before: ambitiously brought all sorts of study stuff that never came out of the suitcase, and Peter: I'm afraid we won't have a tv at the little house we are renting. Too bad, watching those soaps would be so much fun, I'd never want to go out an enjoy Umbria!

I think I'll try to get the Italian version of LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL, the Italian is supposed to be very beautiful and very "Tuscan" whatever that means - and I can watch that before I leave.

Aduchamp1

I am with StCirq. It is the difference between studying in a classroom and actual experiece. You will spemd your testing your rudimentary Italian but if the tapes have "The comoputer blew up" section it will not be of much assistance the following day.

suze

Buy a local daily newspaper and try to read the articles. I find I have much better reading comprehension than I do speaking or understanding foreign languages (both french and spanish).

AlessandraZoe

Totally with all posters above in just doing all you can up to the time you get there.

I have always used "phrase book with notecard" method once on the ground if I'm unsure of my abilities (often!), and I do enjoy picking up the local newspaper to see if I'm absorbing the language. If you are staying in same place for a long time, make a deal with a local to correct his/her English if he/she will correct your Italian. Works!

Too bad you are missing Italian TV. Italian game shows are unbelievable!!!! Don't watch them in US; we're fixated in Italy.

charnees

Be sure you learn, from my Daily Phrase Italian, how to say "I locked my key in my room" I burst out laughing when I heard that one!! Never thought about it before, but it would be very useful, non e vero?

taconictraveler

Thanks all. Lots of good ideas. Mostly, leave the tapes home. I'm having enough trouble trying to decide about bringing my iPhone. I guess I will. Just a questions of turning it off most of the time and only using for emergency with the "World Traveler" mode in use.

How do you say "senior citizen" in Italian. I haven't come across that yet, or maybe I have and have forgotten? thanks.

mimipam

Well, I know very little about iphone but my husband has one and has a language app on it. You put in the words in English and then hit whatever language you want it translated into. This might be too elementary for you but maybe it would be of help.