You can speak Italian from day one!
353322
If you are interested in learning to speak a language, the Language Hacking books are for you.  Benny has you speaking Italian from the first day you start!  I was surprised at how easy it was to learn.  I have used other methods by myself to learn a new language, studying for two years and still not being able to put sentences together.  I knew lots of words but could not hold a conversation. This method is different from other methods in that you are encouraged to speak, using phrases and sentence that have meaning to you, that you would actually be able to use in common conversation. I had never spoken or even tried to learn Italian before I joined the early testing group.  Within the first week I was able to speak on video for about 30 seconds.  I was very pleased with the progress I made through each unit, speaking more and more.

The books are easy to follow and have many helpful hints about the language as you go.  The illustrations are delightful and really add to the fun of learning.  I think because of the format of this book and the method of teaching language that this book would be very helpful for anyone wanting to learn Italian.  It is very straight forward and teaches useful conversation.  There is an app that helps with pronunciation throughout the book and you can connect with italki to be able to practice with others.  Benny has hit on a superb combination of learning by writing and speaking, and he encourages using resources to add words to what you are learning that are relevant to you.
3878782
Over the summer, I've been trying to learn Italian. I took four semesters of college Italian nearly 30 years ago, and I still remember a fair amount of vocabulary. So rather than dust off my old textbooks, I am using a reading-in-context approach to develop my proficiency. This little book of stories, presented both in Italian and in English, was a great choice for this purpose. Like the stories in Volume 1, those in Volume 2 are crafted to appeal to children, but I am a teacher, so the youthful themes actually appeals to me. I also like how each of the stories teaches me a little bit about Italian geography, culture, and history. The Italian texts and English texts are not direct translations of each other, however. This threw me off for awhile, but once I read each story several times in Italian and develop a more solid grasp of the vocabulary and grammar, I find that I no longer need to reference the English text, so it didn't matter any longer than the two texts weren't a perfect match.

I can see this would be a very useful volume for parents or teachers to use with bilingual children (or children who are learning one language or the other). Author Anastacia Hawkin's storylines and characters are interesting and the dialogue is actually great fun to read aloud.  Leo Latti's illustrations are colorful and attractive, and they provide some extra 'context' to aid in word recognition. Most of the vocabulary seems to be what native-born English-speaking children entering school would have in their mental lexicons, though there are a few low-frequency words sprinkled on every page, to stretch readers' meaning vocabulary knowledge. With regard to the Italian vocabulary used by translator Claudia Cerulli, that also seemed to me to be based on what is likely the oral language foundation of children in the early elementary grades, with a few harder words here and there. The reason I believe that to be the case is that I knew a fair percentage of the words, and I could infer most of the others from context--yet my own Italian proficiency is still somewhat limited at this point.

One very small criticism has to do with the layout of the parallel texts. I prefer it when the page is divided in half, vertically, so that as I read in my target language, I can reference the other language simply by sliding my eyes to the left or right column. Here, several paragraphs of Italian are followed by several paragraphs of Italian, and sometimes the reader has to turn a page to read the English version of what was just presented in Italian on the previous page. This is a graphic design issue that I think could be remedied easily in future editions.

Also, I do wish that the publisher offered an audio CD containing professional recordings of the stories in both English and Italian. That would be a very helpful tool for language learners, especially if the readers' rate could be manually controlled, as it can to some degree with Audible books.  If this was available, I would definitely buy it.
109911
I ordered this for one of my best friends whose husband was just transferred to Naples, Italy with the Navy. As soon as she received it, she popped it in and called to let me know she was VERY happy with this disk. She said it was simple to follow and moves at a great pace. She plans to listen to it on the long plane ride over to Italy. I know this will not be the only tool she uses to try and master the Italian language, but I thought it might be a good starting point, and she seems to agree. Good to know this will be of some help to her!
2975084
The conversational nouns and verbs were very well chosen.  This book is  the perfect starter book for children and adults.  You should grow out of  it in three months, but it makes the transition to a more advanced Italian  learning book much easier.
4040612
It took me most of my life to become fluent in Spanish, yet I was able to learn Romanian in less than two months. If only I had known about Pimsluer sooner... Seriously if you want to lean any language this is the system to use.  The lessons are easy to follow and practice. It took about two months to get through the courses and repeat some sections.  I just listened in the car when I drove places.  The teachers are easy to follow and the sentences they teach you are easy to pick up. And before I knew it, I had learned about 50 key sentences to get through basic conversations. One thing I have learned in speaking with actual Romanians is that how I speak is formal, compared to how they speak.  But like all language lessons, its better to start formal and then learn slang.
I saw two ladies complain that the lessons seem to be oriented towards men picking up women, I don't think that was entirely accurate after finishing the course, but I do acknowledge that did happen a couple times. But if you are a woman its good to learn to recognize when you are being picked up on to.
And a word to the wise, once you have learned the course... They teach you that the word for "you" is "dumnavastra", which is the formal version, everyone in the country says "tu" (two) like in Spanish for the word you.
After the lessons, I spoke with my friend and she was very impressed by how much of her language I was able to learn in such a short period of time.  This is def the right aid to learn Romanian.
The lessons are given to you by download or on CD's and are very easy to use anywhere. Unlike, Rosetta Stone, which is complex to set up, this is just as easy as throwing in a CD and listening to it.  And they break the lessons up into 30 min sections. So its not overwhelming to learn each day.
Bottom line is, order this program. It really works and is very user friendly.
La Revedere
4588502
This reader is well thought out for someone who has had an intro course in basic Italian. The short stories continually expand the vocabulary, grammar, and idioms. The little stories and jokes are very entertaining to read. They read like real italian conversation, instead of stilted standard phrases. Vocabulary definitions are added at the bottom of the pages as the new words are introduced, so flipping to the dictionary in the back is not needed very often.
833546
This Italian language series is excellent and very practical. I had it on "tape" and studied before I went to Italy a few years ago, and I was entirely able to get around and communicate in Italian. I now needed it on CD -hence this acquisition. This series knows the practical language needs based on the culture..types of things a novice would not know. It also breaks things up into levels very well. I had only gotten through level 1 and did well... Tenses would have needed more time that I didn't have - oh well!! Overall I highly recommend this series.
627226
This is an amazing system. I love it!!! I can not wait to go to Italy and use my newly learned Italian! This a great system to learn a new language!
83721
I LOVE this little book!  I speak only a little Italian and this is actually a great tool to learn conversational Italian; you can indeed understand the main plot of what's happening even if you are not fluent.  I've had to re-read the stories to better understand but this is mostly for learning. The stories and fun with good humor and they have good little plots for a book of this type.  It's definitely worth the money; I have it on Kindle (on my Android) which seems to be a fine format.
4099241
I am going to Italy next summer and want a head start on learning the language. This book has been helping me so much I bought the paperback version so I could carry it with me at all times.
536016
Initally when I began studying Italian, I listened to language CD's in the car.  While that helped somewhat, it was "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Learning Italian (Third Edition)" that really made sense of what I was listening to.  Following the initial phase to self-study, I took evening classes at a local college, and "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Learning Italian (FORTH Edition)" really came into play!  It made the class SO MUCH EASIER!!!  Easier to grasp the difficult grammatical concepts, easier to pronounce correctly, and especially easier to understand exactly HOW to study Italian (or I suppose any foreign language)!!
I would highly recommend this book over ANY OTHER Italian language study books (-and I have quite a collection by now)!  I would especially recommend it to those who are beginning and intermediate level.  The tips, tricks and lessons are as simple as they are invaluable!
2652926
I recently purchased Teach Yourself One-Day Italian before a trip to Venice, Italy.  I purchased the CD as a supplement to a 16 lessons set of Pimsleur Italian I had purchased and Michel Thomas' Deluxe Italian 8 CD set.  I was very impressed with Elisabeth Smith's format and presentation.  Far superior to any one CD language lesson I have come across and listened to.  The CD provides exactly what it offers - 50 important words and a few sentences to help you on vacation.  The format was very entertaining and instructive.  It was easy and fun to listen to the CD over and over again as reinforcement of the learning process.  I highly recommend this CD to anyone who wants to learn a few basic words and sentences before a trip.  I was so impressed that I purchased all of Elisabeth Smith's other Teach Yourself One-Day CDs (French, German, Spanish and Greek).  They all follow the same format.  I always appreciate knowing a few basic words of the language of the country I am visiting.  Typically, I use Pimsleur Level 1 CDs to get a basic grasp of a language and learn how to correctly pronounce the words.  However, Pimsleur is costly.  For those interested in just learning a few words at a great cost, you can't go wrong purchasing any of the Teach Yourself One-Day language CDs.  The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because she made me want to learn another 50 words right away.  I would immediately purchase any CD Ms. Smith would put out that offered to teach me 100 to 300 basic words and sentences using a similar learning format. Thank you for a great product.  I only hope others will purchase these little gems to keep them in circulation.

One caveat regarding the Teach Yourself One-Day Spanish.  This CD uses the pronunciation of the Spanish of Spain rather than the Spanish of South America.  Spaniards pronounce the letter "z" and the letter "c" before e or i as the "th" in the word "teeth" rather than as an s. It comes out sounding like a lisp.  Therefore, in Spain they pronounce bicicleta as "bithicleta."  The CDs in her series are aimed for tourists visiting Europe and not Latin America.  So there is no problem with her CDs for Italian, German, French or Greek.  However, the Spanish CD pronounces and uses words more typical of Spain than Latin America.
3841312
This was a very nice way to experience Italy. The narrator had a lovely Italian accent, and I learned many new things about the Italian landscape. I cannot wait to see it in person.
4028150
I have cousins in Milan and this book will be a great help since I think we will visit them this holiday, not sure though but this book will be my way to learn Italian and make more friends in their great city! Very excited and will definitely memorized common words like Meraviglioso!
158102
I am teaching myself Italian for an upcoming trip.  I meant to buy a grammar book, but bought this.  What I really like about it is that from the first step, if you've been doing any basic practice, then you'll be able to jump in, follow the quick lessons, and then do the exercises.  Don't forget that the back has a dictionary that will cover most of the words that you might not remember in the book.

Couples well with flashcards and some basic grammar practice.
3742686
For the low price, you definitely get your money's worth! The program covers numbers, telling time, basic words, sentences, colors, nations, foods, names of body parts, and more! I especially like that each word is pronounced, not just by one person, but by a man and a woman, so you get a little bit of variation on acceptable pronunciation. And it even has a feature where a word is first said by the software, then you say the word (you need to have a mic) and then you get to hear how your pronunciation sounds compared to how the software says it. There are tests, both easy and hard, which I personally enjoyed. And there's a game show type test option that is kind of cute and fun too. And all this is just on the FIRST of the five disks! The other disks cover such things as pronunciation tests (the software critiques how well you pronounce the words), an interactive picture Dictionary (Kind of like the Rosetta Stone Explorer series), and a cool game called "Who is Oscar Lake?" where based on how well you do will determine if you win the day or end up in prison.
While you'll not become fluent in German with just this software, you'll certainly be able to make your way around Germany just fine after using this software.
That's My Opinion, But You're Welcome To It.
2635892
Great tool for my husband to learn Italian and to also help me keep my skills up!  I speak Italian and learned from my mom growing up, but I've found that over the years I've lost a little and have never really learned large enough amounts of the language anyway to really have a meaningful conversation with my cousins in Italy.  This set really helps me to reinforce the skills I already have and solidify them.  It is also very helpful to my husband who I have provided a foundation to, he can build upon what he already knows and things really start to make sense to him when he listens to the CDs and recognizes some of the concepts.  Just as an FYI, my current level is I can definitely get by in Italy, no problem, but I'd probably have a hard time with professionally translating if that were my line of work. :)