Which books/audio tapes/DVDs do you recommend to learn Italian?

Question

I'm going to Rome in March 2007 to run the marathon in support of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. It would be great if I could learn the basics of Italian by then. I'm fluent in French so I do have a head-start in the romance language arena.

Answer 1

First of all you made a good decision, to learn some Italian before heading over to Rome.   I did that too before my June 2006 trip and although most people there seem to know English, the locals really appreciate it when you make an effort to speak to them in their own language.  It is also fun !  And I commend you for going to Rome for a charitable purpose!!

Some books I used were  "The Everything Learning Italian Book" by Michael P. San Filippo, "Learn Italian the Easy Way" published "by Barrons and written by Marcel Danesi.  Both give easy to understand lessons and have practice exercises in the books.  The Barron's book also has a version that comes with audio tapes.  There is another Barron's book that is more comprehensive called " Italian Now".  All of these can be purchased at a book store such as Barnes and Noble or Borders. You can check online on Amazon.com too.  If you go to your bookstore, you can look for a box of 1000 Italian flashcards called "Sparknotes Study Cards" in the same section as the foreign language books...this is a good way to quickly build up your vocabulary.

Italian for Dummies" is another one I bought. Also check around your area for adult ed classes in Conversational Italian. Your school district or local college probably has something, and it is not for college credit, but instead for people just like you who will be travelling and are looking to communicate in Italian.

I was able to learn enough on my own in three months to ask basic questions, greet people, order many food items in Italian and make simple conversation.  It is a good idea to learn numbers too, and it is not hard.  I enjoyed doing trasactions in shops in Italian, but you do need to know what the asking price is! Since you know French you are off to a nice start (unfortunately I forgot alot of my High School French by now!) as there are some similarities.

Again, you made a great decision to communicate to the locals in their language and I guarantee you are going to have a wonderful time doing it.  The Italian people will go out of their way for you and it will definitely enhance your experience there.  Ciao!! And buon viaggio!!!

Answer 2

is more easy to live here....like this you can learn beter and faster !!!

Ask me what you want to know... the basic wards...

Ciao !!! :)