Customer Reviews
Bene, Bene!! - By: Guitar Heroine, 23 Oct 2008 
As someone who has wanted to learn Italian for ages, & who is also busy, when I saw this item, I was excited & it gave me the impetus to actually do something about my desire to speak Italian.
I'm at a slight advantage, having taken an A Levelin Latin, that it was easy for me to pick up.
As for the product itself, while it won't get you a GCSE, it'll more than cover youin holding a conversation & going on holiday without being a typical bumbling Brit abroad.
You get 2 CDs & a book, & can work with the 2 together, so listening & reading, or you can take a CD with you on the move. As an audio-visual person, I found it easier with the book, I must admit. It is not at all taxing & you pick things up very quickly.
I'd certainly recommend it for a beginner, & if the Spanish & French sets are the same as this, I'd recommend them too.
Well put together but not revolutionary! - By: A. I. Mackenzie, 14 Apr 2008 As explainedin the other reviews you get a two CD set & an A5 booklet with this pack.
It's all been nicely put together for the beginner (this is definitely aimed at the phrase book/ tourist market) & the stand alone CD is a good idea.
However the main problem with this is the inclusion of Tony Buzan's mind maps - I just can't see that they are helpfulin learning a language.
It's also quite annoying that he lays claim to teaching techniques that really wouldn't surprise Plato or Socrates! If you can get past Buzan's self advertising this is a very well put together set & will put you well on the way to learning enough to get you by on a business trip or holiday.
Great for holidays and basic language learning - By: Lilly Penhaligon, 28 Mar 2008 The marketin language learning products has always been an anathema to me. As soon as I have approached the shelves laden with endless confusing packages - some for beginners, intermediates or advanced - even `advanced advanced' (!?), those that claim that they take you from beginner to fluentin 2 nanoseconds (provided of course, you follow the exercisesin each of the 85 disc set), those that use books, those that say that books are useless etc, the idea of language learning suddenly becomes an unwanted chore instead of the fun opportunity that it started out as. So is this product any different from the other thousands of available book/disc sets out there? In some way yes &in others no.
Having used this product now for a few weeks I think that it is primarily useful for two things:
one: you want to holidayin Italy & need to be able to get around - i.e. you need basic phrases for buying things, describing things, giving & receiving directions & all the other things you might be asking for on holiday or
two: you want to start learning Italian perhaps as a Uni course or evening school but you want to make sure that it's really for you before you commit to something more expensive & intense.
This book/disc combo is bright, informative & enables you to get to grips with the basics easily & quickly. It includes a relevant amount of information about each topic teaching you exactly what you need to know & omitting onerous, complicated & difficult details. If you are someone that wants to know the ins & outs of a language, this is definitely not for you. If you want something quick & easy & couldn't less about grammatical explanations etc then this is definitely up your street. The book was much thicker than I expected & relies on extended use of mind maps accompanied by lots of bright colours. Some might say that the presentation has a childish feel to it but others would argue that it makes for a more interesting & engaging experience. There is method behind the colour usage - it is supposed to help you remember things more easily.
One of the immediately noticeable things about this disc set is that the recordings are very clear - you would be surprised how many language packages have discs with recordings that sound like the speaker is sitting 500 miles away from the nearest microphone or where it seems that the speaker has the microphonein their mouth. The intro disc is a little too long for my liking - others here have said the same but stick through it. I would agree with a previous reviewer about the length of pauses allowing the learner to practise the phrases, my cd player did not like being paused so often.
Overall, I think this package is great depending on what you want to get out of it. If you are thinking of learning Italian properly with a view to being able to speak proficiently, forget it, this definitely will not help you beyond the extreme basics. If you want to go on holidays, it's almost perfect - the accompanying book would double as a comprehensive phrase book & it doesn't bog you down with unnecessary details. The chapters are clearly set out & the colours make it an easy reference tool. It's also more reasonably priced than some other beginner's courses so it's great for one off holidays or basic learning.
Accessible guide for those who find languages difficult - By: Ian Shine, 21 Mar 2008 I've learnt a few languages before, & am quite prepared to go through what many see as 'boring' books learning tables & so on. However, this book is nothing like this. It's colourful & friendly & interesting to use - although I don't feel that it would give you a massively solid groundingin Italian. It's ideal for someone who is going on holidayin a few months' time & wants to be able to learn the basicsin a fun way, but it's probably not for the really serious langauge student.
Pretty good, in it's market - Another attempt at this review! - By: The Penguin, 09 Mar 2008 If you want to learn a language, there are two ways to do it. Up sticks & immerse yourselfin the culture & language or go to lessons with a good teacher. You can't learn to speak a language from CDs or Tapes.
You can, however, gain an understanding & ability to communicate at a basic level &in this respect Tony Buzan's mindmaps are an admirable way of going beyond phrasebook muddle & confusion. The two disc approach, with one "structured" disc to be used with the A5 book provided & the other to play anywhere for a simple way of immersing yourselfin the vocab you have learned.
The course is structured around real life events, at the bar,in the restaurant etc, & gives a good view of the basics of Italian.
Mind maps offer a way to structure thoughts & fit learning languages well. 1 Star deducted for the old fashioned & wasteful package that the book & discs came in!
