Learning Italian

DJ-99

So after graduating college in June, I'm probably going to Italy for a week or two with some friends of mine. They're all idiots (extremely intelligent, well-educated idiots, but still idiots) and none of them are going to know any Italian. I've been wanting to pick up another language for a while, but couldn't decide what to learn, so I figure learning Italian would be fun and also somewhat helpful.

So, how should I go about learning Italian? I don't really need to know how to write it, just speak and understand it, if that makes a difference. I don't expect to attain that high of a level in the next 4.5 months, but I can maybe give it an hour a day. I'm sure I can do a lot of stuff online, but it would also be good to have something in hard copy form because I'll be doing a fair amount of it while travelling for sports and stuff. I'm willing to spend maybe 50 bucks on this, possibly more if it would be really worthwhile.

So please, educate me. How do I learn practical Italian for a tourist in less than 5 months?

Thanatos

Can you sign up for an Italian 101 course through your school? Maybe just audit one, so you don't have to worry about the coursework?

Arikado

Depending on which college you're in, there should be a simple course available for you. If it is too late to enroll, you could probably ask one of the professors to let you crash it or at least attend it but not get a grade. If you're at all serious about it.

Italian is a romance/latin language, so if you have a grasp of French, Portuguese or Spanish, some of the grammar rules should already be familiar to you.

DJ-99

Thinatos wrote: »

Can you sign up for an Italian 101 course through your school? Maybe just audit one, so you don't have to worry about the coursework?

Unfortunately, I go to a small liberal arts school, and they only offer introductory courses in the fall. I'm not even sure if they offer Italian, but if they do they would only offer the second semester course during the spring, so it wouldn't matter anyways.

Anybody know anything about Rosetta Stone? I've heard both good and bad things, but I really don't know that much about it. It looks a little pricy. If it were really worth it I might make the investment, but if it's only "meh" it doesn't seem worth it. Or, should I maybe just find some "teach yourself Italian" books from Barnes and Noble or something? I need to make sure I understand the pronunciation, so I will definitely need something with some audio component. The internet would probably be easy for that I guess.

DJ-99

Arikado wrote: »

Depending on which college you're in, there should be a simple course available for you. If it is too late to enroll, you could probably ask one of the professors to let you crash it or at least attend it but not get a grade. If you're at all serious about it.

Italian is a romance/latin language, so if you have a grasp of French, Portuguese or Spanish, some of the grammar rules should already be familiar to you.

Yeah, unfortunately my school isn't going to be any help at all in this.

I'm pretty decent at French, but not fluent or anything. I've taken 5 semesters of it in college and am taking French Literature this semester, so I know a decent amount. I figure that will certainly help things out some.

Thanatos

DJ-99 wrote: »

Arikado wrote: »

Depending on which college you're in, there should be a simple course available for you. If it is too late to enroll, you could probably ask one of the professors to let you crash it or at least attend it but not get a grade. If you're at all serious about it.

Italian is a romance/latin language, so if you have a grasp of French, Portuguese or Spanish, some of the grammar rules should already be familiar to you.

Yeah, unfortunately my school isn't going to be any help at all in this.

I'm pretty decent at French, but not fluent or anything. I've taken 5 semesters of it in college and am taking French Literature this semester, so I know a decent amount. I figure that will certainly help things out some.

You will understand much of what they're saying, and can get them to understand a lot of what you're saying if you just speak French with an Italian accent. I shit you not (four years of high school French, a semester of college French, and a month in France, here). It's very imperfect, but honestly probably better than you'll be able to get out of five months with a computer program.

Arikado

Yeah you shouldn't have an issue with reading italian if you know the basics in French. Look up some commonly used italian phrases, use your knowledge of French, and you should be able to get by just fine. You won't have conversations with politicians but you should be able to be fine if you seperate from your group.

Just do some research on the region you're going to visit. Make sure you know the "Do's and Don'ts" and carry around a reference sheet (or a dictionary if you want to label yourself a tourist).

Remember, you're there to enjoy yourself. Italy isn't all country, you will find all kinds of people around there...most of which will know English.