Customer Reviews

All-In-One Italian (Berlitz Self Study)

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A bargain compared to the much more expensive Rosetta Stone or similar products. Berlitz combined 3 separate learning sets in one package. I found this product really helful in preparing for my trip to Sicily, and took the rush hour and travel cd's with me on my trip for additional study. While there was some overlap and repetition, the different approaches were helpful in reinforcing vocabulary in specific situations. Berlitz should have provided the written script along with the CD's, but downloading and printing the materials from their website was almost acceptable. I would recommend this for anyone making a trip to Italy, especially going to areas outside major cities where English is not spoken much. Use a text book to seriously learn the language though.

I am an enthusiastic language learner, and am accustomed to using Pimsleur, which is the gold standard for real linguists. However, my mother stumbled upon this CD set at a discount store for a mere $10, and bought them to prepare me for an imminent trip to Italy. What did she have to lose? Well, again, it is far from Pimsleur. The lessons are woefully short and kind of disjointed, with random sentences of little connection sometimes in the same unit. Also, unlike Pimsleur, they do not break down words individually, so you only have a vague handling of what you are actually saying. I had to play the lessons over and over to even feel like information wasn't just flying past me. However, it is reasonably priced, there is a variety of things covered here, a little about the culture and the voices used are clear and pleasant. If you are new to learning languages in general, or just want to familiarize yourself with Italian, this is a fun product. However, for serious language-acquisition, this will be inadequate.