Customer Reviews

Italian by Association

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have looked at close to a hundred different language methods, and find that "language immersion", which is sometimes referred to as the Berlitz method, does not work for me. I need to know the nuts and bolts, and work my way up. Just parroting useful phrases leaves me COLD. "Italian by Association" delivers exactly what I wanted.

What this book does, is in each chapter, it gives you a small vocabulary, some grammar rules, a pronunciation key to the vocabulary, and some chapter review quizs. Each chapter builds on the previous, and before you know it, you know any number of grammar rules, as well as vocabulary. In this way you build your skills from the ground up, rather than trying to hit the ground running.

It is the closest thing I have found to a high school language textbook (circa 1970) anywhere, only a lot more interesting and fun.

If you want to learn some basic Italian, and not just parrot some well worn phrases, this book is for you.

I can't recommend this book enough. I have tried so many other ways to learn Italian and this way is the only way that has "stuck" in my mind. It is not just memorizing words or terms. You actually learn it. Being a teacher, I can tell you that you will learn more from this book in one sitting than from any other program out there. You won't be sorry!!!

The Gruneberg Linkword language learning method is based on the age-old and effective memory-by-assocation technique: To learn a word, link its sound with a similar-sounding word or phrase with a visualization or association, the sillier or weirder, the better.

E.g. UCELLO (bird) "Imagine yourself as a symphony conductor saying to a bird, "You-cello, I conductor." Well, isn't that stupid. Precisely! And that's why it works so well. And you don't have to waste time figuring out your own visualization; it's done for you. (Some of them don't do it for me, a very few, that I choose to alter.)

There are also small, single-bite snippets of grammar and construction, which you can easily and immediately use.

You can learn several hundred words in a weekend, say some simple and useful sentences after working through the text.

One major quibble; in giving the prononciation, they do not indicate accent at all. I disagree with their assertion that that is not important at this stage. It would take no more time to learn to say it right, and the "rules" of accentuation in Italian contain so many exceptions as to be useless. So I look up every single word in a dictionary.

Were it not for this serious omission, I would give the book five stars.

This is my third purchase in this series so far, and this one has been the most fun. It, as does the others, introduces the "Linkword Language System," which allows a learner to quickly pick up foreign words and basic concepts current in everyday use, by what is described as a revolutionary "step ahead in language learning technique." What this technique consists of is simply taking a foreign word and visualizing a crazy association picture in one's mind. It is the association that makes the new words "stick to the brain."

The book encourages a 200-words/per day study rate with ample tests and reviews that are much more fun than drudgery. I cannot recommend this series more highly. Too bad it is only restricted to German, French, Spanish and Italian.

Five stars

I checked this book out of my local library over a year ago, read through it in a day or two, did all the visualizations and returned it thinking "I'll probably forgot all of it in a month or so." Well, I picked it up again today and I remembered almost every word (although not many of the visualizations). So I must admit it works. But let the buyer beware, this book will not get you speaking Italian. You'll need to take an audio course such as Italian I and do some grammar drills Italian Grammar Drills (Drills Series) and work on verbs Italian Verbs For Dummies (For Dummies (Language & Literature)) before you'll have any conversational abilities, but this is a great tool for learning some basic vocab. Recommended!