|
 |
Assimil with Ease (Italian)..what else? | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| Rollo the Cat Groupie United States Joined 6037 days ago 77 posts - 90 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, Russian, Ancient Greek | Message 9 of 21 29 June 2008 at 10:58am | IP Logged | ||
|
I recommend something simple and effective like Schaum's Italian Grammar. It is inexpensive and comprehensive.
I would avoid all the fancy looking grammar books with cute cartoons. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Deniz Bilingual Heptaglot Groupie Czech RepublicRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6822 days ago 94 posts - 97 votes Speaks: Czech*, Slovak*, EnglishC2, German, Italian, Spanish, FrenchB2 Studies: Russian, Arabic (Written), Portuguese, Indonesian, Persian | Message 10 of 21 29 June 2008 at 11:09am | IP Logged | ||
|
My approach was "Pimsleur" for pronunciation and speed, "La Lingua Italiana per stranieri " for grammar, vocabulary and idioms( it is a great book although a bit dry sometimes) and "Assimil sans peine" ( I didn t use this one that much, even though it is really good and my flatmates liked it a lot) for extra vocabulary. I used Assimil Perfezionamento dell´ Italiano after finishing the latter and this course was great boosting your vocabulary and comprehension a lot.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Emerald Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom languagedabbler.blog Joined 6248 days ago 316 posts - 340 votes Speaks: Hindi, Gujarati*, English Studies: Spanish | Message 11 of 21 29 June 2008 at 3:13pm | IP Logged | ||
|
I have started with Pimsleur Italian Short Course. I finished first two units and have really enjoyed it. It's definitely good speaking practice.
As for grammer, I am hoping to find something interesting, because if it is just one long reading then I am more likely to put it aside. I would prefer something that's either interestingly presented, or if simple, includes drills to do and examples, as opposed to long-winded explanations. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Emerald Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom languagedabbler.blog Joined 6248 days ago 316 posts - 340 votes Speaks: Hindi, Gujarati*, English Studies: Spanish | Message 12 of 21 01 July 2008 at 5:29am | IP Logged | ||
|
Another question:
I have started with Pimsleur and will be starting shortly with Assimil. My question is - they are both audio based courses, so should I mix something else with them that would include more grammer, written practice? My aim is not just to learn to speak, but the complete language in written and oral form. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| kmart Senior Member Australia Joined 6127 days ago 194 posts - 400 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian | Message 13 of 21 01 July 2008 at 7:35am | IP Logged | ||
|
lamanna
lots of people do find Pimsleur to be too slow. In my case, I'm a very lazy learner, and I spent 18 months getting through the 3 levels of Pimsleur - I just cycled back through them, going a little bit forward every cycle. That would probably seem incredibly boring to most people, but I enjoyed it, working mainly on improving my pronunciation - it was more important to me to "say it well" rather than to say a lot. After Pimsleur I started looking for grammar explanations and picked up the Idiot's Guide to Italian - a light and easy read, lots of vocabulary lists (which I ignored). Not a lot of vocabulary in the next book I bought - "English Grammar for Students of Italian" - it straightens out your understanding of English grammar at the same time as showing you how the Italian corresponds. I've moved on from the Idiot's Guide, but still revise with the "English Grammar". I've had a few textbooks, but don't care for most of them - I hate long lists of vocabulary, all on the same theme, eg clothing, sports, furniture, etc, and find that I don't learn well from these, trying to reconstruct the lists in my mind when looking for the right word. My favourite would probably be Buongiorno Italia! produced by the BBC - it has lots of little dialogues and bits of vocabulary interspersed in among them, colloquial usage tips and cultural notes. You can get CDs too, to listen to the dialogues in the book. I think it might fulfill your requirements, Emerald, for something interestingly presented, with drills and examples. Some of the other textbooks I've had, such as Prego and Da Capo, have extensive workbooks, but they are very expensive, you'd want to test-drive them before committing your money. I've got a few of the Nanni-Tate drill books, but get bored with them - apparently I have endless patience saying the same things repeatedly, but not with writing them down. I like my Big Green Book of Italian Verbs - I compared it with a friend's Barron and we both agree the Big Green Book is superior - more examples of usage, and better set out. For audio courses, I enjoyed Linguaphone All-Talk, but it's also a bit slow, and the podcasts at www.LearnItalianPod.com. It really is hard to say what's best, as we all have different learning styles, but perhaps by describing the way I like to learn, and the resources that I enjoy, you might at least have an idea of what you want to avoid! ;-) 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| zorglub Pentaglot Senior Member France Joined 7003 days ago 441 posts - 504 votes 1 sounds Speaks: French*, English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: German, Arabic (Written), Turkish, Mandarin | Message 14 of 21 01 July 2008 at 7:56am | IP Logged | ||
May I suggest you have a glance at this thread I just wrote which actually addresses your queries ? Z. oops: edit: the link is http://shrinkify.com/aab Edited by zorglub on 01 July 2008 at 8:02am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Emerald Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom languagedabbler.blog Joined 6248 days ago 316 posts - 340 votes Speaks: Hindi, Gujarati*, English Studies: Spanish | Message 15 of 21 01 July 2008 at 2:50pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Zorglub
Thank you for giving me the link to your best. It was indeed very helpful and certainly answered my questions. However, there is always a possibility of more questions so here is one for you - in your opinion and from your experience, what you think about using your three favoured programs together, rather than one after the other? Do you think it would work? I have already got Pimsleur and I have ordered Assimil. With Micheal Thomas, I will attempt to get it from the library soon. Currently Pimsleur is the only one I have in my hands so I am already using it. When Assimil arrives - still couple of weeks at least - then I was planning to start that alongside Pimsleur. Kmart, thanks for your post. I looked up the Big Green Book of Verbs you mentioned and liked it very much so I have ordered that as well. Now I just need to keep checking amazon for tracking details :P 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| zorglub Pentaglot Senior Member France Joined 7003 days ago 441 posts - 504 votes 1 sounds Speaks: French*, English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: German, Arabic (Written), Turkish, Mandarin | Message 16 of 21 02 July 2008 at 2:52am | IP Logged | ||
|
Good question.
I think you migh do both alongside starting when you've reached a good enough pronunciation with Pimsleur. So that the writing does not interfere too much with your pronunciation. So roll up your tongue with PImsleur only, it could take you 1 level or 2 or ...3 ? I never tried ,however. Just a guess.
1 person has voted this message useful |
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
