Answers
Mar 07, 2011 - 09:45 AM
Mar 07, 2011 - 04:03 PM
Also a really good book that has helped me immensely is DK's visual dictionary. It is comprised of photo's along with translations for tons of words. A great way to increase vocabulary. It can be found here: http://www.amazon.com/Italian-English...
Start reading italian newspapers online. Watch italian TV shows and movies if you can. Think in italian. As you walk around the house, name everything you can in italian. Create a sentence and then think of different ways to say the same thing. Constantly forcing your brain to BE italian will help you learn at a much faster pace.
Mar 07, 2011 - 07:44 PM
Apr 14, 2011 - 10:53 PM
Jun 30, 2011 - 08:53 PM
I'm new to this beta website, so without knowing any better I posted my initial impressions of Italian Level 3, which I just received today. My post is under Level 2.
Gerry
Jul 01, 2011 - 11:15 PM
I very much liked the tutorial and conversational approach Fluenz provides. As a high school Latin teacher, I've had a chance to take several graduate classes in linguistics and all of the research shows that adults indeed do not learn the same way small children learn. And I think Fluenz has found a method by which adults can best learn a new language. Long ago, I tried Rosetta Stone, just to see what the big fuss was about, and was not very impressed. Besides a bunch of visual flashcards, there wasn't much to Rosetta Stone. I think Fluenz not only provides a systematic method, but also some helpful motivation along the way, which as a teacher, I know is a needed element in language learning. I have even used the sentence building method, known sometimes in other circles as graduated aggregative syntactical praxis or "GRASP" in my own classroom to great effect. And last year, when I was in Italy, just having had Fluenz 1 and 2, I was amazed at how much I could say, and was congratulated often, especially in terms of my pronunciation, even though I still can't roll my r's. The truth is, most Italians assumed I knew how to speak Italian after having said only a few things, and started speaking to me very quickly. I had to slow them down - scusi non capisco ripeta per favore, parlo un po' d' italiano.
Anyhow, Italian 3, as I started, has been great. They have seemed to work out a lot of glitches, like the fact that you can record your voice for a longer period of time, especially when you're trying the advanced conversation and hiding the text, and take a moment to try to remember what you're supposed to say in certain parts. Just the fact that the background pictures change after the first five sessions is pretty cool. I also like the fact that when you replay the audio in the parts where you have to type what is said, it doesn't erase everything you just typed. And so far I haven't run into a single glitch. The speaking is much faster, which is good. Hopefully it will help me understand the Italian that is spoken to me a little better this summer when I head off again to Italy (this time with 27 high schoolers in tow). Session 2 though, the speaking was so fast that I was slightly worried that the program might be moving too fast for me, but since then, either I've gotten better at listening, or they've slowed down a bit. Well, Fluenz has been a great program; I'm glad I found it, and maybe I'll post again if all goes well in Rome in a few weeks. Hopefully by then I'll have finished the Italian 3.
Jul 01, 2011 - 11:59 PM
I had a chance to play with Level 3 yesterday (I'm about midway through level 2). I too like the fact that events move along at a brisker pace in Level 3, and I also like the fact that Sophie has about double the air time that Sonia had in the previous 2 levels. The key strength of Fluenz is its concept of a "live" instructor, and I always wanted to see more of Sonia and experience more of her instruction.
Enjoy yourself in Rome. The plan right now is that the wife and I will travel to Italy in May 2012. I'm toying with the idea of taking one of the language courses over there as sort of a capstone achievement after my self-study. But I know nothing about which courses to choose, which schools are reputable and which ones I should stay away from. The goal is to accomplish about 300 more hours of self-study between now and then. Sure do wish I could link up with a native Italian speaker. As good as Fluenz is, no software in the world can replace simply speaking with another individual who is fluent.
Gerry
Jul 09, 2011 - 10:58 AM
I very much liked how the grammatical concepts were introduced in Italian 3. They seemed pretty complex with a number of exceptions, but by the time each concept was introduced, I had already had so much practice with similar concepts and structures from earlier sessions that the learning came naturally. Fluenz really does do a great job of providing both an implicit and explicit understanding of the language. I really feel I not only can explain how Italian works, but after somany exercises, my ear just has a natural feel for what sounds right, and what does not. I am certainly looking forward to Italian 4.
As a teacher, I would say that no computer program can compete with the face to face interaction of the classroom, but it seems that Fluenz has come as close to the real thing as the medium will allow. Especially with Sonia's personal interaction and contact with users online - all of it is very much appreciated and one could really tell how passionate everyone there is about learning languages.
Also, I wanted to mention some quick glitches, in case you guys make an update. t might have just been me making a mistake, but maybe something to double check, very minor things:
session 18 - something wrong in the typing exercise concerning aiutarLa
session 19 - something wrong in the typing exercise concerning giovedi
session 21 - in the main conversation - should the se be si
session 22 - matching exercise - dieci mixed up with cinque
session 30 - typing the words - lungo for long
there were 1 or 2 mistakes in some earlier sessions but I forgot to write them down
Finally, I really liked the changes in the program as I mentioned in a previous post. Having used the audio CD too, I really like that more time is given between when Sonia says something and when the Italian is provided to give you time to think of how to say it and then actually say it out loud in Italian. I hope a podcast too comes out soon for Italian 3. I also hope to use some of the flashcards for more practice, though I haven't gotten into the flashcards yet. So, Benissimo to all at Fluenz, you really helped me learn a new language!
Jul 26, 2011 - 09:10 PM
Jul 26, 2011 - 10:09 PM
Jul 26, 2011 - 10:35 PM
Jul 29, 2011 - 11:59 AM
Jul 29, 2011 - 07:11 PM