The Easiest and Fastest Way to Learn Italian Whether you want to travel, communicate with friends or colleagues, reconnect with family, or just understand more of what's going on in the world around you, learning Italian will expand your horizons and immeasurably enrich your life. The best part is that it doesn't have to be difficult or take years to master. Thirty minutes a day is all it takes, and we get you speaking right from the first day. Pimsleur courses use a scientifically-proven method that puts you in control of your learning. If you've tried other language learning methods but found they simply didn't stick, then you owe it to yourself to give Pimsleur a try. Why Pimsleur' - Quick + Easy - Only 30 minutes a day. - Portable + Flexible - Core lessons can be done anytime, anywhere, and easily fit into your busy life. - Proven Method - Works when other methods fail. - Self-Paced - Go fast or go slow - it's up to you. - Based in Science - Developed using proven research on memory and learning. - Cost-effective - Less expensive than classes or immersion, and features all native speakers. - Genius - Triggers your brain's natural aptitude to learn. - Works for everyone - Recommended for ages 13 and above. What's Included' - 30, 30-minute audio lessons - 60 minutes of reading instruction to provide you practice reading Italian - in total, over 16 hours of audio, all featuring native speakers - a Reading Booklet and User's Guide What You'll Learn Thirty 30-minute lessons totaling 15 hours of spoken Italian language learning, plus one hour of Reading Lessons. Builds upon skills taught in Pimsleur's Italian Levels 1-3. You'll be speaking and understanding Italian with near-fluency and with a broad range of conversational skills. In Level 4 the pace and conversation moves more rapidly, accelerating exposure to new vocabulary and structures, and approaching native speed and comprehension. You'll learn to speak about your profession, needs, likes and dislikes, and to create complex sentences discussing the past, present and future. A few of the topics included in Italian Level 4: - Accommodations: In addition to learning about accommodation options, you'll inquire about amenities and local activities and events, get help with luggage, and ask about restaurant options and schedules. - Activities: biking, horseback riding, visiting art galleries, describing abstract qualities, seeing the opera, a theatrical performance or a concert in a variety of venues, sightseeing and touring ruins, churches and palaces. Checking schedules, buying tickets, taking a boat tour, a ferryboat or a cruise, visiting an aquarium or a winery. Attending cultural events and visiting iconic locations. - Shopping: trying on and buying various items of clothing, asking for colors and sizes, buying gifts and souvenirs, describing qualities of items, finding an ATM, going to an open-air market, haggling over prices, negotiating a discount, discussing shipping options and methods of payment. - Vacationing: visiting an agriturismo and participating in outdoor activities in a variety of locations, going to the beach or swimming pool. Booking in high or low season, dealing with crowds, getting around using a variety of transportation. - Dealing with Unforeseen Events - A trip to the emergency room, describing an accident, getting assistance, losing or forgetting personal items, rescheduling an engagement, finding the way on the map. - Renting or Buying a Home: Learn to talk about desired location and neighborhood, specifying requirements like furnished or unfurnished, describing qualities, views and space requirements. - Family and friends: conversing informally with and about friends and extended family - cousins, aunts, grandparents; meeting distant relatives, specifying relationships, telling family stories, describing family history, and talking informally about everyday situations. - Recipes / Food: Trying new food, discussing preparation, expressing likes and preferences, exploring regional specialties, tasting and describing qualities of wine and food. - Small talk: expressing opinions, wishes, and stating views; asking how someone is feeling, telling stories about people or places. Reading Lessons are included at the end of Lesson 30 and are designed to expand your vocabulary, expose you to a variety of cultural events, and give you practice reading and hearing Italian. The Pimsleur Method We make no secret of what makes this powerful method work so well. Paul Pimsleur spent his career researching and perfecting the precise elements anyone can use to learn a language quickly and easily. Here are a few of his "secrets": The Principle of Anticipation In the nanosecond between a cue and your response, your brain has to work to come up with the right word. Having to do this boosts retention, and cements the word in your mind. Core Vocabulary Words, phrases, and sentences are selected for their usefulness in everyday conversation. We don't overwhelm you with too much, but steadily increase your ability with every lesson. Graduated Interval Recall Reminders of new words and structures come up at the exact interval for maximum retention and storage into your long-term memory. Organic Learning You work on multiple aspects of the language simultaneously. We integrate grammar, vocabulary, rhythm, melody, and intonation into every lesson, which allows you to experience the language as a living, expressive form of human culture. Learning in Context Research has shown that learning new words in context dramatically accelerates your ability to remember. Every scene in every Pimsleur lesson is set inside a conversation between two people. There are no drills, and no memorization necessary for success. Active Participation The Pimsleur Method + active learner participation = success. This method works with every language and every learner who follows it. You gain the power to recall and use what you know, and to add new words easily, exactly as you do in English. The Italian Language Italian is the official language of Italian and Austria and is one of the official languages of Switzerland. It is also an official language in Belgium, Lichtenstein, and Luxembourg. Nearly 100 million people speak Italian as their first language: about 77 million in Italian, 8 million in Austria, and 4.5 million in Switzerland. Tech Talk - Lessons can be downloaded using the Pimsleur Course Manager App for iPad, iPhone and Android devices, and Mac or Windows computers, or - Lessons can be downloaded as a zip file for use in iTunes or Windows Media Player. - All purchased courses are backed up in your Pimsleur.com cloud-based digital library account. - Lessons can be played on your iPod or any MP3 player. - The Pimsleur Course Manager App can be installed on several devices for personal use only. - Lessons are non-DRM (Digital Rights Management) MP3 files and can be copied onto a CD or DVD for playing in a CD/DVD player.