Language refresher

01/02/2014 - 13:48

After we decided to buy a property in Italy I studied Italian and achieved an A level pass.  Although we visit regularly, my Italian conversational skills are decreasing and I want to reverse this.  Has anyone used either the Michel Thomas or the Rosetta Stone audio language courses, and if so would you recommend either one?Thank you.

Comment

I've used the Michel Thomas courses which are very helpful and useful for drilling down to certain sentence constructions. He's very good.But I'd recommend you simply take these out from your local library rathe than paying £60 to 80 for the CDs. Listen to them in the car (there is no homework) over 2-3 weeks and then try something different.I think a combination of language CDs, classes, watching films and using a student textbook is best rather than relying just on one set of audio CDs.

Thank you both. I agree a variety of methods is a good route and I wish there was an Italian language class near me. Sadly we are a bit too rural for that. I will also try eBay as you suggest. Thanks again.

I have done the Rosetta stone course and enjoyed it while I was doing it. I agree with Robbiemarche that a variation is good. Rosetta stone on its own is not enough. For me it did not explain anything, but rather gave me an ear for what sounded right.There are countless courses available (many free online) and all will give you something :-)

I'm guessing that if you have an A Level then the likes of Michel Thomas would be of limited use - I think there is an advanced version but the basic course is very basic - which makes it OK for me of coursesmiley.