Rosetta Stone

[Valiant]

I want need to up my game in French and Italian. Now when I'm submerged in the culture ie in Italy/France I can just about get using broken language and gestures and then get better and the time developes, trouble is as soon as I get back here it goes away bar the basics but now I want to be able to speak it well enough to talk to people and have a basic conversation other than asking for directions/price or using a chat up line.

Googling around seems to bring up Rosetta Stone as one of the leaders in this area. Does anyone have personal experience? It seems quite well priced when compared to a decent course etc but before I fork out it's always worth checking.

[mark]

I used Rosetta Stone's Italian language program prior to my two cycle tours in Italy, I thought it helped a lot. I'm continuing with Italian Level II sporadically, in hopes of getting back to Italy for another visit.

I also like Pimsleur language CDs. They don't help as much with grammar or spelling as the Rosetta Stone program, and you don't have the pictures to help you remember. I used the Pimsleur CDs walking to work for a while (expect people to really look at you funny), and I also used them driving in my car if traffic and road conditions permit.

The Pimsleur CDs are a good supplement to the Rosetta Stone program, Rosetta Stone is the better stand-alone system.

[Jules]

Michel Thomas. I've learned Italian and French that way.

Michel Thomas Foundation Course: French Michel Thomas Series: Amazon.co.uk: Michel Thomas: Books

Read the reviews

You should be able to borrow any of these courses from your local library so price shouldn't be an issue.

[Jaded]

I looked at Rosetta Stone to learn a bit more Portuguese. They only had Brazilian Portuguese and the reviews of the system were less than complementary.

I survived on beer and coffee.

[Rapples]

I'd look at the huge range of free podcasts available.

I like dailyfrenchpod I listen to it when I'm mucking out etc, it just keeps you ticking over so it never really goes away.  I don't listen to it every day, but I'll go through phases of listening to a few at a time.

[ScumOfTheRoad]

Why not go to evening classes at your local college?
Plenty of pretty girls I'm sure - nto that you need any help in that department!

[Jules]

Why not go to evening classes at your local college?
Plenty of pretty girls I'm sure - nto that you need any help in that department!

The problem with this - and I'm an FE teacher - is that it takes forever to learn a language that way. You'll have anything up to 15-20 people in the class so you don't get much time with your tutor and you end up having pointless conversation practices with students who are as bad as you at the language.

I did three years of Italian and at the end couldn't hold a coversation in the language  - although my grammar was very good.

Lots of single women on languages course tho

[Valiant]

Tis why I want to learn French and Italian, my social circle is now full of them, and because I'm the crazy local anarchic party dude with a tank they keep introducing me to more and more. Trouble with learning that way is that as soon as they see an english lad try and speak their language's it's cute and hot so after a phrase or sentence you'd have to pry them off with a crowbar. It's also a bit unnerving how open they are.

Peli tries teaching me, bless her, but I get easily distracted by her beauty