Customer Reviews

Collins Italian with Paul Noble - Learn Italian the Natural Way, Part 2

I was extremely surprised with this purchase. I bought it on a whim, expecting to listen to the first C.D then forever banish it to the dark recesses of my wardrobe. However it wasn't long before I found myself actually remembering the vocab, and have now ended up with all the c.ds on my iPod for my morning commutes. With this method you don't bother straining to remember every last word - because you find that you will remember them anyway! Fantastic for travellers that will be visiting Italy as it gives you all the basics you need to survive. Very, very pleased.

I ordered this audio Italian course after reading the reviews. I had used part of the Introduction to Italian by Michel Thomas and thought this sounded similar in style but was considerably cheaper.

It is close to the Michel Thomas style and is utterly brilliant. I have been trying to learn Italian for years but the confidence this course has given me has provided the impetus to really give it my best shot this time.

The course focuses on teaching you to speak Italian and uses situations you would need on a visit to the country - the hotel, directions, feeling unwell etc. It doesn't insist on trying to get you to conjugate verbs (which is how I was dragged through French at school) but focuses on using the language naturally and this makes things much easier.

The use of repetition of phrases and words really helps you to remember and gives you confidence when you're remembering the phrases without too much effort. I really love the fact that you are asked to form phrases and sentences yourself and then are given the correct phrase by a native speaker. I also like the associations Paul makes with English words or phrases, which really does help to make things easier to remember. For example some verbs are very similar to English and he explains how switching the ending to the word turns it into Italian.

I've been listening to the course on my iPod on my bus journey to and from work and it's been remarkably easy to switch on and follow the course - I actually look forward to reviewing some of the course during my lunch break! I do use the pause button for phrases I need more time to form, and for that reason would not recommend using this in the car - you really need to concentrate on what's being said. Whenever my mind drifts I have to rewind.

I'm up to CD 9 but have repeated one or two that I've found more tricky. However, this is the beauty of the course, it's possible to revisit parts of the course to refresh your memory whenever you like.

I sincerely hope that Paul Noble and Collins bring out another Italian course building on this one so that I can take my language learning further. This is a great start to the language and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to speak Italian.

I really like Paul Noble's approach to the construction of this course. His emphasis is on teaching confidence in the grammatical rules of Italian, but through practical application of the language in day-to-day situations. Many other courses' teaching of rote phrases can make the language seem very abstract, as there is no regard for the rules that lie behind these phrases. Learning a phrase doesn't encourage a creative approach to solving a novice language user's problems when encountering an unexpected situation.

I feel that the key to gaining confidence in any language is to have a grasp of grammatical rules, as a knowledge of grammar gives even a novice speaker a surprising amount of room for improvisation. Although it must be stressed that this course is only really a beginner's guide to Italian, it gives a firm grounding in both the grammatical rules of Itaian and teaches some extremely handy phrases to illustrate these rules. Highly recommended.

At school I did French or tried to do it and never managed to grasp it. I have listened to one disc so far of this Italian course and already know many words, and best of all remember them. This is so far a brilliant box set and I cant wait to get home to learn more.

This course does as it says, and makes language learning easier. The language learned is more retentive than other methods. I have been attending Evening Classes to learn Italian, and found this course heavily augments my classes. It was worthwhile purchasing this and I would recommend it to others.

I have attempted many language courses on both cassette and CD over the years and this method by Paul Noble is by far and away the vey best I have ever used. It is so easy to follow and understand and almost without thinking I am now constructing sentences in Italian and understanding the spoken word very easily. I no longer translate from English to Italian but think in the language itself. To become fully fluent it would obviously be preferable to live or spend time in Italy but this course gives me the confidence to converse with the Italians themselves and I hope to go on to further my studies in this beautiful language. Absolutely recommended.

These CDs by Paul Nobel are an essential acquisition for anyone who wants to begin learning Italian and who wants to learn to speak it a little right from the start. Although a booklet is provided with the CDs Paul Noble emphasises that in order to really understand, learn pronunciation and progress with this programme it is vital that you start off by listening to the lessons and speaking aloud during the spaces provided within the course.

The method used of explaining something, getting you to use the phrase/word/grammar and then coming back to it again later really helps you to remember and understand fully the language that you are being taught and ensures that you retain the information.

I would highly recommend this programme for anyone who is travelling to Italy and would like to know a little Italian in order to be able to do the usual things; book a room, book a table, order a drink and food, buy a train ticket, enquire where things are etc. However, for me, the real value of this language programme is that it enabled me to have the confidence to progress with my study in Italian.

Easy and fun way to learn basics of foreign language. Focused on acquiring immediatelly aplicable working knowledge that can be used in most common daily situations.

I have been trying to learn languages for sometime and every time, I have been really discouraged by language teachers and audio, I must say, this is the best language course available. You seriously must be crazy not to get you hands on it.

If you are an absolute beginner, with a lot of patience, then this is a good start for you. For anyone with some basic Italian I reckon you'd probably get frustrated with just how slow the progress is and the length of pauses for student responses. As a (just) post beginner I got through the tapes in a few hours and I learned a little but not enough to justify the cost. It will, however, encourage the true beginner to progress further with additional basic language study through other publications.