'Having lived in different foreign countries and both learned to speak the local language or not, listening is the most essential skill to master 1) just to get along and 2) to really learn the language. These CDs are an easy way to accomplish the first and lay a solid foundation for the second'
Jay Baker, Seoul After spending countless hours in a classroom environment, most find that they are still unable to comprehend Italian as it is naturally spoken between native Italian people.
SmartItalian does what conventional language courses will not do. The program is designed to teach you pragmatic rules to learn spoken Italian, not textbook Italian. Just by following the simple, easy and enjoyable program, you will build your speaking confidence.
SmartItalian helps develop the ability to listen effectively and to fully understand the Italian language based on real life conversations as opposed to scripted dialogue. Even an advanced student who experiences difficulty will become fluent in no time using SmartItalian.
If you know Italian a little bit but you cannot understand it when spoken, you might want to start with our Beginner level. You could be an intermediate student at speaking Italian and a Beginner at listening at real speed.
If you want to review your verbs or grammar, check our acclaimed SmartItalian Introduction to Italian Vol.1 & 2. In order to help you avoid spending time at memorizing words that you don't need, at least right away as a true beginner, we checked what people commonly use in conversations and that is what you will learn first in these two volumes. By isolating all the words from transcripts of italian interviews that we conducted for the lessons in our SmartItalian Audio CDs Beginner, we found out that 65% of these words were small words and always the same, regardless of the person and the theme - 65%!!! Working with these volumes, you will know 65% of all conversations, verbs and all. Then, you will develop strong listening skills with these CDs Beginner, and gain a great confidence in speaking the Italian language.
The difference between the audio CDs and the CDROM - also available on amazon.co.uk, is that the CDs can be played in your car. The CDROM contains all three levels and some extras, as well as the videos of the interviews on which the lessons are based (to see people when they speak always helps and it is fun.). The CDROM is for the computer (Windows and Mac) and the CDs are for the car.
'It's unbelievable that this simple, easy approach has never been done before. Some of the most successful, useful inventions become obvious to the rest of us after someone comes up with the idea, and we smack our foreheads with the palm of our hands thinking: Why didn't I think of that? It's so obvious! SmartItalian is like that' Music Critic, Belmont, MA
