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| Italian: Beginner (Collins Language Revolution) (Book with 2CDs): Beginner | 
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| Author: Tony Buzan
Creator: Clelia Boscolo
Publisher: Collins
Category: Book
List Price: £19.99
Buy New: £11.89
You Save: £8.10 (41%)
New (30) Used (2) from £9.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 6903
Media: Paperback
Pages: 208
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9 x 7 x 1.7
ISBN: 000725511X
EAN: 9780007255115
ASIN: 000725511X
Publication Date: March 3, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 6-7 of 7 | | « PREV | | |
A terrific way to learn a new language - 2nd attempt to post this review! March 6, 2008
17 out of 17 found this review helpful
What a fantastic introduction to a new language! It's attractively presented, colourful, bright and cheerful and the very presentation encourages you to want to learn! I have only had this pack for 2 days now, and have already worked my way through the first 2 units, learning as I go and enjoying every minute of it!
On opening the box, I found 2 CDs - one to be used with the book, providing invaluable listening and converstaion practice; and the other to be used 'anywhere', helping with the trickier words and phrases and providing extra listening and conversation practice.
There is also a wonderfully colourful book, filled with hints and drawings to help us to learn a foreign language.
These include:
* mental images - eg. to remember the word for orange juice, think of Sue and her friends (Sue & co) on a ranch drinking orange juice - put the image together and you have 'succo de arrancia'. There are a great many of these scattered through the book.
* hints - including the fact that Italians never drink a cappuccino after lunchtime! A useful tip if you want to 'fit in'.
* tips - one very useful one is on page 27 of the book, and shows how to fix your learning into your long term memory by using the 'repeat and succeed' method.
* Mental gymnastic activities to help fix what you've learnt.
* Cartoon strip stories, putting the vocabulary into context.
* Quick puzzles and exercises to help you practice your new skills and new vocabulary.
In addition, there are Tony's wonderful mind maps. For anyone who has never previously encountered mind maps, these may look a little unusual - but they are being used more and more in teaching and in revision. Their bright, cheerful imagery helps to fix ideas and words into the long term memory.
Then there are the 2 CDs
The first CD is great - leading you straight into learning.
The 2nd CD has a longer introduction, which may appear tedious to some, but which contains some very useful hints; so I would encourage you to listen to it the first time you play the CD.
In addition, there is a link to a website which provides extra practise exercises and answers to the exercises in the book.
My only criticism with the pack is that the CDs would benefit from longer pauses to allow the learner to repeat the phrases and words that they have learnt - or to allow thinking time. This is the reason why I only gave it 4 stars rather than the full 5 - as it is really the only complaint I have with the whole pack!
Well worth a try if you want to learn some basic Italian in preparation for your next holiday!
Good phrase book level introduction February 25, 2008
12 out of 16 found this review helpful
This is a great little introduction to Italian without the grandiose predictions and extensive 'language lab' approach you often receive when buying- 'off the shelf'. You receive two CDs, one which can be played anywhere and the second works in conjuction with a chunky A5 book filled with cartoon illustrations. It reminds me very much of an old fashioned phrase book and really this is where the novice should start anyway. Too many first time learners jump straight in with linguistics courses containing 5 disks and mostly intermediate level work. They're visually impressive but you simply lose interest after 2 weeks. Here however all you have are first level basics, from asking directions, learning numbers, telling the time to ordering drinks. It's simple without being patronizing. I gave 4 stars as the intro on one of the disks perhaps is a little long but it's a small gripe. If you want an adult yet beginner-level taste of the language, to see if Italian is for you, I'd have no problem recommending this.
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