Learning a new language

[rtp]

I have a trip to Italy booked for mid April. I’m wondering if I still have enough time to learn enough where it would be beneficial/helpful to me. Any comments about that would be appreciated. Also, are any of the aids better than others, Babbel, Rosetta Stone, etc? I’m as Texan as the come and heard of hearing to boot. Not sure if I’ll be able to pull this off [emoji23].


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[Johnny Dangerr]

Italian is a breath away from Spanish. You have time for a lot. This morning I ordered breakfast in Hispanic. I pretend to not know the language and only use it when it's nessacirio...

[Lost10mm]

Everytime the military sent me to a new country, my command got me a book with information about that country and they had sections with commonly used translations and local customs. It might be worth reaching out to the American Embassy or General Consulate in Italy and see if they can get you one of those books.

If you're taking your phone, make sure you have google translate. We had other versions of translation helpers and they saved my butt a lot of times!

[falmike]

I have used the Pimsleur CD method with some success:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=pimsleur+italian&crid=27TAS8XZEQ509&sprefix=pimsleur+it%2Caps%2C293&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_1_11

The conversational set is probably plenty

[matagordian]

I have been listening to spanish while i sleep for about two years since my neighbors moved in and blast mexican music till 5am.
Havent learned anything but the bad words yet

[Tom]

Italian is a breath away from Spanish. You have time for a lot. This morning I ordered breakfast in Hispanic. I pretend to not know the language and only use it when it's nessacirio...

totally agree. I worked / lived in South America for years and after it was said and done I could get by in a Spanish speaking country. I found that I could read Italian with little effort and could converse with Italian speakers. I was clueless when they spoke back but it is all very close. Go for it!

[ThisLadyHunts]

I agree. If you’ve ever taken Spanish classes, you probably know enough to make quick work of learning Italian.

I took the requisite two years of Spanish in high school. Before we took our first trip to South America in 2012, I started about eight weeks ahead of time and began to brush up on my skills. I used two apps that I thought were helpful: 1) BrainScapes to quickly increase my vocabulary and to conjugate my verbs; and 2) DuoLingo for sentence structure and conversational Spanish.

Both are good because the utilize a feedback system of correct/incorrect answers to help focus more on your areas of weakness which, ultimately, helps you assimilate the language faster.

Or you could just watch The Godfather over and over until you get it down.

[KY2TX]

Have had the "say hi" app for awhile. Will translate several languages.

[Bily Lovec]

English

[IowaHunter]

Look into adult continued education at a local community college. They have language classes cheap and you’d have an instructor to work with weekly.

[HeyMikey]

English

Must've sounded funnier inside your head

[rtp]

English

Dude where ya been?


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[rtp]

I have been listening to spanish while i sleep for about two years since my neighbors moved in and blast mexican music till 5am.
Havent learned anything but the bad words yet

Funny. Why are the bad words always easy to remember?


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[N.DaWoods]

We did 11 days in Italy self guided. We had a blast, many English speakers, especially in the heavy tourist spots. I got the vibe that really terrible Italian from an American tourist would be probably be worse than just speaking English. They know your a tourist and pretty much embrace that. I would just go and enjoy yourself and not fret about it. As far as understanding some basic words or phrases, Duolingo is free and easy, but youll be fine without anything.

[Mexico]

Italian is a breath away from Spanish. You have time for a lot. This morning I ordered breakfast in Hispanic. I pretend to not know the language and only use it when it's nessacirio...

The fact you ordered in " Hispanic " and not Spanish has me concerned with your " Hispanic ".