Pimsleur Italian Levels 1-5 CD

The Easiest and Fastest Way to Learn Italian
Whether you want to travel, communicate with friends or colleagues, reconnect with family, or just understand more of what’s going on in the world around you, learning Italian will expand your horizons and immeasurably enrich your life.

The best part is that it doesn’t have to be difficult or take years to master. Thirty minutes a day is all it takes, and we get you speaking right from the first day. Pimsleur courses use a scientifically proven method that puts you in control of your learning. If you’ve tried other language learning programs but found they simply didn’t stick, then you owe it to yourself to give Pimsleur a try.

Why Pimsleur?
- Quick & Easy – Only 30 minutes a day.
- Portable & Flexible – Core lessons can be done anytime, anywhere, and easily fit into your busy life.
- Proven Method – Works when other methods fail.
- Self-Paced – Go fast or go slow – it’s up to you.
- Based in Science – Developed using proven research on memory and learning.
- Cost-effective – Less expensive than classes or immersion, and features all native speakers.
- Genius – Triggers your brain’s natural aptitude to learn.
- Works for everyone – Recommended for ages 13 and above.

What’s Included?
- the complete Italian course including all of Levels 1-5
- 150, 30-minute audio lessons
- 6.5 hours of reading instruction allowing you to build your skills toward reading Italian for pleasure
- in total, over 81 hours of audio, all featuring native speakers
- 5 Reading Booklets

What You’ll Learn
This program includes all of Italian Levels 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 – over 73 hours of spoken language practice and 6.5 hours of reading instruction and practice. With this program you start from zero, learning first survival phrases and vocabulary, and eventually progressing to a high-intermediate level of speaking and understanding Italian. By Level 5 the pace and conversation moves quite rapidly, accelerating exposure to new vocabulary and structures, approaching native speed and comprehension. You’ll learn to speak more in-depth about your personal life and emotional state, and be able to create complex sentences using a mix of tenses and moods. The emphasis is on pronunciation and comprehension, and on learning to speak.

At the completion of this course, you’ll speak confidently using your wide-ranging vocabulary, and experience the language and culture with a deepening insight into a new world. Reading Lessons are included at the end of Lesson 30 for each Level. These lessons, which total 6.5 hours, are designed to first give you practice sounding out Italian, then to progress to reading for meaning. They also provide extensive additional vocabulary. You’ll be reading Italian with the ease and flexibility of a native speaker.

The Pimsleur Method
We make no secret of what makes this powerful method work so well. Dr. Paul Pimsleur spent his career researching and perfecting the precise elements anyone can use to learn a language quickly and easily. Here are a few of his “secrets”:

The Principle of Anticipation
In the nanosecond between a cue and your response, your brain has to work to come up with the right word. Having to do this boosts retention, and cements the word in your mind.

Core Vocabulary
Words, phrases, and sentences are selected for their usefulness in everyday conversation. We don’t overwhelm you with too much, but steadily increase your ability with every lesson.

Graduated Interval Recall
Reminders of new words and structures come up at the exact interval for maximum retention and storage into your long-term memory.

Organic Learning
You work on multiple aspects of the language simultaneously. We integrate grammar, vocabulary, rhythm, melody, and intonation into every lesson, which allows you to experience the language as a living, expressive form of human culture.

Learning in Context
Research has shown that learning new words in context dramatically accelerates your ability to remember. Every scene in every Pimsleur lesson is set inside a conversation between two people. There are no drills, and no memorization necessary for success.

Active Participation
The Pimsleur Method + active learner participation = success. This method works with every language and every learner who follows it. You gain the power to recall and use what you know, and to add new words easily, exactly as you do in English.

The Italian Language

Tech Talk
- CDs are formatted for playing in all CD players, including car players, and users can copy files for use in iTunes or Windows Media Player.