Easy Italian Audio Course for Beginners, Vol. 1

Learning Italian has been on my to-do list for about a decade, and over the years, I've purchased several books and audio programs to help me along. But I never stuck with it until I discovered Let's Learn Italian. Chantal is so fun and easy to listen to, and her enthusiasm for the Italian language is infectious! Warning - Chantal's voice is so soothing it will ruin you for other Italian audio courses! I love that the lessons are relatively short (many are 2-3 minutes long) so that it's easy to repeat each lesson as many times as I need to grasp the material before moving on to the next lesson. Plus I often listen to this series in the car, so it's nice that I can cover at least one or two complete lessons no matter how short my drive is. I also appreciate that Chantal's teaching approach is very direct and practical, leaving out extraneous information and chit chat. Every word she says is geared toward improving the listener's Italian skills. Thanks to Chantal, I'm even more excited for my next trip to Italy! On my two prior trips, I was stressed out about communication - always clinging to my translation app and hoping everyone I encountered spoke English. Now I'm confident and ready to get out there and practice my Italian skills! Anyone shopping around for a beginning Italian audio course should definitely get this one. You will not regret teaming up with Chantal and Let's Learn Italian!

Over some 6 or 7 years, and collecting over two bankers' boxes full of Italian language study materials, I've formed a fondness for this series for which I have all of the beginner, intermediate, and advanced sets through to date. If I could add a 6th star to the rating, I would. Anyone who wants to learn Italian on a self-study basis and thinks there is that one single magic bullet that will give it all to you is very mistaken. It takes a complement of written materials and audio materials. This series is one that belongs in your collection. Indeed, due to unfortunate personal circumstances, I had to set aside my love affair with the Italian language for almost a year. Where to begin again? Where to get that booster shot to remind me of so much that I'd forgotten? Let's Learn Italian! That's where I started again in August, 2014 for that great reintroduction to and refamiliarization with Italian. While there are many fine attributes to this series, no one, and I mean NO ONE, does a better job of setting forward quickly in the series the use of object pronouns (direct and indirect) than Chantal's series. I cannot thank Chantal enough for this wonderful series and I wish she would do some more! Waiting!

I have the good fortune of a background in language study, so the speed did not get to me as much as it probably would if I were a foreign language newbie. I actually appreciate her speed, having done Pimsleur programs before which I found to be extremely slow and boring. I love how she says a phrase normally first, and follows with a slower, more distinctly spoken version of same. That is exactly what I'm looking for. Chantal's speaking voice is beautiful and clear as a bell and the accent is of course easy to understand and replicate. But as said, just be aware that this is not a course for absolutely language-learning beginners because of the speed at which it clicks along, and the speed at which Chantal speaks. I find it great that she speaks how I imagine Italians would (without dialect), and the correct accents and tones of speech are very important to me as a learner. A highly recommended series!

This is a delightfully structured and interesting course. No extra stuff like cultural heritage, etc, that gets in the way of listening time. Be careful not to fall in love with Chantal. That woman can answer the phone and make you swoon. She's Laura, Beatrice, and Juliet rolled into one.

Chantal has a beautiful voice and you can tell she wants you not only to learn Italian but have fun doing it. Down to earth, well-structured and practical. There is a ton of must-have basic information on this album, all presented logically and with sound effects that make it interesting as well as easy to listen to.

This CD is great for both people who are new to the italian language and those who have studied italian in the past and need a refresher. Chantal's imersion technique is definately the best way to learn the language; she'll have you making full sentences in no time!!!