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Berlitz Italian Premier Reviews

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Category: Teach Yourself Italian Guides (AKA Italian Learning Courses & Software)



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No1Reviews.com's Bronze Award

Berlitz Italian Premier Review


by No1Reviews.com.

We have awarded Berlitz Italian Premier our prestigious Bronze Award in this category, having reviewed 28 Teach Yourself Italian Guides. Read our review below to find out why...


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Editor's Review:

With more than 125 years of experience, Berlitz Italian Premier guarantees fast, easy and effective Italian learning. This sounds almost to good to be true for a product costing less than $40, especially when other learning solutions in this category can cost more that 10 times this.  For this one off fee, rather than a subscription, users get many features offered by more expensive products as well as some that are unique to Berlitz Italian Premier. These include award winning, cutting edge language learning software, an audio companion, iPod exercises and a vocab building screen saver; more than enough to get you speaking English in no time.

The software is based on proven language learning techniques with several interactive twists  to build your Italian ability in Grammar, vocab, speaking, writing, reading and listening. Succinct explanations of grammatical rules give you a framework with which users can structure their newly learned vocab into increasingly complex sentences and phrases. Berlitz's age old flash card technique aids you in memorizing thousands of words, but with a modern twist: upon clicking on the interactive flashcards users can listen to the pronunciation of the word and are even able to slow it down to make out each individual syllable, tone and stress. Furthermore, users revise and are exposed to new material according to a specific algorithm which is proven to optimize the memorization process. Berlitz's grammar and vocab learning process is contextualized by interactive audio and multimedia activities with native speakers.

We were really impressed with Berlitz Italian Premier's interactive activities which boast learning support features that many, far more expensive, competitors lack. You can build your own vocab lists, adding notes as you learn allowing you to personalize your Berlitz teach yourself English experience. For example, that grammatical phrase you always get wrong, can be added to your notes when you come across it during the activity and can then be revised later. In the same way, that one word that always seems to escape you can be added to your personal vocab list to ensure that next time you wont forget it. A simple click will play the word's pronunciation with the option to slow down the playback for enhanced comprehension, this excellent feature is also available with the Flashcards. You can then practice your own pronunciation and compare it to that of a native speaker with Berlitz's advanced speech analysis software (a microphone is required). The software also includes a selection of language games to give you a well deserved break from intensive grammar and vocab study. For dedicated learners, study does not have to stop at home. Berlitz's audio companion and ipod activities enable you to continue learning without access to your computer or on the move, this is a great way to consolidate what you have learned from the interactive software.

Berlitz is not a 'flash in the pan' product looking to make a quick buck. It is a patented language learning method which has existed since 1878. Berlitz's wealth of experience is reflected in the simple quality of its product. Berlitz are today the world's number one provider of language training resources with 460 locations in 63 countries (60 in the US alone!) which should reassure you as to the quality you are to expect. We must note that on the downside, however, the software does lack any kind of progress tracking system with which users can monitor their learning. This can leave one feeling a little unsure of whether one is progressing at all and may leave those of us who have no language learning experience feeling a little lost. Also, we found some of the language games a bit boring, the speech analysis occasionally unreliable and rather obscure words appearing in the flashcards. Also, when purchasing Berlitz Italian Premier please be aware of the language of the user interface which is not very well advertised; purchase of a version of the product in a language the user is not familiar with will make it difficult to use.

This said, despite these minor flaws and although perhaps lacking some of the flashier features, we can safely say that Berlitz Italian Premier represents the best value for money in this category. You can learn Italian in a fun, fast and easy way with comparable, if not better, features than most other teach yourself Italian products on the market. If you are lucky enough to have an unlimited budget, you may want to check out some of the more expensive products in this category. If you want to get your money's worth, Berlitz Italian Premier is the product for you.

Check out our #1 rated site instead!
Why not check out Rocket Italian, our top rated Teach Yourself Italian Guide and winner of our prestigious Gold Award! You can also check out our Top 10 Teach Yourself Italian Guides here!

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