From babies to adults we learn by mimicking. Just like the mimos [imitator actors] of Ancient Greece and the modern day mime artists in New York, we enjoy copying the actions of others. Not only is it fun, but it's the way we learn.
The first step in mimicking speech is to listen. It is suggested that infants begin 'categorizing' sounds before birth. They then practice these sounds and eventually string them together to create words.
Listening is the most important step in learning a language [to read my summarized research on how our brain categorizes and recognises sounds, click here].
I'm a very Visual and Kinesthetic learner [take the test here], therefore I have difficulty with memorizing audio. So I will focus my learning mainly on listening and speaking rather than reading. I can easily read and write a word, but recalling the word in a conversation is more difficult.
Online work material should cover listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
There are many websites that help with learning a language, but the ones I've found most helpful are Livemocha.com, byki.com and LearnItalianPod.com [here's the shortcut to iTunes].
The Italian course of Livemocha is an excellent set of 51 lessons that each include a learning, review, writing and speech section. The highlight of this website is it's community. On average, a writing or speech assignment will be reviewed by a native within several hours. This feedback is extremely helpful; it's like having a teacher on-demand.
byki makes it easy to memorize words and phrases with its free downloadable flashcard program that includes listening, writing, and reading. . They also have an iPhone app [$7.99). I will use byki alongside Livemocha because it is missing the feedback system.
I recently found a podcast, LearnItalianPod.com, which is both entertaining and instructional. I've found the beginner lessons helpful, but the Upper Intermediate levels even more so because of the story that is spoken at different speeds. It is important to be able to understand Italian at normal speed, and this is a fun way to do it. Many of the podcasts are free, but I spent the $15 subscription to download all 261 lessons with accompanying tests and written material [ it has a 30 day 100% Satisfaction Guarantee!].
Within a couple days of only completing 5 lessons from Livemocha and listening to several upper intermediate level podcasts from LearnItalianPod, I have already begun writing sentences and understanding the meaning of some conversations.
If this isn't improvement, then what is?!
Tomorrow we'll talk with Spock and Captain Kirk about a 90 Day Plan to Fluent Italian.
So do you know of any other online courses you've found helpful? What do you think of my choices? I enjoy reading your comments!
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