Customer Reviews
Just Michel and you! - By: Stephen Picksley, 01 Oct 2006 
This programme is a one CD distillation of the 5 hour advanced course (see my review below this paragraph, as it covers the same material). The advanced course covers alll of the tenses in the Italian language & gives you the opportunity to practise. It is fantastic! However, there was always a problem that when you came to review the material you had to listen to the two students thinking out their answer (as the tapes were recorded real-time & not scripted). The editing process has removed the two students & just leaves Michel asking a question in English & then giving the answer in Italian. It is a fantastic resource for reallly over learning this material so that it becomes second nature & will improve your fluency. A recommendation to buy.
I read in the accompanying booklet that there will be a Vocabulary course introduced in March 2007, 3 CD's providing over a 1000 words with Native speakers. This will be a very welcome addition.
Advanced Course Review:-
This follow-on from the 8 hour course & two hour language builder course has lived up to expectations, it is excellent!
As the name of the course suggests it is designed for students that have either completed the first courses or acquired a grounding in Italian through other means. If you are an absolute beginner you should come back & purchase this course when you have picked up the basics, its not for you yet.
Michel uses the same technique as the 8 hour course, two students (one male & one female) & himself.
There isn't much new vocabulary in the course but what you do get is a thorough analysis & chance to practice quite advanced Italian grammar . He spends a long time going over the past tenses in Italian which were only lightly touched on in the first course. In addition, every students dread, the subjunctive, is covered in a way that I can only describe as brilliant. My fear of the subjunctive has now gone!
There is a smalll booklet that accompanies the course but there is no more than a summary of the course content on each disc so if you are looking for a written explanation of the grammar you would be better buying something like Italian Made Simple.
A word of warning for those looking for advanced vocabulary, there is not much in here. If you are familar with Italian grammar then you should buy other materials to improve your vocabulary but for intermediate learners this course is definitely good value for money & should be high on your list of Italian materials to buy!
