Now that I’m committed to studying Italian to really learn it (instead of learning some key phrases for traveling), I’m doing a bit of a “start over” so that I can take things more seriously. Before I left for Italy, I checked out the first level of Pimsleur from the library and got through a few lessons. I’m now starting over from the beginning, this time working hard to make sure really focus on pronunciation. I had already finished Michel Thomas, so now it’s time to listen to it again to re-enforce what I learned before I left.

I went to Barnes and Noble yesterday to get a few Italian workbooks. Writing really helps me to learn, so I looked for ones with lots of activities. After some careful perusal, I decided on Italian Made Simple and Italian Now. Both books will work well for what I need, although Italian Now seems to be of better quality. Thinking in Italian at this point is still a bit tedious, but I’ve had some fun talking to the cats!