Speak Italian Magically by Antonio Libertino
Through the use of both a book and audio files, Speak Italian Magically by Antonio Libertino offers an innovative way to learn Italian — during a “state of relaxed alertness.”
If you’ve ever listened to meditation or yoga music — or type away on OMMwriter as I do — the basic theory behind the audio files will sound familiar to you. Essentially, by putting your brain in a relaxed state, it becomes more open to accepting the new words you are about to absorb.
The listener is instructed to get comfortable and imagine a time when you have learned something important to you — note that these are *not* lessons that you should listen to in your car on the way to work.
The lesson continues with the speaker alternating between Italian and English, side by side, and as the lessons progress, you will hear more and more Italian. I love this concept since we all know, especially those of us who have lived through it, how well the “sink or swim” or more properly called “full immersion” method of language learning works.
You can also follow all of the audio files with the book, which would be extra helpful for someone like me who is a visual learner — I need to see words to remember them, and not just in my mind. I especially love the intermingling of Italian phrases right next to their English counterparts throughout; it does seems that this would help your brain equate the two, especially with the repetition that is built into the lessons and also which you can do on your own.
As someone who already understands and speaks Italian daily, I can’t definitively say whether Speak Italian Magically is an effective way to learn the language. That said, I will say with absolute certainty that I would love to see Antonio also release intermediate and advanced level books and audio files; I truly believe this methodology is something that would work for me to absorb more advanced grammar rules and vocabulary, so I hope future volumes are in the works.
Find more information online: SpeakItalianMagically.com.
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4 Beans of Wisdom to “Speak Italian Magically by Antonio Libertino”
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Love this concept, Michelle. My preferred and most effective way of speaking Italian after nearly 20 years of sporadically studying this language is mixing it up with English. And like you, I need to see before I can speak.
So I’ll hold out for the intermediate/advanced versions.
I know Antonio does have at least one other book in the works…stay tuned 🙂
Thanks Michelle, this sounds like a lovely way to learn! I will have to check it out. M
Like me, your Italian may be a bit more advanced for this particular book, but I’m still enjoying it anyway 🙂
Thanks for posting this Michelle! I’ve gotten really good at sentence structure and understanding, but the speaking – notsomuch :o( Hoping this will help!
Enjoy Beth!