One man tries a range of popular language learning methods and programs, then heads to Milan to test his knowledge of Italian.
A) The book made it sound so easy. Teach Yourself Italian, it was called, and for two years it sal on my desk, silently laughing at my inability to do just that. I'm not sure why I thought an obscure book from 1947 would do the trick; still, I dutifully studied its archaic (M) instructions on railroad manners and talking to porters and boatmen. But after two years of halting, ineffective study, I could barely even remember how to say "porter," let alone command one to carry my luggage. Thanks for nothing, Teach Yourself Italian.
B) The lesson here: learning a language the traditional way is hard - endless vocabulary lists and translation exercises can make anyone's brain stop working. But now there are numerous programs on the market that promise to make it easy even fun. From audio courses that do away with tests and memorization to comprehensive online lessons that incorporate games and amusing formal chat sessions with authentic native speakers, there have never been more options for the aspiring language learner. But do any of them actually work?
C) I decided to see for myself. I gathered several of the most prominent language-learning programs and tested them out, evaluating them on how well I remembered the lessons and how engaging I found the teaching methods. I followed their instructions, force-feeding my brain verbs, nouns, and unfamiliar accent marks, in hopes of fulfilling my long-deferred dream of learning the Italian language. Then I traveled to Italy and did my best to go native. I practiced for a month before the trip, which I figured would be enough time to get a sense of how these programs work (and whether the work) and to learn enough Italian to hold my own. If not, I could always fa back on enthusiastic grunts (") and hand gestures. d
D) The grunts came in handy. Basically, you shouldn't trust any system that claims you can actually learn a language in a week, or a month, or any other short time span. I had studied very hard before my trip, and my first day in Milan was still a wreck. I was unable to find my way out of a railroad station, was too afraid to ask for change for a 50-dollar note, and failed my first real attempt at conversation so badly that my interlocutor (i) switched to English out of pity. Needless to say, in the short term, these programs won't give you fluency unless you have some experience with the language already.
E) What these programs will do, with varying degrees of efficacy, is give you a baseline familiarity with the Italian language. Each program approaches this task differently. I had the least success with those courses that emphasized situational vocabulary phrases and words that might prove handy in a restaurant or hotel, for instance. With these, it felt less like I was learning a language and more like I was just memorizing foreign phrases that I would inevitably forget when it came time to use them.
F) Take the online service Livemocha. There are plenty of nice, progressive things about it, such as its robust online community of native speakers and language learners, who correct your assignments and occasionally send you brief and confusing e-mails, But at its core, Livemocha is an old-fashioned course, offering a series of traditionally structured lessons that begin with a video of two Italian speakers performing everyday tasks, such as ordering coffee. Then it goes into the vocabulary and themes from the dialogue and concludes with a vocabulary quiz.
G) I sampled the Rosetta Stone online service, and it's hard to imagine a more comprehensive language-learning software suite. You can use it to play language-related computer games, talk with a live instructor over video link, and converse with fellow language students in a chat room. It's extraordi- narily immersive (沉浸式的),
H) However, I had the greatest success with the Pimsleur method, a series of audio lessons that barely bothers teaching vocabulary at all. You learn how to speak in sentences with Pimsleur, and you do so organically. You spend each 20- to 30-minute audio lesson focusing on a few words and phrases. The instructor will ask a simple question, something like "How would you say, in Italian, 'I don't understand Italian?"" You answer it, then the instructor asks variations on the question again and again, and you answer again and again. Occasionally he'll ask about words and phrases you've learned in earlier les- sons. It's 20 to 30 minutes of constant drilling and it works. The grammar and sentence structure sink into your long-term memory. To me, it seemed like a very natural way of learning a language.short time span. I had studied very hard before my trip, and my first day in Milan was still a wreck. I was unable to find my way out of a railroad station, was too afraid to ask for change for a 50-dollar note, and failed my first real attempt at conversation so badly that my interlocutor (i) switched to English out of pity. Needless to say, in the short term, these programs won't give you fluency unless you have some experience with the language already.
E) What these programs will do, with varying degrees of efficacy, is give you a baseline familiarity with the Italian language. Each program approaches this task differently. I had the least success with those courses that emphasized situational vocabulary phrases and words that might prove handy in a restaurant or hotel, for instance. With these, it felt less like I was learning a language and more like I was just memorizing foreign phrases that I would inevitably forget when it came time to use them.
F) Take the online service Livemocha. There are plenty of nice, progressive things about it, such as its robust online community of native speakers and language learners, who correct your assignments and occasionally send you brief and confusing e-mails, But at its core, Livemocha is an old-fashioned course, offering a series of traditionally structured lessons that begin with a video of two Italian speakers performing everyday tasks, such as ordering coffee. Then it goes into the vocabulary and themes from the dialogue and concludes with a vocabulary quiz.
G) I sampled the Rosetta Stone online service, and it's hard to imagine a more comprehensive language-learning software suite. You can use it to play language-related computer games, talk with a live instructor over video link, and converse with fellow language students in a chat room. It's extraordi- narily immersive (沉浸式的),
H) However, I had the greatest success with the Pimsleur method, a series of audio lessons that barely bothers teaching vocabulary at all. You learn how to speak in sentences with Pimsleur, and you do so organically. You spend each 20- to 30-minute audio lesson focusing on a few words and phrases. The instructor will ask a simple question, something like "How would you say, in Italian, 'I don't understand Italian?"" You answer it, then the instructor asks variations on the question again and again, and you answer again and again. Occasionally he'll ask about words and phrases you've learned in earlier les- sons. It's 20 to 30 minutes of constant drilling and it works. The grammar and sentence structure sink into your long-term memory. To me, it seemed like a very natural way of learning a language.
I) But I think it's notable that most of these successes came only after I had been there several days, immersing myself in the language and the culture. On my second day in Milan, I contacted Lorenzo De Feo, a local tutor I dis- covered on the Internet, and arranged to meet him at a cafe in the Palazzo Reale near the Duomo. The lesson proved how 90 minutes of effective, in- person instruction can beat days spent with a computerized course. With a pen and a few sheets of yellow paper, we worked through the basics of Italian conversation: what to say, what not to say, and where and when to say or not say it. It was exactly what I needed.
J) Obviously, this session didn't make me fluent, either, but De Feo's advice and encouragement made me much more comfortable in real-life situations. This was perhaps the best lesson of all: no matter where you go, confidence and enthusiasm are the better parts of communication. If you enter a new country with a base of learning and an open mind for learning more, you will pick things up as you go, and you will have a better travel experience. I took that lesson to heart.
K) On my last day in Milan, I moved through the city determined not to be ashamed of my limited language ability. When two Italians stopped and asked me the way to the Duomo, I was able to help them out: "É proprio là," I said confidently, pointing behind me. When I came across an open-air market in the square outside the Santa Maria church, I decided to engage in a little bargaining. I went to a tent selling food and, fixing my eyes on a delicious-looking tart, bargained the proprietor down from 3 dollars per slice to 2.50. And as day turned to night, I treated myself to a meal at an obscure little restaurant near the place where I'd been staying- exactly the sort of place I had dreamed about visiting during my failed two-year experience with the Teach Yourself Italian book. As I entered, the host sized me up. "English menu?" he asked. "No," I said, without stumbling once. "I speak a little Italian."

Comprehension Exercise
Each of the following statements contains information given in one of the paragraphs of the passage above Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter in the blank.

1. Belief in oneself and a willingness to learn are very important when talking with native speakers of the language you are learning.
2. In the writer's opinion, the method that focused on practicing over and over again different ways of saying the same thing was the most successful of the several methods he tried.
3. The writer's short learning session with a native speaker proved the effectiveness of face-to-face interaction over language courses using the computer.
4. The day before leaving town, the author ventured into the city to try out the little Italian he had learned.
5. Now there are numerous language courses for the ambitious learner to choose from, but the question is which of them will produce the expected results.
6. This online service is deeply engaging and includes a wide variety of learning activities.
7. The writer did not give a favorable opinion of the method that said vocabulary should be taught in situations in which they would be used.
8. The writer found grunts to be useful because the courses he tried did not provide him with practical experience in using the language.
9. The online language learning program was outdated although its community members were helpful in various ways.
10. Language courses that say you can be fluent in a foreign language in a short period of time are not reliable.