The pupils learn French in class and now have the confidence to speak with the footballers in French. Overall enthusiasm for French at the school has been increased due to the footballers’ visits. Gillet, from Bordeaux said ”This is a new thing for me. I try to talk to them and help them as well.”

Read more about the Scottish Premier League footballers helping local pupils to learn French

Help your child learn French with a Kids French language course>>

Learn to speak French with a French language course>>

Watch a French language film>>

Get the French language advantage. Claim your competitive advantage!

But, let’s begin by talking about the meaning of the Chinese New Year. The festivities for the Chinese New Year – also known as the Spring Festival – usually last for 15 days starting before the New Year and the full moon and include many celebrations such as: spring cleaning, fireworks, bursting of crackers, lion dance, lantern festivals, Chinese New Year Eve family dinners and a Chinese New Year Day holiday. If you’re around, go and join in the festivities. Some of the more famous celebrations outside of China take place in London’s Trafalgar Square and Chinatown and San Francisco’s Chinese New Year Day Parade.

The Chinese New Year is always in late January up to mid-February, depending upon the timing of the New Moon that month.  The Chinese lunar calendar follows the movements of the moon very closely and all months have 29 or 30 days. Every few years, there is a leap year, but instead of having just one extra day (as in the Western Gregorian calendar), there is an extra month added to even up the fact that there are about 365.25 days a year (the real time it takes the earth to go around the sun).

It is said that the Chinese lunar calendar started as the Xia calendar in the 21st – 16th century BC. It is still used widely for cultural festivals and agricultural life, although the Western Gregorian calendar was adopted with the arrival of the People’s Republic of China in the early 20th century to bring China in line with the national calendars of most of the rest of the world.

On top of this, we have the Chinese zodiac system, which is based upon the movements of the Earth around the sun and lunar activity.  Then, add in the twelve animals (rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat/ram, monkey, rooster, dog and pig/boar), the five elements (metal, water, wood, fire and Earth), Yin and Yang and you’ll start to see why the Chinese zodiac system is so complicated!  The Chinese believe that the date that you were born in these cycles heavily influence your personality traits and your direction in life. This close relationship between the earth and the moon are reflected in the language. The word for day is in fact, the Chinese for ‘sun’ and the word for month is ‘moon’.

Find out about our recommended top ways to learn to speak Mandarin Chinese>>

Watch a Mandarin Chinese language film>>

Read more about China and the Chinese culture>>

Get the Mandarin Chinese language advantage. Claim your competitive advantage!

Get access here to the latest offers on Spanish language courses and accommodation from don Quijote.

We’ve teamed up with don Quijote, one of the best Spanish language schools in the world to offer you great Spanish courses in fabulous locations and most importantly good service. Going to Spain or Latin America will always be one of the best ways to study Spanish and learn about the culture. If you want to be adventurous, try Spanish and Scuba Diving in Tenerife or Spanish and Flamenco in Madrid or even Spanish and Voluntary Work in Peru! If you’re looking for something a bit more career focused, sign up for a Spanish language business course or an internship and meet local business people.

All the most recent offers and special discounts are now available at your fingertips everytime you come to this Offers Blog. Check out what special offer is available with don Quijote today!

An independent language course review by Andrea Lainé

The Earworms Rapid French Volume 2 downloadable version, is the follow-on audio language course after Earworms Rapid French Volume 1.

Having already tried out Volume 1, I found that Volume 2 was at a faster pace and  learning  much longer phrases. Again, we meet native French presenters as in Volume 1 and with the same method of learning the French language via rhythmic music for 70 minutes. We hear techno, reggae, chilled out music and even echo effects that are quite catchy! It’s this catchy and melodic music that helps you to pick up the language quickly and also helps you to remember particular words and phrases. This is what Earworms calls the ‘accelerated learning technique’.

We are told to begin by sitting back and relaxing. We are on a plane with our presenters. The music kicks in and we start learning phrases for ‘are you going to?’, ‘for pleasure’ and ‘for business’. It sets the scene for using your French on the plane on your way to a French-speaking country. We learn how to ask for things; ‘can you bring me a cognac/beer?’.   It is here that we are exposed to our first piece of grammar; that of gender: une bierre (f) or feminine and un cognac (m) or masculine.

An English-speaking presenter reinforces our memory for learning certain phrases by associating them to English words. For example, for un instant he says ‘ah, like an instant’. Later he quips that he is going to remember souhaite (wish) by thinking of a sweatshirt with ‘WISH’ written across the front in big letters. These word associations tie in with the ‘memory hooks’ that Earworms also use. The memory hooks help you to associate the French to a visual memory and familiar words in English.

We move onto learning how to talk about today, tomorrow and maintenant (‘now’). We also learn more grammar through the informal and formal forms of ‘you’ (tu/vous). The conversation runs into talking about having a reservation at a hotel, asking for things, saying that you are going to have a shower/bath and looking at numbers, from 60 to a million!

The chapters then go into learning the months of the year, talking about food in a restaurant and finally talking about family, brothers, sisters and the time. The course has a good overview of more expansive vocabulary and is enough to get you through basic conversations in French.

As with Volume 1, what I enjoyed most about the Earworms Rapid French volume 2 was that I didn’t find learning the language too challenging. It is a fun way  to learn  a language. The one disadvantage to learning this way is that you have to like the music. I can imagine that if you don’t like the music, then you might find this method of learning a little irritating!

This course comes with a useful phrase book. It gives more information into what the accelerated learning technique is about. It also lists all the phrases and words found in the course. This is useful for those (like me) that like to see the written language and associate it with hearing the language at the same time. Otherwise, this course is audio only.

This way of learning is unique but is accessible for most learners. The course can be listened to on the beach, on a train, plane or anywhere where you can listen to the music in a relaxed way.

The Earworms Rapid language courses can be uploaded to iPod, iPhone, iPad or other MP3 players.

Learn a language on your iPod ® with Earworms Rapid French Volume 2>>

Read a review of the Earworms Rapid French Volume 1>>

find out more about the full range of Earworms language courses>>

Get the French language advantage with Earworms Rapid French. Claim your competitive advantage!

Now this is a new learning experience for me: learning a language through the use of music. This is an interesting concept and something that Earworms calls an  ‘accelerated learning technique’. The idea behind it is to listen to words and phrases in a rhythmic way set to melodic music . You feel at ease as you listen and somehow the phrases become catchy and easy to recall.

I tried Volume 1 of the Earworms Rapid French language course which is the downloadable version (it is also available on CD). It is audio only (although a phrase book is included – more on this later). It is just over an hour long (70 minutes) and covers subjects that you might encounter whilst you are abroad such as ordering things, asking for things, asking directions, telling the time, numbers, days of the week, greetings and other useful expressions. You also cover verbs such as to eat, to order, to buy, to rent as well as asking questions such as ‘do you like?’, ‘what’s this?’ and ‘how much is it?’.

The first track deals with ‘je voudrais’ or, ‘I would like’. Before you know it you are ordering drinks, as well as saying other expressions such as ‘parfait’, ‘de rien’ and ‘merci’ – all good conversation fillers and useful pleasantries!

Each sentence is repeated at least three to four times, but each time it is said at a slightly different pace and with a slightly different intonation. The sentence is then broken down into parts. So, for example, ‘I would like to eat something’ is broken down into its components and then the word order is compared to English:   ‘I would like’, then ‘to eat’, then ‘something’ then ‘to eat’ again and then ‘something’ again and then the whole sentence is said in full once more. This idea of breaking up an expression and reconstructing it reminds me vaguely of the Michel Thomas Method language courses>>. But the Earworms method uses music and rhythmic repetition to great language learning effect!

The music varies from techno to funky jazz, guitar and what I would call ’lift’ music (musak)! Each type of music denotes a different chapter so learning doesn’t become monotonous and allows you to associate certain language with certain music. At the end of each chapter track, a challenge is set for us, although the male English language speaker answers the questions. The female native French speaker asks us ‘how do you say…..?’ with something that we have just covered in the chapter. It’s a good exercise and nothing too challenging.

In fact, this is what I enjoyed most about the Earworms Rapid French; I found the whole experience not too challenging or exhausting and yet I remembered quite a bit of the French after each sessino so, it was really quite effective. The course comes with a useful phrase book. It gives more information into what the accelerated learning technique is about. It also lists all the phrases and words found in the course. This is useful for those (like me) that like to see the written language and associate it with hearing the language at the same time. You even get a list of the English, the French (along with the audio of the sound) and its ‘memory hook’ – something which helps you associate the French to a visual memory and familiar words in English.

Overall, I thought that this course was fun, entertaining and I was under no pressure to memorise words. I later found myself humming one of the tunes and remembering the repetition of the French words! This method really does seem to work! C’est parfait!

The Earworms Rapid language courses can be uploaded to iPod, iPhone, iPad or other MP3 players.

Learn a language on your iPod ® with Earworms Rapid French Volume 1>>

Read a review of the Earworms Rapid French Volume 2>>

find out more about the full range of Earworms Rapid language courses>>

Get the French language advantage with Earworms Rapid French. Claim your competitive advantage!

Enjoy learning languages in a completely unique and fun way with Earworms Rapid language courses. Listen to the rhythmic repetition of songs and melodies to help you learn the language by using your long-term memory or what they call the ‘accelerated learning technique’. You will be speaking real language without even realising it! The Earworms Rapid language course range is available in Arabic, Brazilian Portuguese, Cantonese, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Polish, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. Learn to speak a language in 70 minutes and on the go with Earworms Rapid Languages!

01 Earworms Rapid Arabic

levels: beginner (Volume 1) - intermediate (Volume 2)
language: Arabic
method: audio cd, MP3 download (phrasebook is included)

Learn essential words at the heart of the Arabic language and how to put them together to make yourself understood. Volume 1 deals with the essentials you need for a trip abroad, whilst Volume 2 deals with more general conversational terms including the past, present and future tenses. This  is a fun way to learn a language rapidly and will have you speaking real Arabic straight away! This product is available as a download as well as on audio CD.

for more information and to buy the Earworms Rapid Arabic language course on earwormslearning.com>>

02 Earworms Rapid Brazilian Portuguese

level: beginner (Volume 1) – intermediate (Volume 2)
language: Brazilian Portuguese
method: MP3 download only (phrasebook is included)

Learn essential words at the heart of the Brazilian Portuguese language and how to put them together to make yourself understood. Volume 1 deals with the essentials you need for a trip abroad, whilst Volume 2 deals with more general conversational terms including the past, present and future tenses. This  is a fun way to learn a language rapidly and will have you speaking real Brazilian Portuguese straight away!

for more information and to buy the Earworms Rapid Brazilian Portuguese language course on earwormslearning.com>>

03 Earworms Rapid Cantonese

level: beginner (Volume 1 only)
language: Cantonese
method: audio cd, MP3 download (phrasebook is included)

Learn essential words at the heart of the Cantonese language and how to put them together to make yourself understood. Volume 1 deals with the essentials you need for a trip abroad. This  is a fun way to learn a language rapidly and will have you speaking real Cantonese straight away! This product is available as a download as well as on audio CD.

for more information and to buy the Earworms Rapid Cantonese language course on earwormslearning.com>>

04 Earworms Rapid Dutch

level: beginner (Volume 1 only)
language: Dutch
method: audio cd, MP3 download (phrasebook is included)

Learn essential words at the heart of the Dutch language and how to put them together to make yourself understood. Volume 1 deals with the essentials you need for a trip abroad. This  is a fun way to learn a language rapidly and will have you speaking real Dutch straight away! This product is available as a download as well as on audio CD.

for more information and to buy the Earworms Rapid Dutch language course on earwormslearning.com>>

05 Earworms Rapid French

level: beginner (Volume 1) – intermediate (Volume 2)
language: French
method: audio cd, MP3 download (phrasebook is included)

Learn essential words at the heart of the French language and how to put them together to make yourself understood. Volume 1 deals with the essentials you need for a trip abroad, whilst Volume 2 deals with more general conversational terms including the past, present and future tenses. This  is a fun way to learn a language rapidly and will have you speaking real French straight away! This product is available as a download as well as on audio CD.

for more information and to buy the Earworms Rapid French language course on earwormslearning.com>>

REVIEW! read our review of the Earworms Rapid French Volume 1>> and the Earworms Rapid French Volume 2>>

06 Earworms Rapid German

level: beginner (Volume 1) – intermediate (Volume 2)
language: German
method: audio cd, MP3 download (phrasebook is included)

Learn essential words at the heart of the German language and how to put them together to make yourself understood. Volume 1 deals with the essentials you need for a trip abroad, whilst Volume 2 deals with more general conversational terms including the past, present and future tenses. This  is a fun way to learn a language rapidly and will have you speaking real German straight away! This product is available as a download as well as on audio CD.

for more information and to buy the Earworms Rapid German language course on earwormslearning.com>>

07 Earworms Rapid Greek

level: beginner (Volume 1) – intermediate (Volume 2)
language: Greek
method: audio cd, MP3 download (phrasebook is included)

Learn essential words at the heart of the Greek language and how to put them together to make yourself understood. Volume 1 deals with the essentials you need for a trip abroad, whilst Volume 2 deals with more general conversational terms including the past, present and future tenses. This  is a fun way to learn a language rapidly and will have you speaking real Greek straight away! This product is available as a download as well as on audio CD.

for more information and to buy the Earworms Rapid Greek language course on earwormslearning.com>>

08 Earworms Rapid Italian

level: beginner (Volume 1) – intermediate (Volume 2)
language: Italian
method: audio cd, MP3 download (phrasebook is included)

Learn essential words at the heart of the Italian language and how to put them together to make yourself understood. Volume 1 deals with the essentials you need for a trip abroad, whilst Volume 2 deals with more general conversational terms including the past, present and future tenses. This  is a fun way to learn a language rapidly and will have you speaking real Italian straight away! This product is available as a download as well as on audio CD.

for more information and to buy the Earworms Rapid Italian language course on earwormslearning.com>>

09 Earworms Rapid Japanese

level: beginner (Volume 1) – intermediate (Volume 2)
language: Japanese
method: audio cd, MP3 download (phrasebook is included)

Learn essential words at the heart of the Japanese language and how to put them together to make yourself understood. Volume 1 deals with the essentials you need for a trip abroad, whilst Volume 2 deals with more general conversational terms including the past, present and future tenses. This  is a fun way to learn a language rapidly and will have you speaking real Japanese straight away! This product is available as a download as well as on audio CD.

for more information and to buy the Earworms Rapid Japanese language course on earwormslearning.com>>

10 Earworms Rapid Mandarin Chinese

level: beginner (Volume 1) – intermediate (Volume 2)
language: Mandarin Chinese
method: audio cd, MP3 download (phrasebook is included)

Learn essential words at the heart of the Mandarin Chinese language and how to put them together to make yourself understood. Volume 1 deals with the essentials you need for a trip abroad, whilst Volume 2 deals with more general conversational terms including the past, present and future tenses. This  is a fun way to learn a language rapidly and will have you speaking real Mandarin Chinese straight away! This product is available as a download as well as on audio CD.

for more information and to buy the Earworms Rapid Mandarin Chinese language course on earwormslearning.com>>

11 Earworms Rapid Polish

level: beginner (Volume 1 only)
language: Polish
method: audio cd, MP3 download (phrasebook is included)

Learn essential words at the heart of the Polish language and how to put them together to make yourself understood. Volume 1 deals with the essentials you need for a trip abroad. This  is a fun way to learn a language rapidly and will have you speaking real Polish straight away! This product is available as a download as well as on audio CD.

for more information and to buy the Earworms Rapid Polish language course on earwormslearning.com>>

12 Earworms Rapid Portuguese

level: beginner (Volume 1) – intermediate (Volume 2)
language: Portuguese
method: audio cd, MP3 download (phrasebook is included)

Learn essential words at the heart of the Portuguese language and how to put them together to make yourself understood. Volume 1 deals with the essentials you need for a trip abroad, whilst Volume 2 deals with more general conversational terms including the past, present and future tenses. This  is a fun way to learn a language rapidly and will have you speaking real Portuguese straight away! This product is available as a download as well as on audio CD.

for more information and to buy the Earworms Rapid Portuguese language course on earwormslearning.com>>

13 Earworms Rapid Russian

level: beginner (Volume 1) – intermediate (Volume 2)
language: Russian
method: audio cd, MP3 download (phrasebook is included)

Learn essential words at the heart of the Russian language and how to put them together to make yourself understood. Volume 1 deals with the essentials you need for a trip abroad, whilst Volume 2 deals with more general conversational terms including the past, present and future tenses. This  is a fun way to learn a language rapidly and will have you speaking real Russian straight away! This product is available as a download as well as on audio CD.

for more information and to buy the Earworms Rapid Russian language course on earwormslearning.com>>

14 Earworms Rapid Spanish

level: beginner (Volume 1) – intermediate (Volume 2)
language: Spanish
method: audio cd, MP3 download (phrasebook is included)

Learn essential words at the heart of the Spanish language and how to put them together to make yourself understood. Volume 1 deals with the essentials you need for a trip abroad, whilst Volume 2 deals with more general conversational terms including the past, present and future tenses. This  is a fun way to learn a language rapidly and will have you speaking real Spanish straight away! This product is available as a download as well as on audio CD.

for more information and to buy the Earworms Rapid Spanish language course on earwormslearning.com>>

15 Earworms Rapid Turkish

level: beginner (Volume 1)
language: Turkish
method: MP3 download (phrasebook is included)

Learn essential words at the heart of the Turkish language and how to put them together to make yourself understood. Volume 1 deals with the essentials you need for a trip abroad. This  is a fun way to learn a language rapidly and will have you speaking real Spanish straight away! This product is currently only available as a download.

for more information and to buy the Earworms Rapid Turkish language course on earwormslearning.com>>

browse more Earworms language courses on earwormslearning.com>>

The Think French audio magazine is more than a simple French audio language course – as with the Think Spanish audio magazine, it is designed to help you to learn French while teaching you about life and culture in French-speaking countries.  It is a much more current and engaging approach to learning French online for intermediate and advanced learners.

As a French beginner however, I wanted to get an idea of what the French magazine could offer me and whether it would be too difficult for someone at my learning level.

I viewed the December 2010 issue of the Think French audio magazine. As with the Think Spanish audio magazines, the content changes every month and each magazine has between eight and ten articles which you can read, while listening along to the French. Each article has between one and two pages of text including images and photos. A lot of the vocabulary is highlighted in bold, which means it is listed in the bilingual glossary and runs along the left-hand or right-hand side of the page.  The selected vocab also corresponds with each paragraph in the text making it easier to find the words as you listen/read. You can check the meaning or get a translation of any of these words – the glossary includes nouns, adjectives, tenses, idioms and phrases – all relating to the context of the article. This is a useful tool for your language learning skills.

Article topics range from recipes to focus on people, places, religious festivals, tourism, arts and crafts, ecotourism, the environment, history as well as news stories from around the world. The topics are current, engaging and enjoyable. The Think French December 2010 issue had articles about the Christmas traditions in Canada, food of Provence, sport and biographies. The edition had one biography about the Belgian singer songwriter, Jacques Brel and included the lyrics to his best known song ‘Ne me quitte pas‘ and a link to youtube.com where you can listen and watch Brel singing the song (with English subtitles).

The articles are not too long and are good for French learners of all ages and levels. They say that you need to have a least ‘high school level French’. The magazines may be better suited for intermediate and advanced learners. Having said that, as a beginner, I gained a lot of new French vocabulary and cultural knowledge without feeling overwhelmed. I listened, read the text and gained the general gist of the articles. I could look up any words I didn’t know (and weren’t in the glossary) in my dictionary. This is an excellent way to improve your French reading and listening skills no matter what level you are.

Think French is slightly different to conventional French language courses and this is how it works.  Once you pay your membership fee, you will be able to login online and get access to your new French audio magazine every month online – or (and, as an added bonus) – you can download the magazine as a PDF and print it out as well as download the accompanying audio clips to your ipod, itunes, mp3 or transfer them to a CD or your PC. You can choose to download the entire magazine by clicking on the cover image or to download one article at a time by opening each article PDF. They recommend that you make a folder on your desktop and save the entire magazine in one go. That way you will still have access to the whole magazine even when you don’t have access to the internet. This is a practical time-saving tip.

“as a beginner, I gained a lot of new French vocabulary and cultural knowledge without feeling overwhelmed”

Each article has an option to download an audio clip in French. The audio clip has a clear and understandable narrator who reads the article out aloud in French. The narrators are both male and female and vary in speed and pronunciation.

At the end of each issue you can practice what you have read and heard by having a go at the ‘Grammar Lesson’ and ‘Repeat After Me’ tasks. A PDF of the grammar lesson is available so that you can print off the sheet and write in the answers to the quiz or keep the sheet for future reference. The Repeat After Me task corresponds with the Grammar Lesson and gives you the chance to practice your listening skills. You download the audio clip of each phrase (there are about 9-10 phrases in all), listen to the short phrase and then repeat it during the pause. A PDF of the list of phrases is also available. The December 2010 French magazine for example, had been running a series (of 3) lessons called ‘Linking Words’. Each grammar lesson is different.

Think French membership also includes access to the Think French online community. You receive extra learning tools such as additional audio files and vocab flashcards, access to the French writers if you have any language learning questions as well as exclusive members-only offers.

Sign up for your Think French audiomagazine subscription now>>

SPECIAL OFFER!!

For a limited time only, you can get one year of back issues free with Think French! For more information on this offer and to buy the Think French Audio Magazine subscription now>>

The Think Language range of audio magazines is also available as Think Spanish and Think Italian>>

Get the French language advantage with Think French. Claim your competitive advantage!

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The recently launched Think Italian audio magazine by Think Language, follows the success of both the Think French and Think Spanish audio magazines. Think Italian is more than a simple Italian audio language course – as with the Think Spanish and Think French audio magazines, it is designed to help you to learn Italian while teaching you about the life and culture in Italy. It is a current and engaging approach to learning Italian online for intermediate and advanced learners.

Many years ago, I studied Italian at GCSE level. Although I haven’t studied it since then, I enjoyed the language so much that almost 8 years later, my husband and I went to Italy on our honeymoon for a 17-day round trip through Veneto, Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna and the Amalfi coast. Che bello!

So, it has been several years since I first studied Italian and many years of not speaking or studying it since then. I would say that I am at an elementary Italian level. It was going to be interesting to see how much Italian I would remember using the Think Italian audio magazine. Would it be too challenging for someone at my learning level?

I viewed the April 2011 issue of the Think Italian magazine online. As with the other online audio language magazines in the Think Language range, the content changes every month and each magazine has between eight and ten articles which you can read, whilst listening along to the narrator. Each article has between one and two pages of text including images and photos. A lot of the vocabulary is highlighted in bold, which means it is listed in the bilingual glossary and runs along the left-hand or right-hand side of the page. The selected vocab also corresponds with each paragraph in the text making it easier to find the words as you listen and read. You can check the meaning or get a translation of any of these words – the glossary includes nouns, adjectives, tenses, idioms and phrases – all relating to the context of the article. Some cultural references to particular brands are incorporated as part of the content of some of the articles such as naming a brand of ice cream popular in Italy (April issue). I think that this attention to detail enhances your cultural awareness of all things Italian.

Article topics range from recipes to focus on people, festivals, places, history, travel, culture as well as news stories from around the world. The topics are enjoyable to read and hear. The Think Italian April 2011 issue had many seasonal articles including one about Easter festivities (La Pasqua) across Italy and two of my favourite subjects, the story behind ice cream (ll gelato italiano) and pizza (la storia della pizza)!

The articles are not too long and I would say that they are challenging enough on many different levels for Italian learners of all ages and aptitudes although the magazines may be better suited for intermediate and advanced learners. Having said that, as an elementary learner, I gained a lot of new vocabulary and cultural knowledge without feeling overwhelmed. It was wonderful to hear the Italian language whist reading the text. I tried to get the general gist of the articles first by reading them and then listening to the audio clips. This way you start recognizing words and pronunciations and connecting them to the audio. I looked up any words I didn’t know (which weren’t in the glossary) in my own dictionary. The magazine is an excellent way to improve your Italian reading and listening skills no matter what level you are at.

Think Italian is slightly different to conventional Italian audio language courses and this is how it works. Once you pay your membership fee, you will be able to login online and get access to your new Italian audio magazine every month online – or (and, as an added bonus) – you can download the magazine as a PDF and print it out as well as download the accompanying audio clips to your ipod, itunes, mp3 or transfer them to a CD or your PC. You can choose to download the entire magazine by clicking on the cover image or to download one article at a time by opening each article PDF. They recommend that you make a folder on your desktop and save the entire magazine in one go. That way you will still have access to the whole magazine even when you don’t have access to the internet. This is a good time-saving tip.

the attention to detail enhances your cultural awareness of all things Italian

Each article has an option to download an audio clip in Italian. The audio clip has a clear and understandable narrator who reads the article out aloud in Italian. The narrators are both male and female and vary in speed and pronunciation. I found that they read slow enough for me to hear each word pretty clearly.

At the end of each issue you can practice what you have read and heard by having a go at the ‘Grammar Lesson’ and ‘Repeat After Me’ tasks. A PDF of the grammar lesson is available so that you can print off the sheet and write in the answers to the quiz or keep the sheet for future reference. The Repeat After Me task corresponds with the Grammar Lesson and gives you the chance to practice your listening skills. You download the audio clip of each phrase (there are about 9-10 phrases in all), listen to the short phrase and then repeat it during the pause. A PDF of the list of phrases is also available. The April 2011 Italian issue for example, covers the topic of time across 3 pages. Telling and reading the time in Italian comes in a few forms and so needs 3 pages of explanation! The grammar topic in the March 2011 issue  is about colours. These grammar lessons are great for beginners to learn something new and for learners of higher levels to revise what they may already know.

Think Italian membership also includes access to the Think Italian online community. You receive extra learning tools such as additional audio files and vocab flashcards, access to the Italian writers if you have any language learning questions as well as exclusive members-only offers. The Think Italian team also encourage you to write to them with any suggestions for future articles and topics.

Sign up for your Think Italian audiomagazine subscription now>>

SPECIAL OFFER!!

For a limited time only, you can get four free back issues free as soon as you order with Think Italian! For more information on this offer and to buy the Think Italian Audio Magazine subscription now>>

The Think Language range of audio magazines is also available as Think French and Think Spanish>>

Get the Italian language advantage with Think Italian. Claim your competitive advantage!

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The Think Spanish audio magazine is more than a simple Spanish audio language course – it is designed to help you to learn Spanish while teaching you about life and culture in Spanish-speaking countries.  It is a much more current and engaging approach to learning Spanish online for intermediate and advanced learners.

I wanted to get an idea of what each magazine offers and viewed the October, September, August and July 2010 issues online. The content changes every month and each magazine has between eight and ten articles which you can read, while listening along to the Spanish. Each article has between one and two pages of text including images and photos. A lot of the vocabulary is highlighted in bold, which means it is listed in the bilingual glossary which runs along the left-hand or right-hand side of the page.  You can check the meaning or get a translation of any of these words – the glossary includes nouns, adjectives, tenses, idioms and phrases – all relating to the context of the article. This is a useful additional tool for your language learning skills.

Article topics range from recipes to focus on people, places, fiestas, religious festivals, tourism, arts and crafts, ecotourism, the environment, history as well as news stories from around the world. I found articles about the world’s first full face transplant in Barcelona and the problem of immigration and refugees in Spain. The topics are current, engaging and enjoyable. The articles are not too long and are good for Spanish learners of all ages and levels. They say that you need to have a least ‘high school level Spanish’. The magazines may be better suited for intermediate and advanced learners.  However, I would say that this is an excellent way to improve on your Spanish reading and listening skills no matter what level you are. You can expand your Spanish vocabulary and your cultural knowledge of the Spanish-speaking world at the same time.

Think Spanish is slightly different to conventional Spanish language courses and this is how it works.  Once you pay your membership fee, you will be able to login online and get access to your new Spanish audio magazine every month online – or (and, as an added bonus) – you can download the magazine as a PDF and print it out as well as download the accompanying audio clips to your ipod, itunes, mp3 or transfer them to a CD or your PC. You can choose to download the entire magazine by clicking on the cover image or to download one article at a time by opening each article PDF. They recommend that you make a folder on your desktop and save the entire magazine in one go. That way you will still have access to the whole magazine even when you don’t have access to the internet. This is a practical time-saving tip.

“The topics are current, engaging and enjoyable.”

Each article has an option to download an audio clip in Spanish. The audio clip has a clear and understandable narrator who reads the article out aloud in Spanish. I found that all of the narrators were Latin American (both male and female). I do not have a problem with this, as I have lived and worked in Mexico and therefore, am aware of Latin American pronunciation. Learners of Castellano Spanish may find this a little more difficult to grasp to start with.

At the end of each issue you can practice what you have read and heard by having a go at the ‘Grammar Lesson’ and ‘Repeat After Me’ tasks. A PDF of the grammar lesson is available so that you can print off the sheet and write in the answers to the quiz or keep the sheet for future reference. The Repeat After Me task corresponds with the Grammar Lesson and gives you the chance to practice your listening skills. You download the audio clip of each phrase (there are about 9-10 phrases in all), listen to the short phrase and then repeat it during the pause. A PDF of the list of phrases is also available. I thought this useful as you can read the phrase at the same time as listening and repeating.

Think Spanish membership also includes access to the Think Spanish online community. You receive extra learning tools such as additional audio files and vocab flashcards, access to the Spanish writers if you have any language learning questions as well as exclusive members-only offers.

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These audio magazines are designed to improve your Spanish, French or Italian the fun way, whilst also teaching you about the life and culture.

There are between eight and ten articles every month, covering topics from people, fiestas, ecotourism and recipes.  It is an authentic approach for learning French, Spanish or Italian online, for intermediate and advanced learners.  You can even download the audio onto your iPhone or mp3 player and listen while you’re away, following a print out of the audio in magazine style, along with explanations of vocabulary.

Read our review of the Think Spanish audio magazine now>>

Read our review of the Think French audio magazine now>>

Read our review of the Think Italian audio magazine now>>

Find out more about the Think Spanish, Think French and Think Italian audio magazines>>

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