Italian for Dummies

By Karen AntjeFrancesca Romana OnofriTeresa L. Picarazzi, et al.

Book Overview

As society becomes more international in nature, knowing a few words in other languages has become more useful. Perhaps you travel frequently abroad, or your business requires you to travel overseas. Perhaps you have friends and neighbors who speak other languages, or you want to find out more about your heritage by learning a little bit of the language your ancestors spoke. Whatever your reason for wanting to learn some Italian, Italian For Dummies is the right book for you. Written in partnership with Berlitz - experts in helping people learn foreign languages - this book gives you the skills you need for basic communication in Italian, and it will get you well on your way to becoming fluent. Just think what you're family and friends will think when you order off the menu at your favorite Italian restaurant Italian For Dummies covers not only ordering at an Italian restaurant, but also these topics: Basic spelling, grammar, and numbers Meeting and greeting, and making small talk Shopping, shopping, and even more shopping Going out on the town Business situations Traveling, checking into a hotel, and planning a trip Handling emergencies Top Ten lists with advice on how to pick up Italian quickly, things you should never say in Italian, and favorite Italian expressions The best thing about this book is that you can learn at your own pace; for example, if you're planning a trip to Italy next year, sit down once or twice a week with this book and go through the chapters that you'll think you need for your trip. That's a lot easier than dragging yourself to a class twice a week - not to mention a lot more fun, too

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0764551965
• ISBN13: 9780764551963
• Release Date: May 2000
• Publisher: For Dummies
• Length: 372 Pages
• Weight: 1.47 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 7.2" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

CD was broken

I really enjoy going thru this book. When I went to access the CD, it was smashed into several pieces. It was listed as "Very Good Condition". Very disappointed.

"Italian For Dummies": Good Book (Un Buono Libro!)

I really like this "Italian For Dummies" book. I love how every word and phrase in the book is given a pronunciation guide right beside it, so that you know how to say it. I also like the "Words To Know" vocab lists throughout the book, the cultural tidbits about Italy and how the people express themselves, and the relaxed vibe of the book. The audio CD that came with the book starts off with reciting the alphabet & giving examples of words containing each letter. Oddly, the Italian alphabet isn't given much attention in the book. Then the CD goes to Meeting & Greeting dialogues in Chap. 3...it can seem a little confusing at first, but I guess you just play the CD for the dialogues with the headphone symbol next to them in the book. The only thing I don't like about the book is that it doesn't have any practice exercises, not even small-scale simple exercises (less than what would be in a school language textbook). That would've helped... But overall I'm very pleased with this book & recommend it, especially for the $13+ I paid for it.

Fantastico!

This is a really easy book to use. believe it or not, Italian is my first language, English my second & I speak several others as well! I used this book as a refresher course & I was totally amazed at the ease of use & the ability to understand everything that was put before me! I highly recommend this book to absolutely anyone that wants to learn basic Italian!