Full description not available
E**S
Hard to Use
This guide may have had the phrases I needed, but I found it difficult to call them up when I needed them. The book is organized more for learning conversational phrases rather than being a good reference if you need to find how to say something quickly & on-the-spot.
M**C
Excellent combination of phrases and useful information
I borrowed this book from the library in preparation for a trip to Italy and found it very useful. I have studied Italian for many years, but have never been to Italy and wanted to brush up on tourism- and travel-related words and expressions that don't come up much in an academic setting. For example, even an advanced student outside of Italy would probably not have stumbled across the name of the machine that validates one's train ticket--obliteratrice. I was impressed with this book, unlike other similar ones, for two reasons.First, the phrases sound very natural. Judging by their names, it looks like one of the authors is a native speaker of Italian and the other is a native speaker of English, so there are no awkward translations, errors, or sentences that don't make sense. Second, in addition to the phrases, it each section contains a very useful and thorough introduction to the topic, and what to expect in situations where you would use the phrases. For example, the section about trains explains the whole process of buying and using a train ticket. First, go to the ufficio informazioni to learn what trains are available and pick the right one, then go to the biglietteria to buy the ticket, and validate the ticket using the yellow obliteratrice (which you must find before proceeding to the platform).The downside is that each section includes only a few key phrases, and does not list other relevant vocabulary for the reader to use to convey different meanings. For example, this phrasebook might tell you how to say "I'm allergic to nuts" but not list the words for other common allergens. Rick Steve's phrasebook provides lots of fill-in-the-blank phrases with vocabulary lists, and I think it's a useful feature for a beginner, but probably not necessary for an intermediate or advanced student, who can adjust the phrases with vocabulary they already know.In the end, I'm not sure how useful any phrasebook would really be to someone who doesn't speak the language at all, because if you say something in Italian, people are likely to respond in Italian, and the chances of you understanding what they say are slim to none if your only resource is a list of phrases a tourist might want to say. But if you have some knowledge of the language, I think this book would be very useful.
D**S
Nice.
Nice, but half these things are super random phrases. I really don't need to know what 'what television program do you like better?' Is in italian.
R**E
It helped when I was in Venice
Yep, pretty good book, nice and clear and does motivate you to practice some Italian on the locals. By the end of my stay I was able to order a complete meal in a restaurant and understood what was being asked of me, so must have worked quite well. Unless the waiters were just humouring me... hmm...
Trustpilot
1 week ago
2 weeks ago
