Italian All-in-One For Dummies

I won an all expense paid cruise to the mediterranean in 1974. A large part of the cruise included regular stops in Naples for resupply. Our cruise offered lunchtime Italian lessons for free as part of the benefits. I learned rudimentary Italian at that time, which came in handy when trying to navigate Naples on the way to the NATO exchange, to purchase reasonably price stereos and watches. Now I have not utilized my Italian skills since then, with the exception of ordering the odd pizza or pasta at my neighborhood Italian restaurant, so when I was informed by my wife that she wanted to go to Italy in the spring, I jumped at the opportunity to practice more of my language skills. I tried taking classes on the interwebs, but they were tedious or poorly taught ( I tried that prior to last year's trip to portugal, and became somewhat facile at ordering food and beverages). I have always enjoyed the Dummies books, so thought I would give the Italian book a try. I like to think that I am actually improving my skills. I would recommend the book as an adjunct to a class, if you are an Italian virgin, or to supplement podcasts and television shows in Italian.I do not think it would be feasible to learn to speak or read Italian from this book alone, but it is extremely useful as a supplement or reference. Ciao.

I started studying Italian online (for something to do since the match games online are always pushing for money and each game is riddled with ads that are toxic after you have had to watch hundreds of them just to get a few seconds of play time). The company I could afford uses the conversation method and format and does not teach grammar. Nor do they answer any questions. I was doing great for awhile until they started introducing other tenses and began nuancing their sentences. Remember, this company does not teach grammar. As the weeks went on, the waterline began to rise. I began to feel like I was drowning. So, I hopped on Amazon and got a copy of this book (containing all six books) and started to use it with great determination. I find it's user friendly; easy to use and to understand. It clearly breaks everything down and out. For the first time, things I'd been struggling with were made clear. I'd call this, The Student Bible of Italian. Be sure to get your copy and keep it close by to refer to when working on your assignments. SO very glad I found this. My little helper. It's definitely a keeper. ♥️

Love the book. Everything I needed. But the corner of the book arrived damaged.

I bought for more explanation than Duolingo app gave me

I sing opera and other classical music in German, French, and Italian. Opera singers are required to be able to sing in all three languages. We are also greatly encouraged to learn to be fluent in at least one of the languages as well. I grew up speaking French along with English, so I decided to try Italian. I found CDs to be best for my mode of learning (Living Language Italian, found here on Amazon), but I also love this book. It covers just about everything you need to know, e.g., grammar, conversational phrases, etc. If you master everything that's in the book, you'll be almost fluent in Italian. Of course, fluency comes with practice speaking. I've been lucky enough to spend summers in both Italy and France, so I've had a lot of practice in speaking both languages. This book, paired with the above mentioned CDs, really does provide you with all you need to know to speak the gorgeous Italian language perfectly. The book is quite thick, since it's several books in one, but I found it easy to carry around since it's a paperback. It does get kind of beat up quickly if you use it as much as you should because the pages are a bit thin, but nothing worth deducting any stars for. All-in-all, I was happily pleased at how comprehensive this book is.

Love the fact that there's 6 books in one. Has everything I need to learn Italian and learn well. Perfect book for me. Loving it. Using it with the updated Barron's EZ Italian book/workbook. Great team. Easy to read, learn, study, pronounce. Fun too. The fun process of studying keeps me coming back.

I like the basic instruction in the book but there are no instructions how to get the audio for pronunciation just a printed arrow with no icon or instructions. I bought Pimsleur CDs for pronunciation

They wouldn’t let me post my review in Italian so I guess I’ll have to use English.This is a good way to begin craming for your trip to Italy.I speak Spanish, French, and sort-of Italian, but thought I’d brush up before my trip to Rome.Now I can get at least half way through any Italian conversation before ending up in Spanish 😇.