Italian Language Learning Reviews

Score: (not yet rated)/10

Pros:
I haven’t yet acquired a copy to review fully – post your comments below, particularly if you’ve used this book before.

Cons:
As mentioned above, I haven’t yet purchased or found a copy to review. Please write a comment below if you have anything to add.

Soluzioni!: A Practical Guide to Italian Grammar by Denise de Rôme presents all the major topics of Italian grammar in an organized reference book. This guide includes explanations of each grammatical point, along with examples that illustrate each point (including real-life sample sentences from Italian literature & media). Many of the explanations focus on tougher or more intricate topics that help hone students’ grammar skills, making this a recommended resource for intermediate or more advanced learners. The author includes a number of exercises, allowing students to practice each topic.

Score: 5/10

Pros:
a selection of funny (but few potentially relevant) Italian phrases for travelers; some amusing remarks about the cuisine, culture, and people of Italy; good for a laugh in Italian; ad hoc pronunciation given with every entry; very inexpensive

Cons:
limited selection of phrases compared to robust travel phrasebooks; nearly all phrases included are too over-the-top for daily use; more of a joke book than a resource that helps you learn Italian

In its organization and presentation, this thin, pocket-sized, 64-page book doesn’t stand out among other phrasebooks for foreign travelers to Italy. Its content is what sets Wicked Italian apart. The illustrations and spicy, parody-driven humor place it alongside books like Dirty Italian: Everyday Slang and Berlitz Hide This Italian Book.

Eight sections cover humorous words and phrases allowing you to curse, romance, lie to policemen, complain about taxi drivers, even confess to an Italian priest. Most phrases are akin to “tuo padre è un pollo” (Tomb’s translation of “your father is as smart as a chicken”) or “Lui si è attaccato alla bottiglia dell’olio d’oliva” (“he started drinking the olive oil straight”). A relative few of the book’s phrases are practical to the extent that you’ll actually consider using them in a conversation.

Wicked Italian includes snippets about Italian culture, but these are equally light, sarcastic and fail to take their information seriously. This attitude is highlighted by cartoon drawings scattered throughout the book’s pages.

stands out as a fun little phrase booklet that gives readers a good chuckle, perhaps something to share with fellow Italian learners. Although it does use real Italian, and reference life events dear to real Italians, the book always focuses on the joke rather than any learning objectives. As such, you won’t be surprised to find it in the humor section of your local bookstore.

Score: 9/10

Pros:
fully conjugates 555 verbs; examples of every verb in use; notes whether verb is transitive/intransitive, any spelling changes the verb undergoes & which auxiliary used with each verb; clean, uncluttered, easy-to-read verb tables; intro explains the whole Italian verb system; three very useful verb indices allow you to cross-reference any verb, quickly identify which verbs are irregular & conjugate an additional 2,700 verbs; low price

Cons:
bulk of the information is regular & repetitive if you understand the pattern (true of any verb book like this); no assistance with pronunciation issues, such as verbs with varying open & close “e”/”o” and verb forms with ante-penultimate stress

The Big Green Book of Italian Verbs competes with several other verb conjugation books vying for your attention as an Italian language student. Basically, like Barron’s 501 Italian Verbs or 2000+ Essential Italian Verbs, this hefty reference guide conjugates a number of Italian verbs. But with more fully conjugated verbs than all of the above, and a lengthy introduction on how to use Italian verbs, perhaps it’s worth your consideration.

The introduction includes more than thirty pages explaining the grammar of Italian verbs. That section first explains the basics of conjugation, and then covers all tenses and moods, including instructions and examples for each.

After that, the bulk of the book presents 555 verbs, one verb per page, one page at a time. The verbs are arranged in table-like rows and columns on the page. That organization and the large page size makes the verb tables clean and easy to search through, and keeps the presentation from looking cluttered. Each verb is conjugated in all tenses and moods, of course, with participles, infinitives, transitivity and participial auxiliary (avere or essere) given as well. To top it off, there are examples of each verb used in Italian phrases and sentences.

At the end of the book, there are three good indexes that will help you make the most out of this resource. First, an English to Italian verb index helps you find the Italian equivalent of an English verb, with references to page numbers. Second, an irregular verb index allows you to find which verbs are irregular, and then reference their irregular conjugation in the body of the book. The last index adds a very nice feature: the ability to look up any one of thousands of Italian verbs and find a verb conjugated like it in this book.

The Big Green Book of Italian Verbs builds itself into a great resource for anyone struggling with the toughest part of Italian grammar: Italian verbs. If you can’t juggle your irregular passato remoto with your regular futuro anteriore, this is among the best resources available to store on your shelf. Students looking for pronunciation help will find that the book fails to indicate irregular accent and open versus close “e” and “o”, which can be trouble for some learners – Barron’s Italian Verbs (the little book, not the 501…) helps with that, but without some of the finer additions found in Big Green. All in all, I recommend this book to any beginner or intermediate students who write in Italian or translate into Italian – it will help you get your verbs straight.

Score: 8/10

Pros:
covers all major topics in beginning & intermediate Italian grammar; lots of exercises relate directly to specific grammar topics; the structure of the book, the examples & charts all present information in an organized fashion; regular & irregular verb tables in appendix; organized by part of speech, making it easy for students to reference and work on specific problem areas; rigid outline format makes overall layout straightforward, and the table of contents easy to use; audio CD reads exercises out loud for pronunciation help

Cons:
chapter & section length vary greatly, offer little guidance for pacing yourself through the book; rigid outline will distract certain learners & won’t compensate for varied length & use of explanations; sometimes uneven distribution of exercises; no index of any kind

Interactive Italian Grammar Made Easy provides students who find themselves struggling with Italian grammar just under 200 pages of explanations and exercises. The book covers the whole range of beginner and intermediate Italian, and is organized into chapters by part of speech. If you’re looking for a resource to help you hone your grammatical skills, read on. If you’re brand new to the language, this course isn’t necessarily aimed at you, but it’s clear and approachable enough to warrant consideration.

After a page generally introducing parts of speech, you’ll find seven chapters, each one dedicated to one part of speech. The first (and by far longest) such chapter deals with verbs. The book takes a rigid outline approach to formatting, so you’ll see sections like 3.2 (direct object pronouns), 3.3.2 (the pronoun ne), capital letters A, B, C, etc. to break down larger subsections, and Roman numerals indicating exercises. The length of such sections varies greatly, and the organization, uneven distribution and inconsistent length of explanations, examples, charts and exercises relaxes that sense of rigidity. At the same time, this inconsistency makes it harder to read the book straight through, as if it were a series of well-planned lessons.

Within each sections, explanations are kept brief, comprehensible and relevant. They’re rarely lively, but rarely off-topic. Example words and sentences highlight many explanations of grammar points. A consistent, if typical, use of charts helps flesh out key information visually, and exercises occur within many of the subsections.

Topics and their explanations sometimes cover grammar from a different perspective than is conventional. For instance, the section on present indicative verbs begins with a subsection on io (first person singular) forms – and only io forms – of verbs in the present tense (regular, irregular, reflexives and more), then moves onto tu forms, then onto lui/lei, etc. It’s your call if these differences mark a positive shift in perspective or just stand out as a nuisance.

Plenty of practice exercises give you the chance to apply language functions as you learn. Often, these activities involve translating, filling in blanks or matching. The audio CD included with the book has sound files that read exercises aloud, which goes a little ways to further your ability speak and comprehend Italian. Answers to all exercises are found in the back.

The book ends with an appendix holding charts of regular and irregular verbs and, as mentioned above, answers to the practice activities. Although the table of contents lists all chapters, sections and subsections, there’s no index at the back of the book.

Interactive Italian Grammar Made Easy makes a strong effort to offer students grammar lessons, a workbook and an audio CD all in one course. Students struggling with certain grammar concepts can find solid assistance in this book. Certainly, the drawbacks mentioned above are largely limited to the format and organization, not so much the content. Consider this book recommended for review and further exercises, but not as a primary, routine way to learn all of Italian grammar. Used correctly, this text will be a good resource for beginners and intermediate students.

Score: 8/10

Pros:
300 of the most common Italian verbs fully conjugated; all forms in all tenses & moods listed; indicates irregular stress accent & vowel pronunciation for all verb forms; two examples of each verb in use; great index in both Italian & English, with page numbers & further verbs conjugated like those in the book; inexpensive

Cons:
introduction not as helpful as other Italian verb books; format not as tabular and clean as larger verb books; small font & limited print space make text harder on the eyes

Aside from a short introduction explaining accents, helping verbs and regular verb conjugation, Italian Verbs dedicates itself entirely to verb charts. You’ll find in its pages about 300 regular and irregular Italian verbs, fully conjugated, and with two example sentences containing each verb.

Each page of this small volume deals with a single verb. On the top, verbs are given in bold, along with the gerund and past participle. Below a dividing line, tenses and moods are abbreviated on the left hand side of the page, then verb forms are given on the right, separated by commas. Each tense-mood has two rows, with singular forms on the top and plural on the bottom. The end result looks like this:

Pres. Ind. corrèggo, corrèggi, corrègge;
Pres. Ind. correggiamo, correggete, corrègono

Irregular stress is marked with an accent, and open and close “e” and “o” are differentiated (open è and ò versus close é and ó). These aren’t features of Italian spelling, but help students pronounce verbs correctly.

The book ends with an index of Italian verbs covered in the book, as well as those not covered, but conjugated like the 300 here. There’s also an English-Italian index, allowing you to search for verbs by their meaning. Also, since the body of this guide alphabetizes the verbs, you should be able to locate words rather quickly.

The pocket-sized Barron’s Italian Verbs makes a fine, cheap on-the-go addition to your Italian grammar repertoire. It’s small, with small print and limited space for verb tables, making longer verbs clutter the pages, but lots of verbal information is all packed into this small book. At the very least, this is a better recommendation than 501 Italian Verbs, though not as robust as The Big Green Book of Italian Verbs.

Score: 7/10

Pros:
tens of thousands of Italian & English translations of words and phrases packed into a somewhat small volume; parts of speech, key words to determine right translation and sample phrases/sentences are all here; dark orange color entry headwords stick out, making searches easier; regular and irregular Italian verb tables; useful center section with themed vocabulary lists, practice exercises and notes about Italy & Italian culture

Cons:
missing detailed Italian pronunciation info, such as how to pronounce long/short “e”/”o”, voicing of “s”, etc. (why IPA for English, but not Italian words?); Italian verb list is rather spartan & pronunciation guide is nothing special; some entries seem meager & some variant translations less well differentiated

The Oxford Color Italian Dictionary Plus is one of those concise (4 1/2″ x 7″, and 1″ thick) compact but not-quite-pocket dictionaries. The well-advertised “color” refers to the orange text that sets apart every main entry, making words you’re looking up easier to spot. Otherwise, this resource presents everything you’d expect from a student’s backpack Italian dictionary, and it does it rather well.

The dictionary size and scope works out a reasonable compromise for on-the-go Italian translation. While the number of words and example phrases is certainly meager compared to the unabridged Oxford-Paravia Italian Dictionary, you still have a rich array of Italian vocabulary at your fingertips.

Every “headword” entry, as mentioned, is given in orange text (blue in older editions) – both the Italian terms in the Italian-English section, and the English in the English-Italian. Stressed, or accented, syllables have an apostrophe before them, and removable suffixes are separated from the stem by a vertical bar. Notice that there’s IPA in the English section, but no such pronunciation help for Italian words. The part of speech is abbreviated and italicized, then translations are given.

Key words in parentheses help you narrow down which translation you’re after. This feature has become commonplace in dictionaries, and is used routinely here. Expressions and nuances can be tricky business. In those cases, the dictionary lists the word in the context of larger phrases. None of this is innovative, and the dictionary could have used these features better or more completely in some entries, but they work. Here’s a sample entry:

par‘la|re vt/i speak, talk; (confessare) talk; parlare bene/male di qcno speak well/ill of somebody; non parliamone più let’s forget about it; non se ne parla nemmeno! don’t even mention it!. ~to a {lingua} spoken.

The preface and introduction offer very quick tips on how to use the dictionary in both English and Italian. There’s also a one-page guide to Italian pronunciation, along with a list of abbreviations used in the dictionary (like “qcno” for qualcuno in the entry above).

Four pages of stripped-down verb tables end the book. In those charts, regular verb endings are given in a list, with verbs separated by commas. Irregular verbs only have their irregular forms listed.

The Oxford Color Italian Dictionary stands as a good, recommended, but imperfect Italian dictionary for study, classroom use or even a trip to Italy. It doesn’t have all the answers, but it will travel with you as a valuable Italian reference.

Score: 9/10

pros:
loads of usage examples show off modern Italian in context; grammar & explanations are descriptive and register sensitive; clear division between first half of the book, which discusses meaning, and second half, which discusses function; helps make sense of a complicated array of Italian words, phrases & expressions; examples really clarify grammar use; two great cross-referenced indexes make this book readily searchable

cons:
navigating the charts and info isn’t the most intuitive process; best if used by more advanced students; sometimes devolves into mere vocabulary lists

Kinder & Savini’s Using Italian: A Guide to Contemporary Usage noticeably separates itself from the majority of bookstore resources available to language learners. For starters, it’s aimed at late intermediate students, advanced students and teachers of Italian. Second, because it’s focused on use and function, it’s example heavy. In many ways, the book is a reference guide to Italian vocabulary and phrases, framed by explanations of their use, and topicalized based on meaning or function.

I read this book as if it has two parts. The first 200 pages discuss words and their meanings. There you’ll find lists of words including false friends, synonyms, idioms, proverbs, cities & countries, acronyms, names, political organizations, grammatical terms, numbers, weight and time. All lists are tabular, detailed and lengthy. They include Italian words in bold, English translations, and some indication of the function of each word or phrase. Take, for instance, this example from the “synonyms” section on page 128:

POLICEMAN

The list continues to give more general terms, specific terms for types of police, as well as derogatory terms. The R1-R3 allude to registers, which, as the introduction explains, rest on a scale of formal (R3) to familiar (R1) and even vulgar (R1*).

The second part of the book deals with language use as framed by grammar rather than meaning. Chapters and sections tackle topics like “pronouns and verbs”, “impersonal objects”, “noun and adjective” and loads of prepositions in Italian. You’ll read through more explanations in this part, but the authors still focus on sample Italian sentences and phrases.

The explanations in this grammar are descriptive, relating how Italian is used in Italy, and by modern Italians. The book ends with a list of interjections and filler words, and two great indices: an index of every Italian word discussed in the book, and an index of grammar topics.

Sophisticated and advanced language learners will find this Italian grammar refreshingly relevant. Linguists, even those with little knowledge of Italian, also stand to benefit. Using Italian puts so many examples of tricky Italian usage at your fingertips. It’s sound, pertinent, well organized, hard-hitting Italian. Highly recommended if you could use such a resource.

Score: 8/10

pros:
fairly well organized; great coverage of wide range of themes & situations; helpfully relevant to Italy; color-coded sections & blue Italian text make searches quick; intro to basic Italian grammar & Italian-English-Italian glossaries; nice extras include sample travel requests to send via e-mail, questions to ask, pics of gestures; although some of the culture notes are generic & boring, others offer useful tips & info

cons:
some of the vocabulary gets too detailed too fast and won’t help many readers; would have liked to see more robust coverage of basic Italian, including more examples in the grammar section cross-referenced with vocabulary lists; glossary could have doubled as an index to quickly find specific words, but page numbers are missing

Barron’s Traveler’s Language Guide: Italian is in many ways a typical phrasebook affair, helping you translate your travel thoughts and needs into Italian. But what it does that is typical, it does well, and even manages to squeeze in some nice extras to make the purchase worth your while.

Like other travel phrase books, this one’s divided into themed sections. Topics include shopping, sightseeing, health, accommodations, on the move, interpersonal matters (thanks, introductions, preferences and small talk) and the all-important “gastronomy (culinary customs)”.

The side tab of each right page is color-coded to one of these topics, and vocabulary list headings share that same color. In other words, it’s easy to locate your desired topic just by flipping the pages.

Vocabulary translations set out the English text in black and Italian in blue. Sample sentences are in bold, with English on top and Italian in blue directly below. Cultural, social and historical notes occur regularly throughout the text, and read as expected.

A brief, approachable introduction to Italian grammar will help beginners make sense of the language. The Italian-English and English-Italian vocab glossaries make for nice, short little dictionaries in a pinch. All of these can be found at the back of the book. The front of the book has a very short pronunciation chart, useful abbreviations and general tips about Italy.

As mentioned, a few extras stand out. The “travel preparations” topic gives sample Italian e-mails you can send to ask Italians about booking a hotel room or renting a car. There are also questions to ask about lodging, what’s included, cost, etc. The “interpersonal matters” includes two pages of color photos demonstrating the basics of Italian body language.

I’ve seen phrasebooks with more vocabulary, or ones that do a better job of organizing topics, or ones that offer an index, or ones that… Sure, in many ways, the Traveler’s Language Guide: Italian is typical. For its extras and its good coverage of the basics, I don’t find it hard to recommend. Travelers looking for more vocabulary could pair this alongside word-building books like Must-Know Italian. These two recommendations together give you an expansive arsenal of topical Italian vocabulary. That’s enough to handle most any situation.

Score: 6/10

pros:
themed lists of thousands upon thousands of Italian words & phrases; good variety of topics; solid organization; can help students beef up vocab & tourists complement their travel phrasebooks; vocabulary lists included are up-to-date and pertinent

cons:
no index, no way to look up specific words!; must-know tips offer stingy and random advice about Italian grammar and culture; not basic enough for a phrase book, yet not organized like a dictionary; some more detail or info about certain entries is needed (such as the way dictionaries use key terms); no pronunciation help & no indication of how to pronounce any of these words

Daniella Gobetti’s Must-Know Italian: 4,000 Words that Give You the Power to Communicate is a compendium of words and phrases sorted by topic. This book’s format almost makes it a large Italian phrasebook, or an extensive themed vocabulary list. With that in mind, let’s see how it might help you learn the language.

The introduction explains how the book functions, and how to read each vocabulary entry. In each list of words, the author marks false friends with FF, includes definite articles with nouns, and gives verbal prepositions in brackets (like “occuparsi [di]“).

The book is divided into twelve chapters. Each chapter has an overarching theme, like “A Place to Live”, “Education” or “People and Relationships”. Within each chapter, sections tackle more specific topics, and these sections are dominated by word/phrase lists. “People and Relationships” has sections like “Physical Descriptions” (listing parts of the body) and “Family Relations” (I’ll let you guess what kind of words you’ll learn there…).

The word lists themselves take up the majority of the book. This is a reference guide with translations of Italian and English vocabulary, and no explanations or handholding.

These lists have two columns – English text on the left, Italian translation on the right. All the Italian words are bold, making them easy to spot. Here’s a sample pulled from page 82:

As you can see, words are the main focus, while phrases using certain words are secondary and given in italics beneath the word used.

Short, gray “Must Know Tip” boxes add some language and even culture advice, but they’re scattered and limited in appearance and scope.

The end of the book has a nice bonus: over 40 pages of exercises. While they’re mostly fill-in-the blank and multiple choice questions, these practice activities are numbered to correspond to the twelve chapters in the book. After that, you’ll find answers to the exercises.

Although the six-page table of contents lists every topic and subtopic in the book, it’s frustrating that this volume lacks any sort of index or cross-referencing of any kind. The back cover proclaims that “your search for the right word in Italian is over”. That’s only true if you can guess which words are organized into which categories/topics. There’s no way to search for specific words here.

If you’re a later beginner or intermediate student looking to expand your base in Italian vocabulary, Must-Know Italian has some word smarts for you. It’s well organized and covers a variety of topics, but it’s not without its faults. You’ll be better off if you come to this book looking to expand your ability to talk about certain topics, rather than searching for specific words and phrases.

A second group to benefit from this book, perhaps unintentionally, is the semi-informed business traveler or leisure tourist. If you’re planning a trip to Italy, and have some basic knowledge of Italian (or plan to buy simpler phrase books to back you up), this vocab builder could act as a great, robust conversation enhancer. It’s organized by theme, just like your average phrasebook, so it’s a worthy recommendation for your travels to Italy as well.

Score: 10/10

pros:
huge number of entries & translations; key words make choosing the right translation easy; example phrases & sentences clarify potentially troublesome translations; lots of depth on each word; IPA pronunciation for every Italian word; great formatting & organization; verb charts (irregular and regular); useful middle section gives tons of help on tough-to-translate Italianisms, sample letters & important expressions for written and spoken activities

cons:
this is BIG (a factor of how much material squeezed into it); perhaps better for later students, but anyone learning Italian can get a lot out of it

The Italian College Dictionary is a thick, hefty dictionary with hundreds of thousands of words and translations. You’re bound to find most any word you’re looking for translated from Italian to English or English to Italian.

The Eng-It section comes first, followed by It-Eng. In both, main entries are listed in bold text, followed by IPA pronunciation (Italian spelling is fairly transparent, but it’s nice to see how to pronounce your e’s and o’s, when to double the length of your consonants and where to stress each word). The part of speech is abbreviated, then translations are given.

Key words help you find the right translation when there’s more than one to chose. If you look up speak, perhaps you’re thinking of words or lines, in which case you’d say dire in Italian, or speaking a language, which is parlare. The dictionary presents such choices like this: (words, lines) dire; (language) parlare.

What’s more, any potentially confusing entry offers you the chance to read the word in context, with useful translations of functional language, not just individual words: she speaks Italian lei parla italiano; dire quello che si pensa to speak one’s mind.

Even though this dictionary confronts you with a monstrous number of words, these nice features make it hard to get lost or confused. Meaning helpers like (fam!) for slang/inappropriate, (fam) for familiar and (fig) for figurative cue you into how to use words.

Although the sheer number of words and translations here, combined with ease of search, are the star, this dictionary brings along some extras. The introduction has an irregular English verb chart, along with regular and irregular Italian verb tables. The gray-edged pages, smack dab in the center, demonstrate “language in use” with examples. Those examples include loads of tricky-to-translate phrases between English and Italian. These phrases cover topics like requests, suggestions, apologies, thanks, invitations, and more.

The editors also took the time to include samples of written Italian – typical letters, a resume and cover letter, commercial and personal correspondence, tips on essay writing. There’s even a page full of standard expressions for talking on the telephone in Italy. Rest assured, you won’t be at a loss for words in Italian.

The introduction does an excellent job of explaining how to use the dictionary – every last piece of it – including visual examples of dictionary sections.

You may not be ready for it yet, or you may be looking for something smaller and pocket-sized for now, but the Italian College Dictionary will kick your dictionary experience up a notch. Not only does it include words your current dictionary lacks, but it gives more and better translations of even the most basic words. Among the most highly recommended Italian dictionaries I’ve come across.

If you’re skeptical about this resource, or want to do some comparison shopping, check out Oxford-Paravia Italian Dictionary for a similarly weighty and lexically abundant tome. On the other hand, you might be considering a purchase in the exact opposite direction: check out my review of the Beginner’s Italian Dictionary.