Italian

by Milena Reynolds

Book Overview

The Hugo series of popular self-study language courses prepares vacation or business travelers going to France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Spanish-speaking Central and South America. The books guide readers through essential grammar, pronunciation, and basic conversation with word lists that build vocabulary and exercises that improve speaking skills. The CD use native speakers to demonstrate proper use of the language, Hugo's unique imitated pronunciation...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0789495554
• ISBN13: 9780789495556
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: DK Publishing (Dorling Kindersley)
• Length: 253 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.4" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Definitely worth the ...cost

I am a language learning lover and this was my first exposure to an Italian course. I got this kit a few weeks before my wife and I went to Italy for vacation. I managed to cover the first 6 lessons in 3 weeks and I was amazed by the amount of useful sentences/vocabulary that I accumulated by then. Listening to the tape is not enough, you have to grab the texts for the dialogues, read them over and over again and repeat the sentences so they really sink in your memory. The negative points, there is not long enough pauses between sentences in the dialogues to allow for you to repeat them and the grammar guides are scattered all over the place with no index at the end. This is a course geared towards everyday conversation essentials, renting a room, getting around the city, shopping, traveling etc. and I found it really worth the price.

Italian in Three Months - They Really Mean It!

This book really keeps you moving forward, with grammar and vocab work on every page. It sticks to the point, with no redundant discussion, and the explanations are concise and very clear. There are short exercises to reinforce each step in the learning progression. There is enough help with pronunciation, including immitated pronunciation, which is cleverly arranged so it does not impede reading the main text. Eventually, you'll need support from a dictionary and a book on verbs, and continuing practice is essential, but this compact book provides a great foundation for a beginner in the Italian language. And it can be done in three months, at a steady 30-60 minutes per day.