The Complete Idiot's Guide to Italian

If you want to learn Italian on your own, this is an excellent book. It helps to have already learned a romance language (French, Portugese, etc.), but even a novice at foreign languages can pick this up and begin to learn vocabulary and grammar in a snap. While she does break it down very well, I won't downplay the difficulty. An idiot you may not be, but grammar is tough in any language, and you may get lost sometimes without a teacher. In all, however, this book is a really good buy. I recommend purchasing three things with this: Pimsleur's Italian I (because hearing the language is so important), the Barron's Italian Grammar (which helps you get out of any tough spots you encounter in grammar), and a good Italian/English dictionary (Larousse or Oxford are the best). With these four items you can truly begin to learn Italian, then through careful study you might even achieve fluency alone. And all because of this guide. It's for this reason that I have to give it 5 stars, because it's such an incomprehensibly great resource for starting out. If you want to learn Italian without a class, I'd start here.

I studied in Italy and ended up staying there working for 3 years after school had ended. I owned probably 12 Italian books but none of them compared to this one. This is a book that explains things thoroughly and I referenced this book for the first 2 years I lived there. This book is a must have for learning Italian for the first time.

I found Gabrielle Euvino's "The Complete Idiots Guide to Learning Italian", Second Edition useful and fun to read & work with. The vocabulary,phrases and situations presented are down to earth, very practical and surprisingly comprehensive & exhaustive.Ms. Euvino's love for the Ialian language and culture is quite apparent throughout the book. It is a "can do" book anbd her enthusiam for learning Italian is contagious. A wonderful resource. I recommend it highly.Henry Urbanksi, Ph.D,Director,Language Immersion InstituteState University of New York at New Paltz

Learning a new language is very daunting. There is not only an overwhelming amount of information to process, but then to memorize and recall in order to use correctly and communicate effectively on the spot say on some beautifully, cobblestoned via in Rome. It is intimidating. A new language is hard. But, I had a very strong desire to be able to do just that. To go to Italy and be able to walk down the streets and stroll through the piazzas and experience this absolutely, amazing country with more than just my eyes. I wanted to be able to TALK with the people whom I have come to know as the most charming and generous people. To learn the basics of the language, I used "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Learning Italian" by Gabrielle Euvino. The book takes what I found to be an overwhelming information and lays it out like a sumptuous smorgasbord. First the antipasti (appetizers)- rules, structure and tense- the basics. Then the primi piatti (first courses) some phrases and building on more layers of nuance that is the Italian language. Continuing right through contorni and secondi piatti, and finally dolci. All together, an Italian language feast! This book has given me a great foundation on which to continue to build my love for Italy and the language. Do not be overwhelmed. Buy it, read it at a comfortable pace and before long you are amore Italia-in love with Italy.