Webster's New World Italian Dictionary: Italian/English, English/Italian

I chose this Italian-English/English-Italian dictionary over the others I was able to examine in a bricks-and-mortar store because (1) the print was crisp, clear, and larger than that of the mass-market size paperback dictionaries, (2) the paper is a higher-quality free sheet that won't yellow with age (dictionaries are the kinds of books you tend to hold on to for many years), (3) at 5 1/4 x 8 1/4 inches it is portable and fits nicely in my backpack, (4) the book lies open nicely and is not pinched in the gutter, (5) it covers a very generous 100K+ words and phrases, and (6) it was the only dictionary in its price category that had an easy-to-decipher pronunciation guide for the Italian terms. As someone who is trying to teach himself Italian, the latter point is very important to me. Io molto contento!

The Webster Italian Dictionary has carried me through my Italian studies from day one all the way through advanced courses in literature. For the price and the relatively size, this is the most practical reference for a student. Most importantly, aside from basic, literal translations, it provides context and a wealth of examples. Dozens of colloquial English and Italian expressions are listed, and the entire dictionary itself contains over 100,000 translations. The format is clean, entirely black and white, with no distinction between the Italian and English section (a minus). Its greatest disadvantage is its system for describing pronunciations. I am using a French-Italian Larousse dictionary for study of the former, and it uses simple dots under the Italian words to denote where the stress lies. The text at hand, instead, uses the more traditional style of using linguistic jargon and apostrophes. For example, this is the listing for "equilibrio" (balance): [ekwi'librjo] Once you learn the constant sounds of the Italian alphabet, this is both unnecessary and confusing, particularly when other characters that are not part of the Roman alphabet are used to describe sounds, like the pronunciation of the Italian "gia." That aside, the contextual information, phrases, examples, and backpack-portable size make this a winner for students in from beginner to advanced. Of course, archaic medieval litterature will often require something heftier, in which case one can look towards Garzanti's lineup.

In the three years that I have been studying and speaking Italian, this is the single best dictionary that I have come across. I have several others (Oxford, Langenscheidt's, etc.) which are all fine, but don't come close to the Websters. The Websters includes practical examples, idioms, verb conjugation and several other useful tools that really make it top notch. I spent the better part of a year at a language school in Italy, and the Websters was invaluable. When I was preparing to return to the U.S., my instructors asked if I would leave them my copy! I will concede that the Websters is too big for carrying on your travels, but if you are studying or corresponding with Italians, you simply cannot find a better dictionary.

I was surprised to see that this dictionary shared many of the definitions with the Harper Collins Italian College Dictionary. Then I noticed that Catherine E. Love was involved in the editing of both. It appears that the Harper Collins book is an expanded version of the Webster's New World Italian Dictionary.What do I love about this book? (1)It's size is perfect for carrying from room to room. The larger dictionaries are too heavy and large. (2)The print, while not as large as the College format, is large enough to read comfortably. (3)the definitions are robust enough for most of my needs.For the price, it's a "no brainer" to buy. If you have the money, I'd also get the Harper Collins College version, if only for those instances where it has a definition that's lacking in the Webster's "concise" version. It happens rarely, but it does happen.