Customer Reviews

Beginner's Sicilian (Beginner's (Foreign Language))

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book is a really good book for a student or anyone traveling to Sicily because it teaches the person about its history and its language. The book has many information about Sicily's native food, an easy grammar, an easy vocabulary (because it's very similar to Italian), valuable information for tourists going there and much more.

If you know nothing of Sicilian language, this book may help you pick up a little vocabulary. But as a Sicilian, and as a professional editor for 5 years, I have to say that I wouldn't look to this book for any definitive answer to anything.

There are typos everywhere you look, not to mention layout and formatting issues. Was an editor or proofreader -- or ANYONE -- ever employed to read this before it went to press? I'd be mortified as the author to see a book of mine published with such a disregard for content and style -- particularly since it's an educational book, and a language book to boot.

You may get some benefit from this book, simply because I have never seen another book on Sicilian out there, but that's where my recommendation stops.

This book is not your typical language instruction book. It has a brief description of customs and culture, which is nice. However, the chapters often repeat themselves, so it could have been better organized into chapters that have distinct lessons and progressively get more complex (like most language books). This book stays at a fairly basic level throughout, however, it accomplishes its purpose, which is to give a taste of Sicilian.

This book is an excellent overview of the Sicilian language/dialect, but it is NOT designed as a "traveler's guide" to the language. The lessons are set up in an "immersion approach", providing the Sicilian dialog and THEN following with an English translation; so, it is a little hard to get started. But, once begun, the progress flows quickly and an elemental grasp of the language soon follows. It is not full of "traveler phrases", but the understanding the reader gains from study of the book should provide ample capability regardless of their original intent.

Dr. Privitera does a decent job of introducing basic Sicilian in this book. Each chapter begins with a conversation in Sicilian, followed by the English translation, and then it moves on to the vocabulary used in the chapter. After the vocabulary comes a brief grammar lesson. The conversations are not very creative, and I can't imagine Sicilians actually having conversations like some of the ones used. Like another reviewer said, the chapters are a bit repetitive, but I think that's intended in order to enforce memorization. The only problem I had with book is that there wasn't enough grammar provided. I wish he went into more detail about verbs, and that he had provided some grammar about prepositional contractions. I managed to come to the conclusion on my own that a circumflex signified a contraction, but this was never actually explained. Another problem is that people who don't have a knowledge of Italian might get lost quickly. All in all, however, I've learned quite a bit of Sicilian, and thanks to this book I can now communicate with my Sicilian friends in their own dialect, instead of standard Italian.

If one has an interest in learning Sicilian, this book is a good toolbox of info. However, like any real toolbox, the tools are so cluttered and spread out that one needs to know what you're looking for and how to use it before he even opens it. There is no index in this book, and the table of contents merely has lesson titles (like "At the Airport") and doesn't tell one where to find grammatical info. One should not only KNOW another language before using this book, but one should know how to LEARN another language (parts of speech, &c.) before diving in. If you know what you're looking for, it's altogether good.

I don't know of any other Sicilian grammars, and thinking that this could be the best available in English frightens me. If I were a Sicilian, I'd be embarassed.

Wonderful introduction to Sicilian with practical lessons and dialog. General notes about the island and history geared more towards one who is planning a future visit. Clearly written.

Here's a well-organized paperback full of information, vocabularies, and exercises in translation. It's particularly helpful for travelers.

I can't say definitely because I am just a student, but this book wont get you far, it is full of Italianism (which may be current in Sicily, but so is Standard Italian) or maybe I began with an archaic dialect and that makes such impression.