Customer Reviews

Everything Italian Practice Book with CD: Practical techniques to improve your speaking and writing skills (Everything (Language & Writing))

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As I write, there are two reviews of this book and they baffle me: one says that the book doesn't have such elementary information as pronunciation in it, and the other complains that one must have some knowledge of Italian before being able to use it. The deck under the title says, "practical techniques to improve your speaking and writing skills." This assumes that one has something to improve, and the book does present excellent material for improving that something--if one has it in the first place. I like it a lot.

The recorded material isn't designed to teach the basics, but it serves as a guide to hearing and understanding, and focuses on niceties of pronunciation. Once again, this is useful if one already has some Italian. The text doesn't take the hackneyed approach in which Maria meets John and longs to see her again . . . etc. Or the the approach in which the Smith family is boarding the airplane for their first trip to Italy. It simply takes up useful topics and provides practice material. Learners should be grateful.

I bought the book mostly because it was the only one in the store that came with a CD, and I liked the idea of being able to hear the pronunciation of the words. It wasn't until I got home, however, that I realized it was more a grammatical overview than a guide to learning the language. If your looking for a book to help you recall high school Italian, this is perfect. If not, try something else first.

I agree completely with the last reviewer - the "Everything Italian Practice Book" is desigened to help you improve your speaking and writing abilities; and in that capacity, it is an excellent resource. It is not intended to be an introduction to the Italian language. The "Everything Italian Learning Book" is much more suitable for a beginner, and I would recommend that text for the first two reviewers.

I was disappointed with this book -- it is definitely NOT for beginners. You must have some knowledge of Italian because it doesn't give you a basic understanding of letter pronunciations or the alphabet. Luckily, my husband speaks fluent Italian so he can help me or else this book would not be for me. It should clearly state that this is for people who already have some knowledge of Italian.