Hugo Language Course: Italian In Three Months [Paperback]

Milena Reynolds (Author)

Book Description

Series: Hugo | Publication Date: March 15, 1998

Break the language barrier!

Now learning a foreign language can be enjoyable as well as challenging, and not require a trip back to the classroom. Available in both book-only or book-and-cassette format, these Three-Month Language Courses are outstanding self-study programs designed for the individual seeking to acquire a good working knowledge of a language in a short amount of time. Devoting just over an hour daily to the course, the program provides grammar lessons, contextual conversion drills, relevant word lists, and graded exercises, giving you an immediate and practical grasp of the language. In addition, pronunciation is made easy with Hugo's unique "imitated pronunciation" system, which represents foreign sounds with English syllables. Whether you are a businessman tackling an international account, a student preparing for an adventurous holiday, or simply a lover of new languages, the Three-Month Language Course makes learning easy, satisfying, and more fun than ever before.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Designed for people who wish to learn a foreign language for business or vacation purposes, DK's "Hugo" series of audio language courses is perfect for libraries in need of good, inexpensive language cassettes. They help illustrate many of the model words or phrases as well as provide oral exercises that strengthen the student's pronunciation and listening skills. The series takes a realistic approach to learning a foreign language by reinforcing the concept that acquiring knowledge of any foreign language takes time. Users begin with an introduction to word pronunciation, vowels and consonants, and basic grammar conventions. There are a few differences in what is covered by the four languages. For example, the Italian series does not offer the concluding practice reading sessions that the other languages do. One minor quibble: the binding on the study guides does not seem to have been designed for the strenuous use they will see in libraries. Those who wish to begin acquiring a practical base knowledge of French, German, Italian, or Spanish will find DK's series a good choice. Recommended for public and academic libraries.?John Charles, Scottsdale P.L., AZ
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Language Notes

Text: English, Italian

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: DK ADULT (March 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789432315
• ISBN-13: 978-0789432315
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,449,367 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Italian in Three Months - They Really Mean It!, October 8, 2000

By 

P. Wilkes (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hugo Language Course: Italian In Three Months (Paperback)

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.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Definitely worth the ...cost, May 29, 2002

By 

Farzin Russel (Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hugo Language Course: Italian In Three Months (Paperback)

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.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Could be a lot better, December 22, 2001

By 

Pike Athens (the coast of California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hugo Language Course: Italian In Three Months (Paperback)

This course is acceptable for one who is beginning to study this language, but not for one who would like a thorough review of how to use the language. Unless you already have some experience in the language, it'll be difficult to follow the course. Wave upon wave of things to get on your nerves are found in this course. For instance, at the beginning, the book gets involved with teaching very little grammar but giving a lot of sentences and vocabulary. This would be okay and a good way to let the language sink it, but it then follows this with going into exercises in which the reader has to answer questions using the words he or she has learned. Without knowing which words are translated into which and without knowing the grammar to Italian, one finds this to be a challenge. Several instances occur where the book uses vocabulary or grammar before actually teaching them. The vocabulary is also listed at the end of each chapter, but there is no reference section or appendix for grammar or verb tenses. The verbs are sporadically listed throughout the text, and the reader has to search for them should he or she forget a conjugation. It deals with basically every verb tense except for those within the subjunctive mood. But, once again, the reader has to memorize them as they come because there is no appendix for grammar or verbs. The glossary also doesn't recognize irregular verbs, which might cause some confusion. Also, the native speakers on the cassettes don't always say the correct readings which are in the book. They change words and sometimes add them. The best parts of this course are the several conversations and that the cassettes read many of the exercises in the book. The only way I made it through the course was because I've had some experience with the language already. I've had experience in several others, as well, so I know what I'm talking about when I say this is a weak course. Try finding something else instead of this. The books "Colloquial Italian" or "Italian All the Way" are extremely good courses. If you have a cassette of Italian already and a dictionary that recognizes stress on words, you won't need the cassettes to these courses. Italian orthography and pronunciation coincide almost always. Knowing the stress on words can be difficult at times, but dictionaries usually list the words (usually verbs) that carry and irregular stress pattern. Either of those two courses provide a strong base for further learning.