Italian Now!: A Level One Worktext [Paperback]

Marcel Danesi (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0764130730 | ISBN-13: 978-0764130731 | Publication Date: March 1, 2005

Designed for both classroom use and as a text for self-teaching language learners, this book consists of 30 work units, an extensive Italian-English and English-Italian vocabulary list, idioms, and dialogues, all focused to build proficiency in reading, writing, speaking and understanding Italian. Word-completion and multiple-choice exercises, word games, and entertaining stories in dialogue form are supplemented with photos of Italian landmarks, cartoon-style illustrations, and reproductions of Italian classical art that give students something of the flavor of contemporary Italian culture. Italian Now! emphasizes practical, functional use of conversational and informal written Italian but also offers solid foundation in Italian grammar, verb forms, and correct sentence structure.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

[back cover]


Italian Now!



L’italiano d’Oggi



Level 1



Let’s talk in Italian!



Parliamo Italiano!



An ideal worktext for classroom use in beginning high school and college Italian courses, Italian Now! Level 1 emphasizes practical, functional use of spoken and written Italian as it is used in everyday situations. It also offers a solid foundation in the basics of Italian grammar, vocabulary, verb forms, idioms, and sentence structure. Other features include:



* Dialogues * Word Games * Entertaining Stories * Humorous Cartoon-Style Illustrations * Photos of Italian Landmarks

Product Details

• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Barron's Educational Series (March 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764130730
• ISBN-13: 978-0764130731
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 7.8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,036 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #13 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Italian
  • #13 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Instruction > Italian

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

129 of 129 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent product, and an excellent value, August 3, 2006

By 

Amalfi Coast Girl (Mid-Atlantic, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Italian Now!: A Level One Worktext (Paperback)

A woman that is passionately in love with Italy and all things Italian writes this review. I tend to study the Italian language before my trips to Italy and then immediately stop using it once the trip is over. I have finally decided to get serious about studying Italian on an ongoing basis and bought this book. The book is much more complete than I expected it to be. I will summarize the layout of the book and the pros and cons from my perspective.

The book is subdivided as follows:
1. The Basics
2. Expanding Basic Skills
3. Interacting with People
4. Daily Life
5. Getting Around
6. Hobbies and Vacations

This book is written in short chapters that tend to be about 10 pages each. These short sections are very easy to get through in 10-minute snippets of time. Each chapter contains the following sections:

a) Conversations: written in Italian and English
b) Comprehension: questions about the conversation written in Italian
c) Vocabulary: written in Italian and English
d) Language skills: expands grammar and language usage
e) Culture: information about Italian culture
f) Exercises: to allow you to practice what you learned in the chapter
g) Review: which is included every 5 chapters to reinforce learning

Pros:
1. Very well designed to maximize learning without overwhelming the student
2. Excellent at teaching written Italian
3. Good for learning grammar and proper sentence structure
4. Provides written guide for pronunciation
5. Big book, 544 pages in length
6. Answers to the exercises and questions are provided in the back of the book

Cons:
1. Would be very difficult to learn to speak Italian from this book alone

Overall, I think this is an excellent book for someone learning Italian in a classroom setting, or as an additional teaching aid to an audio course. I do not feel that this book (or any book) is adequate to learn spoken Italian, or any other language. I recommend this book to anyone that wants to expand his or her beginning study of Italian.

49 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent introduction to the italian language, October 5, 2005

By 

Herminator (Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Italian Now!: A Level One Worktext (Paperback)

This is an excellent workbook to complement the audio portion of any self-study language program in italian. Its' strength is to present material in small digestible chunks of information of both grammar and vocabulary, that can be understood and digested on a daily basis. The practice exercises - that follow a dialog presentation of a typical activity representative of daily life and a small dose of grammar - reinforced the daily feeling of accomplishment.

If your intention is to learn italian and to dedicate at least a half hour to an hour a day, this is the perfect vehicle for doing so. Italian is a beautiful language, not only because of its sound and rhythm, but also because of its language structure. Highly recommended!!

41 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great for beginners, especially used with an audio course, August 7, 2007

By 

mikemac9 "mikemac9" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Italian Now!: A Level One Worktext (Paperback)

I am using the Pimsleur series to start learning italian. Pimsleur is wonderful for getting you to say things, but it really skimps over grammar explanations, vocabulary, conjugating verbs, etc. This book really excels at filling the gaps. Pimsleur helps you say stuff, this book provides the skeleton that your speaking ability rests on. With exercises after each section, and short chapters that don't intimidate, I can't imagine a better book for a beginner. My advice is to thru the first 15 Pimsleur lessons (the first 30 would be even better) so you get a flavor for what the language sounds like without being worried too much by grammar. If you start with the book too soon your english-reading system will make it hard to pronounce the words correctly; an english speaker will read "grazie" as "grahzee" when it is actually closer to "grah tsee ah" and if you start learning words wrong from a book you'll have trouble correcting that from the tapes or even recognizing they're the same word! But this book is wonderful for explaining the subtleties you'll be wondering about after working thru some of the tapes, and it takes you far past what is presented even in the entire 90-lesson Pimsleur set.