Customer Reviews

Mastering Italian Vocabulary: A Thematic Approach (Mastering Vocabulary)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is wonderful book for reviewing vocabulary. You should also know that French, Spanish, and German versions exist as well. The words covered are very helpful, especially for those who like to travel and need to know "easy" words that do not appear frequently in literature but do come up often in offices, stores, etc. Each entry offers a clear example of usage in its proper context. These books are so inexpensive, that it is worth taking one with you on a trip abroad, even if you end up abandoning it at the end to make more room in your suitcase for the books that you want to bring home.

Barron's series Mastering Vocabulary is a great tool for language learners! As another reviewer points out, this is not a book for teaching yourself grammar. It is, though, a great way to move on from knowing the basics to being competent in the language.

Using a normal course, such as one in the Colloqial series, you will end up with knowing the grammar relatively well and with a vocabulary of 1500 words. That's a good start, but you need to know more words to get moving. The Mastering Vocabulary series is a great help along the way. By doing one chapter each week, you will know more than 7000 words after half a year. That is enough to live in a language where the language is spoken and use it in all everyday interactions and communication. My only real complaint with the series is that it's not available for more than four languages.

I am particularly fond of this series of vocabulary books (also available in French and Spanish)-- its inexpensive, easy to read/use, and covers an extensive range of topics.

All of the words are arranged in a topical fashion. For example: work, school, etc... and a wide range of common phrases and idiomatic expression are integrated where appropriate.

I would consider this the best companion for a student looking to expand their vocabulary in the Italian language. For travelers looking for an extensive but more compact book, try Italian At a Glance

An excellent way of increasing once vocabulary. For people (like me) who have reached a basic knowledge of the language but want to increase conversational use through increased number of words. The book provides 24 different aspects in life e.g. Food & Drink, Art & Music etc with all its different words and usages in everyday life. I find that by just reading through one of the categories at regular intervals (say daily or weekly), I gradually retain more and more words and usages.
Walter Moser, Newtown VIC, Australia.

This book was the best I could find for expanding Italian vocabulary. I liked thematic approach and the fact that the book is not focused just on traveling themes (transportation, ordering food, visiting places etc.) like so many others. There are examples for almost every word that is introduced. Also, by keeping a simple grammar book aside for consulting when you stumble upon some "strange" use of verbs you are not familiar with, you can start forming real sentences instead of just memorizing a bunch of words.
At the end of the book there is also a small grammar section that should be expanded by twenty or so pages. It should also suggest what verb tenses are used in spoken Italian and what you can usually find only in literature. For that use I purchased Essential Italian grammar by Olga Ragusa which is pretty thin but is just enough.
I would like this book to have additional textbook or some word exercises so I can quiz myself and review words at the end of the each chapter. This way it is a little hard to know which words you have really memorized after few days or few weeks.
I liked Barrons book "1100 words you need to know" I used for building English vocabulary and I would like to see a book like that written for building Italian vocabulary.

This was an excellent companion book for my casual study of Italian. It is somewhat similar to a travel "phrase book", yet is has more comprehensive applications of grammar and colloquial speech for all occasions. Included is an excellent verb conjugation "breakdown" chart and a highly relevant glossary at the end of the book. Having studied 2 other romance languages formally in college, this book to me was reminiscent of an indispensable auxiliary learning guide for second (or even third) year language students.

Book was well organized and made it easy and feasible to learn, study and memorize new vocabulary. Bought for my trip to Italy and it has helped me gain a solid vocabulary of useful words.

I'm beginner to intermediate. There's much to like about this book, and I'd say to buy it if you feel the need. I have a few caveats (hoping the publisher might read, really). There's no English TOC. If you want the word for raisins, you either need to already know it (doh) or get a dictionary, look it up, look it up again, etc. Kind of a stupid omission, actually. The words are really jumbled, like they're just tossed in a pile. Instead of garden, flower, forest, tree, it's flower, apple, tree branch, weeds, and tree is on another page and forest is in another chapter and garden is who-knows-where. Truly, breakfast is on one page, and lunch and dinner are two pages after. Not well organized at all. The grammar section is largely useless. "Essential Italian Grammar" by Olga Ragusa is small and complete and understandable (and cheap). This one is written with an erudite language that says more "look how much I know - you figure it out" than any sort of educational value. Some critisisms that say it's an imperfect book, but I like it overall. Don't let the bad take over the good. Not for rank beginners, that's for sure...

This is the "Bible" for improving and expanding your Italian vocabulary. I think, personally, that the first edition was slightly better than the 2nd, but the 2nd edition is expanded and has more words. It has also been updated. I'd like to see a third edition that would keep pace with the internet and technology.

I like how the words are group together and organized, and one of my favorite aspects is that they use the words in sentences so that you can see how they are used -- this is especially helpful with verbs.

Advanced beginners and intermediate students would profit immensely from this book. You can't go wrong with this book, but it does take some effort to learn and remember the words.

While this text could use a few improvements, one must consider the price in conjunction with the product. With over 9,000 terms in context, this book is much more useful than a dictionary. I wish the text had more pictures, but the pictures it does have are exceptionally useful. For instance, for the basic body parts, an illustration of a human body is labeled. As far as pronunciations are concerned, I don't think they are necessary. There is a pronunciation guide in the front of the book and stress is denoted; this should be sufficient. Unlike English, the pronunciation of Italian phonemes is extremely predictable--letters are always pronounced according to the guide given at the start of the book. There is no confusion as there is with English, such as with the "ough" in "though" and "thought."

When I first received the book, I was admittedly disappointed and considered returning the text. After going through the first few pages, however, I quickly changed my mind and realized what an amazing and comprehensive tool I was holding. Especially considering the price, this text should not be overlooked by anyone teaching herself Italian.