Customer Reviews

Schaum's Outline of Italian Grammar, Third Edition (Schaum's Outline Series)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Of all the reference books and grammars out there, this is the single best: comprehensive, clear, nonacademic (in the best sense) and very intelligently laid out. Don't miss it.

Very well laid out, with the verbal drill sections being the best aid. This book helps in studying and teaches you how to study on your own. This is the only book I have ever found that teaches grammar in a clear and relevant format

I started learning Italian with Pimsleur and I nearly gave it up until I ran across this grammar. I mean, don't get me wrong, Pimsleur is really great, but... Italian is not the first foreign language I've learnt, and I'm used to (or maybe prefer) studying in a rather structured way, learning the grammar of the language while building conversational, reading and writing skills. So Pimsleur, which is based almost exclusively on listening and repetition, didn't work ideally for me...This book, however, was just the right thing that helped me move on and made the whole experience of learning with Pimsleur enjoyable. It is very user-friendly, highly suitable for beginners, and presented in a very clear way, making it very easy to find everything quickly. So whenever while listening to my Pimsleur CDs a "why" question arises in my mind, I open this book and find the answer quickly - really quickly.

Basically, I would recommend it to any beginner who started to learn Italian with one method or the other. Like I said, very clear, quite comprehensive and at the same time beginner-friendly. Even if you started learning Italian this week, this grammar is for you, because everything is laid-out in plain English. I believe it will also provide me with a convenient way to bridge the gap after I finish with Pimsleur to move on to more advanced speaking, reading and writing.

Re: SCHAUM'S OUTLINE OF ITALIAN GRAMMAR, THIRD EDITION, 2007.

While checking the accuracy of the book whose copies I have just received from McGraw-Hill, I have noticed three mistakes. The corrections are as follows:

1. The correct number of pages is 353 (not 330)!

2. On the front cover it is stated that there are 389 exercises with answers; NO: the exact number is 480 EXERCISES WITH ANSWERS.

Also, for the reader's benefit, I would like to mention that this THIRD EDITION has NEW FEATURES:

A) A new chapter on Comparatives and Superlatives, CHAPTER 4;

B) For the first time, in any of Schaum's Foreign Language Outlines, this Italian Grammar - Third Edition - offers end-of-book GLOSSARIES that comprise around 2,200 entries: ITALIAN-ENGLISH and ENGLISH ITALIAN, PP. 327-345;

C) A THOROUGHLY REVISED SUBJECT INDEX, PP. 347-353;

D) All CHAPTERS HAVE BEEN UPDATED;

E) A TOTAL OF 70 BRAND NEW PAGES HAVE BEEN ADDED;

F) Because of the recent switch from LIRA to EURO of the Italian Monetary System, the PREFACE has a long PARAGRAPH ON THE EURO detailing its use in GRAMMAR, AND THE WRITTEN FORM OF EVERY COIN and BANK NOTE.

G) On every page of the ANSWERS section appears the number of the CHAPTER
for easy reference.

-THANK YOU.

I have purchased MANY help books in my quest to learn Italian. But this one has caught me by surprise. It is the first one that seems to be actually helping me, especially remembering the rules.

I've got a lot of Italian books and eserciziari (workbooks), but this one is special in at least 2 ways:
1. a lot of the italian words are marked for stress, which is absolutely necessary for more correct pronunciation; also the stress is done with a dot below which is much less visually distracting than, say accents. It is really easy to integrate the dot into the pronunciation
2. the exercises are interspersed into the explanations, rather than being all at the end of the chapter. This design helps because you know exactly what the exercises are about. Also it provides for more immediate reinforcement, and it keeps the learning in small steps ('baby steps').

This review is for the 3th edition.

I have to admit that this book has helped me out in many tests and in dozens of situations when learning Italian. As a student of Italian at the university-level, I've bought several supplementary books to help me out with learning the language and this has been by far one of the most useful books I've bought. I will try to point out the things that, in my perspective, make this book a WINNER.

The first thing I like about it is the CONTENTS and INDEX parts. Both parts are very complete and very helpful in finding your way around the book. It also has the Italian terms beside the English ones (so in case you know that what you're looking for are the "trapassato prossimo" but don't have the English rendition: "pluperfect indicative tense").

Second, are the DOTS at the bottom of words. This is a huge help when trying to figure out the correct stress of the words. This would be pretty much impossible to figure out for many words that don't have an accent, unless you had a tutor/teacher/professor/native speaker or the audio of the word. They also serve as good reminders.

Third, are the plentiful EXAMPLES. Whereas in my own Italian-only textbooks, I find limited examples, this book has hundreds of them and they have helped me clarify many doubts I have had.

Last but not least, are the EXPLANATIONS of verbs and prepositions. After you get into the really complicated verb tenses, such as the passato remoto or the congiuntivo, this book has helped like no other. Also, prepositions, especially the preposizioni articolate, can get a little tricky at times. The explanations of both of these are very detailed and clear.

Of course, you also have many practice exercises which are also great.

Overall, I am very happy to have bought this. I find it appropriate from absolute beginners and beyond. I've used it since I started learning and I still go back to it from time to time throughout the courses I've taken.

Both this workbook as well as the Schaum's Outline of Italian Vocabulary are wonderful practice tools. They're packed with exercises and explanations, so I definitely recommend both to my students. It's not something to invest in unless you're seriously interested in learning the language. It's not a "quick crash course" in Italian that you would take before a trip, but rather an in-depth approach to the language.

Living at the border to Italy (Austria) it is extremly important to speak and understand standard Italian. But unfortunately the way to learn the language by studying on one's own isn't supported by excellent grammatik drill books german-italian in the german speaking area. Therefore I started to train with Schaum's Outline and I'm extremely taken with it. A whole host of exercises assure oneself a great success. Best recommendations for this book !!

I bought this to use in an entry-level Italian class and although the content may be great, the formatting for the kindle is not. The tables are very small and extremely difficult to read on the kindle. Additionally you can't search by page and; therefore, following along with the other students in class who have the print edition is nearly impossible. I exchanged this for the actual book.