If single serving doesn't satisfy your needs, then consider buying some of these resources.
These books are sold in association with Amazon.com.
Buying through these links helps me pay for this site. |
pocket dictionary
Whether you are travelling to Italy, learning the language, or almost any other needs, you will need a dictionary. Buy
The Oxford Color Italian Dictionary. It's a small dictionary to take with you on your travels. It has color-coding to help you look things up more easily. It also has Italian games and puzzles to get you through that wait at the train station or airport. |
full-size dictionary
For anything other than travel, a big, complete dictionary is what you want. Buy
Webster's New World Italian Dictionary. It is very complete and thorough, and at just over $10 for over 100,000 words and a good organization, it's an amazing value. |
phrase guide
Buy Berlitz Italian Phrase Book & Dictionary. A very complete phrasebook organized by subjects and color coded for ease of use. With example sentences. |
course with CDs
Buy Living Language's Ultimate Italian.
Book and CD's. It's a little more expensive, but worth it. Don't get the complete series from Living Language to save some money.
I did that and was dissapointed. This is the best series that I have seen. The lessons and conversations are great, and it's a great grammar reference.
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software course (CDs only)
Buy Instant Immersion Italian 2 CD-ROM Set (Jewel Case). I think that this doesn't come with a book. It was however rated highly for a software course, people liked it better than a lot of the expensive courses. For the cheap price, you can't do much better, if a software course is what you're looking for. |
course with tapes
Buy Italian I: Pimsleur Comprehensive.
I have never used any of the Pimsleur series because of the high price. Everyone that has raves about them, so I would love to check one out. If I could find a used one I would try it. If you have the money, give it a try, everyone that has, has loved it.
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verb tables
Buy 501 Italian Verbs
: Fully Conjugated in All the Tenses in a New Easy-To-Learn Format, Alphabetically Arranged. The subtitle says it all.
A must if you are learning the language. |
verb drills
Buy Italian Verb Drills and spend just a little bit of time each day working the exercizes. It will really help you with being able to speak. Most other books teach you phrases and words, but here you are forming verbs as you will have to in real life, on the fly. This book is for someone who really want to be able to speak, not just read. Hey, it's really cheap too! |
grammar
Buy Italian Grammar (Teach Yourself).
A solid grammar book with tons of examples. The book explains the principles clearly, so that they are easier to understand. |
phrase guide (humor)
Buy Wicked Italian.
A real phrase guide that will kill you with laughter. Watch out, you may even learn some Italian! |
phrase guide (humor)
Buy Merda!: The Real Italian You Were Never Taught at School
Slang, Parts of the Body, Bodily Functions, and all those other things that you need to communicate like a local. |
grammar reference
Buy Italian Language Today. This is a highly rated grammar reference that uses real Italian, as Italians actually speak. I haven't actually used it, but have had it highly recommended. It is a great reference for advanced learners, maybe not the best for beginners, but I'll have to check it out myself. |
culture guide
Buy Culture Shock!: Italy.
A guide to the differences between our cultures. Not a must, but can be very interesting for those trying to integrate themselves, or just understand the cultural differences. This series is very popular, but the Italian edition doesn't have quite the reviews that the others do. |
fiction (in Italian & English)
Buy Italian Stories/Novelle Italiane: A Dual-Language Book. Once you get to an intermediate level, it's time to start trying to read. The dual language books are a great way to do it. The text may be a little tough at times, but you can learn a lot by toughing your way through. |
idioms guide
Buy 2001 Italian and English Idioms.
Once you are rolling along and have started speaking a weak, broken Italian, get this book to help you get over the rut of using English sentence structure. Actually, you'll probably have to live there a couple of years to structure your sentences just like an Italian, but this will give you a big head start. |
DVD (Italian audio)
Buy Life Is Beautiful (1998).
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DVD (Italian audio)
Buy Cinema Paradiso (1990).
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DVD (Italian audio)
Buy Malena (2000). It's a beautiful movie about childhood infatuation, jealosy, and hatred. It is in Italian with English subtitles. If you are a beggining learner, get it to try and pick out words from conversations at native speed, it'll be tough at first. The more you learn the more you will be able to understand. In the end be thankful that most people will speak to you more slowly and with fewer slang once they know that you're a foreigner. |
DVD (Italian audio)
Buy Nights of Cabiria (1957)
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DVD (Italian audio)
Buy Amarcord (1974)
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DVD (Italian audio)
Buy The Bicycle Thief (1949)
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A Note On DVD's:
DVD's are wonderful things for language enthusiasts because they can have multiple language tracks. That means that you can watch a Italian movie in Italian and try to understand as much as you can, when you are motivated, or just kick back and watch it in English when you're being lazy. There is one serious problem: Regional Codes. The greedy pigs in Hollywood have developed a punishment for language learners and frequent travellers. The US is regional code 1, Italy and the U.K. are regional code 2. The world is divided into 6 regions, but anyone in their right mind in the other 4 regions makes only 'no region' discs (with "ALL" or "U" where the number would be.) This means that an American interested in learning Italian cannot buy some DVD's in Italy to watch back at home. If you really travel a lot, get a multi-region, multi-system player from B&H photo and video like the Pioneer DV-533 (the only one they had when I checked.) I've also seen them in San Fransisco in the harbor and in Europe. Check www.vcdhelp.com to see if your player can be 'hacked' to play all regions. If you know anyone in the industry that was involved in the creation of regional codes, please beat the shit out of them, or send me their name and address and maybe I could make a road trip. If you've read this far, maybe you'lll also want to read this old Washington Post clipping that I found called Breaking Down DVDs Borders. There is no date, but i'd guess it's from late 2000 or early 2001. |
travel guide
Buy Eyewitness Travel Guides to Italy and Milan & the Lakes . The Eyewitness guides are known for their beauty, detail, and historical and background information. They are for the traveller who wants to learn, and are a great reminder of your travels. These guides don't have as many listings, like where to eat and where to stay, but for the right traveller are golden.
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travel guide
Buy Rick Steves' Italy 2001
Rick Steves' guides give a more personal view of selected areas. Many people swear by these books. The book focuses on areas that they consider the best or most important and has nice details. It does not try to give info on every knitting club in every village, just what they view as the best. |
travel guide
If your goals are a little loftier than just getting by in the language, try one of these paths out: Living, Studying and Working in Italy: Everything You Need to Know to Fulfill Your Dreams of Living Abroad and Buying a Home in Italy. Both are highly rated and if you follow the directions, you won't need any of these stupid language books, you'll be living in Italy! And how could you not learn Italian then? |
