Italian: A Self-Teaching Guide

by Edoardo A. Lebano

Learn Italian ? the quick and easy way! Whether you?re learning Italian for the first time or just brushing up on your skills, this updated edition of the bestselling Italian: A Self-Teaching Guide is the ideal way to master the language at your own pace. In fifteen simple lessons, you?ll learn how to engage in everyday conversations?from ordering at a restaurant to asking for directions to making special arrangements with a hotel concierge. Written in a lively, personable style by a native Italian, this practical guide combines the quick-reference virtues of a phrasebook with the learning tools of a full-fledged language course. Designed to acquaint you with the basic skills you need to speak, read, write, and understand the language, Italian: A Self-Teaching Guide, Second Edition demystifies grammar, common usage, and pronunciation with step-by-step lessons on numbers, days of the week, telling time, and special rules of speech. It also includes extensive vocabulary and culture notes. Mini-dialogues from real-life situations provide a vibrant introduction to Italian culture and customs?while a fun assortment of exercises, self-tests, and practice activities constantly reinforces your reading and conversational skills.

Genres: Language, Italian Literature, Italy, Nonfiction, Travel

206 pages, Paperback

First published May 22, 2000

Reviews

[Carlos Martinez]

Nice, old-fashioned textbook. 15 chapters, each containing a short dialogue along with the vocabulary and an explanation of the grammatical structures used. Quite dated - for example, I'm not typing this review on a typewriter. I'm currently in Italy and sort of getting by, so that's a good sign.

[Georgie Hurst]

I think grammar and language learning books are largely a personal thing (judging by the previous reviews of this book). This is a more serious Italian language book but that is a big plus for me! There are countless language books that are covered in bright coloured photos with "fun" exercises (that actually make you want to pull your eyeballs out). I find that too distracting when trying to understand more complex grammar forms.
This book is grounded in everyday life, la vita quotidiana (albiet at a time when people were still using fax and before the eurozone!). It doesn't try to entertain you. It's sub sections are concise and varied enough by chapter to chapter that you don't get bored drilling the same grammar rules for pages on end. It built the foundation for me to reach B1 level on my own.

[Brax]

If you like grammar books that are filled with typos, errors, answers that don’t follow the examples, and lots of sexist examples, Lebano's Italilian: a Self-Teaching Guide is the book for you! You’ll do lots of self-teaching as you correct the errors, fill in missing accents, and have other (unintentional) fun adventures with Italian grammar.
Another great opportunity is to educate yourself out of the sexism steeping in a trove of textual examples in the book. Published in 2012, but more at home in 1912, the girls are frequently “looked at” and praised for their beauty, while men are the “smartest in the class” and brave. Mom works while the children are playing, or cleans the house while her husband is sleeping.
Or for a better use for your time and money, check out the Nuovo Espresso series.

[StrangeBedfellows]

I studied Italian in college, and I picked this book up to keep my skills from getting rusty. As a refresher, it's great. It's nicely organized to help you go over material in a structured manner. And each lesson comes with exercises, since practice really does make perfect. However, it is very dry and clinical, so it's not always easy to stay awake.

Now, if you're someone completely new to the Italian language, I'm not sure that this is the best self-teaching book out there. The lessons just aren't informative enough in several instances, and I often found myself referring back to old class material instead. So, in my opinion, if you want to try teaching yourself Italian, pick up a used copy of 'Ciao!' by Carla Federici instead.

[Sara]

This book covers Italian grammar in greater depth than many similar books. The style is dry but straightforward. However, it is rife with errors, particularly in the answer key to the exercises. The errors appear more frequently in the later chapters as though the author gave up editing as the publishing deadline approached.

Due to the many errors, I can't recommend this book for anyone wanting more than a basic introduction to Italian.

[Jeanne]

Not sure about the 'self-teaching' part...but used as part of an introductory course to Italian it is a good text.