101 Conversations in Simple Italian (Italian Edition): Short Natural Dialogues to Boost Your Confidence & Improve Your Spoken Italian

by Olly Richards

Real Italian people don’t speak like your textbook…so it’s no wonder you feel unprepared when it’s your turn to speak! Try the StoryLearning method, and dive into a real-world, gripping drama between six characters that helps you learn authentic spoken Italian in the process.

Created by Olly Richards, internationally-renowned language teacher and author, this proven method of the immersive experience not only entertains, it gives you the skills to master realistic encounters in shops, cafés, and other, everyday scenarios! In this story, two friends, Alice and Nina, arrive in Rome for what they think will be a relaxing vacation exploring the city. Things, however, take an unexpected turn when they discover some very valuable paintings in one of Rome’s antique markets....

Whether you’re learning the Italian of Florence, Milan, Roman, Naples or even your local Italian-speaking community, you’ll learn to speak naturally wherever you go.

Best of all, you’ll be able to handle new scenarios with both ease and confidence!

“I love Olly’s work - and you will too!” (Barbara Oakley, PhD, Author of New York Times best seller A Mind for Numbers)

Here’s what you’ll

A. 101 Italian conversations with over 15,000 words of dialogue — an unparalleled resource that will immerse you in Italian at a level you can easily understand and reproduce.

B. Expressions that real people use on the street. You’ll sound more authentic when you speak and make Italian-speaking friends more easily.

C. Situational Italian dialogues that help you thrive in typical daily circumstances, so meeting people and making everyday arrangements will become second nature.

D. Conversations that are carefully written to be accessible for beginners (A2-B1 on the CEFR), so you can speak confidently, even with strangers.

E. Each conversation is limited to around 15 lines of dialogue (150 words) to help you master the expressions more quickly, and keep you moving toward the finish line.

Genres: Italian Literature, Language

Audible Audio

Published November 21, 2019

Reviews

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I agree with others who said that there were not enough words in the chapter glossaries. I had to look up a lot of words. But aside from that it was a good beginner reader (my first!). The chapters were nice and short, and there was a lot of repetition of the words so that they could become ingrained. The story became a little boring after awhile and I found myself wanting to just get it finished so that I could move on to something else, but overall I learned quite a bit and it was a good exercise for me. :)

[Louis Loria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect intermediate read

I was able to understand quai tutto! It had the right mix of new words (for me of course) and words I knew well. I highly recommend also because it’s conversational as opposed to traditional Italian language stories that use passato remoto which no one uses when they are speaking.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book provides meaningful and relevant educational content at the beginner level.
To more experienced readers, it may be somewhat dull. This may be, since it is supposed to be a crime mystery, however if you understand most of the written text, the solution is given away relatively straightforwardly in the beginning.
But since the story is almost exclusively told in dialogue, it holds educational value to someone who is willing to accept his.

[Karol Pasierb · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a very nice and simple book. Normally, it probably wouldn't be so enjoyable... However, for my FIRST BOOK READ IN ITALIAN, it was absolutely GREAT!!! It was simple, relatively easy to understand, quite interesting and well-made and prepared for beginners. I definitely recommend it to start reading in Italian with this book.

[Jean]

If you are just starting or only A1 level, this book will be too hard for you. However if you are closer 2/3 of A2, this is a fun read. I picked this book up when I first started learning Italian and was quickly frustrated. Now after starting future and conditional tenses, I understand more than not. Chapters are very short and story very enjoyable.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

About halfway through, I was expecting actual conversational assistance rather than stories told in dialogue that would have no use in my real life. I can breeze through it pretty quickly but that doesn't really speak to his teaching but rather to what I've leared over 3 year with the apps.

[Thomas Trenner · Rating 2 out of 5]

La lingua è abbastanza facile, le parole e le frasi più difficile sono spiegate alle fine di ogni capitolo. Mà quello che non mi è piaciuto è stata la storia: troppa irrealistica.

[Why R]

I am at the tail end of my A1 journey and found this a little too difficult - my fault since this book is intended for A2-B1, but I was impatient and wanted to try it anyway. Reading on the Kindle app helped a lot, I was constantly using the translate function at the end of each chapter to check my comprehension. It's a cute enough story and it's fun to see more colloquial language than what I get in class, but would not recommend for true beginners unless you also are stubborn and like to struggle through things (lol). Will reread in A2 as a benchmark for improvement.

[David Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really good book the length of the short dialogues was perfect and the story fairly interesting.

I echo a previous review that the end of each dialogue could have had a better vocab list as i found myself looking up a lot.

Really good for beginners it certainly improved my italian but could do with some improvements.

[Teodoro Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a treat ... reading my first book in Italian!

I enjoy reading mysteries and I have also been learning Italian. The story in Olly's 101 Conversations in Simple Italian is presented in small bites, each one an Italian lesson in itself. I had a true sense of accomplishment reading the book. Lo consiglio!

[Kristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was good and useful. I expected the conversations to be on different topics but rather it was one story told in 101 conversations which actually made it more sticky and engaging. I noticed there were not enough words in the glossary which was not an issue because I read it on kindle, and was able to translate instantly.

[John Layton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, and interesting

Good short dialogues, but the "helpful" dictionaries at the of each chapter were not much help - I found frequent reference to a full dictionary was essential.

[Loke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Come già sapevo, il livello era un po' troppo basso per me, ma ho comunque imparato qualche parolina quindi non era per niente una perdita di tempo. In ogni caso, l'idea di questi libri e bella e continuerò sicuramente a leggere quelli francesi!

[Lesley Van Dam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book and I hope I’ve also learnt a lot from it. I agree with the other reviews about the lessico. But at the same time I didn’t mind looking up new words :) also the story itself I very much enjoyed. So I would say 5/5. ✨✨✨✨✨

[Bow Wheaton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great learning experience. Storyline entertaining enough to add motivation. Complimenti all'autore!

[LA · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable way to learn

This book had a very enjoyable way to learn Italian through a series of conversations in a story format - a mystery.

[Christina Chr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Olly Richards is really good at it as his way of writing is ideal for beginners.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This oddly titled (SEO? Sigh) book is in fact a short story, Nancy Drew mystery style, focused on dialogue and targeted to the intermediate Italian student. The story line was fun and engaging; it’s very useful to see conversational grammatical forms in action, and a fine source for vocabulary. It’s particularly useful read on a kindle, where highlighting and dictionaries make study and follow up easy. Highly recommended.

This is my first book in Italian.

[Gianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una bella storia e una buona costruzione dell'intero libro, che vede la prima parte dedicata a come affrontare la lettura stessa. Inoltre, sono presenti: un breve dizionario per ogni capitolo in ita-eng e un intro a ogni inizio capitolo.

Di certo un ottimo supporto per chi sta imparando l'italiano. Consigliatissimo per un livello intermedio.
(Solo un paio di typo qui é là)