Italian
Language Books
If you are looking for
books to teach yourself Italian from scratch, please
bear in mind that it is extremely difficult to achieve
this without a teacher. We would strongly recommend
you take at least a few lessons to get you started,
if not with us then at evening school or wherever
suits you best. We have heard so many stories of people
who tried to learn a language just from books and
tapes but soon gave up in frustration. A few lessons
at the beginning sets you on the right path. Once
you have grasped how the language works and how it
sounds, you can learn more and more by yourself.
If
you live in or near Manchester, you could start a
one-to-one Italian course with us tomorrow (or whenever
you like). Click here
to read about our flexible,
customised courses.
If you are not in a
position to enrol on a course of Italian lessons -
or to get a head start - download our best-selling
e-book Italian
for Beginners.
These books, then,
are recommended as additional resources to accompany
a course of lessons and/or for more advanced study. |
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Italian
(Teach Yourself Languages) (With Audio CD)
by Lydia Vellaccio, Maurice Elston
The Teach Yourself series is very
good for grammatical explanation. The CD allows you
to keep practising even when you are driving, ironing
or whatever.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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Italian
Vocabulary
by Mike Zollo
A useful system for learning vocabulary.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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Italian
Verbs
by Maria Morris Verbs are essential to speaking
any language. All additional practice is useful!
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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Italian
Verb Drills
by Paola Nanni Tate Sometimes
you just have to go over and over something until
it sticks… Handy to have a book to guide you
through this.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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Azione
Grammatica
by Mike Zollo, Derek Aust
A good, thorough, accessible grammar book with exercises
(and answers at the back).
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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Oxford
Italian Grammar and Verbs
by Colin McIntosh A good reference book.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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A
Reference Grammar of Modern Italian
by Martin Maiden, Cecilia Robustelli An excellent,
clear, helpful book.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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Beginner's
Italian Reader
by Daniel Rolfs Not the most exciting book
but a good introduction to reading Italian, for the
real beginner.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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It is very useful,
when learning any language, to read as much as possible
in that language. In my view, the most satisfactory
way of doing this is to read books adapted for students
of the language, the graded readers. We can enjoy
the stories without having to spend too much time
looking up words in the dictionary and we absorb vocabulary,
phrases and structures as we go along. I have learnt
a great deal from easy-reading books and highly recommend
them as a learning tool, as well as an interesting
pastime.
Unfortunately, however,
there don't seem to be very many available in Italian
yet. There are some on Amazon (click here
to browse) but you will probably find more - and you
will certainly get a better idea of what they are
about - if you go to a big, "real-life"
bookshop, such as Waterstones.
Georgie,
Director of JMJ Manchester
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Collins
Sansoni Italian Dictionary: Complete & Unabridged
An up-to-date edition of a good,
solid, reliable dictionary.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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The
Concise Oxford-Paravia Italian Dictionary
by Cristina Bareggi (Editor) An
excellent dictionary. This is not quite the latest
edition (2003) but it is half the price of the 2006
one and perfectly good for the next few years.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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Italian
Dictionary (Collins GEM)
It is
always useful to have a pocket-sized dictionary.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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| Interested
in reading more about Italy? Check out our
books about and set
in Italy.
Total beginner?
Have a look at our introduction
to the Italian language.
Back to Recommended Reading
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