Teach Yourself Beginners Italian

Get started in Italian

Book and 2 Audio CDs

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Teach Yourself Beginners Italian - Get Started in Italian - 2 Audio CDs and Book

Are you looking for a course in Italian written for the absolute beginner who has no experience of learning a foreign language? Get Started in Italian will give you the confidence to communicate in Italian.Now fully updated to make your language learning experience fun and interactive. You can still rely on the benefits of a top language teacher and our years of teaching experience, but now with added learning features within the course and online.The emphasis of the course is placed on communication, rather than grammar, and all the teaching is in English, so that you will quickly and effortlessly get started in Italian.

By the end of this course, you will be at Level B1 of the Common European Framework for Languages: Can deal with most situations likely to arise whilst travelling in an area where the language is spoken.Learn effortlessly with new, easy-to-read page design and interactive features:

NOT GOT MUCH TIME?
One, five and ten-minute introductions to key principles to get you started.

AUTHOR INSIGHTS
Lots of instant help with common problems and quick tips for success, based on the author's many years of experience.

USEFUL VOCABULARY
Easy to find and learn, to build a solid foundation for speaking.

DIALOGUES
Read and listen to everyday dialogues to help you speak and understand fast.

PRONUNCIATION
Don't sound like a tourist! Perfect your pronunciation before you go.

TEST YOURSELF
Tests in the book and online to keep track of your progress.

EXTEND YOUR KNOWLEDGE
Extra online articles at: www.teachyourself.com to give you a richer understanding of the culture and history of Italy.

TRY THIS
Innovative exercises illustrate what you've learnt and how to use it.

Easy to follow - the pace and approach mean that this is a course for the true beginner.Practical - covers all the basic structures and vocabulary you will need for everyday situations . Up to date - contains lots of cultural information

Table of Contents:
Introduction
How the course works
Pronunciation guide
1 How are you?
2 What’s your name?
3 Where do you live?
4 How is (it)?
5 How much is it?
6 What’s the time?
7 What time does it leave?
8 What do you want to do today?
9 When do you get up?
10 Did you book?
11 Shopping
12 It is my turn!
13 Going about town
14 Accommodation
15 Enjoy your meal!
16 Family life
17 Keeping fit
18 What’s the weather like?
19 Fill it up, please
20 What shall I write?
Key to the exercises and tests
A summary of grammar
Italian-English vocabulary
English-Italian vocabulary
Taking it further
Index

About the Author

Vittoria Bowles taught Italian at the University of Brighton, where she was principal lecturer. She developed many courses including one for English-speaking students to attend Italian universities which won the Unilever prize for innovation.

About the Italian Language

First of all, a little background knowledge: Italian is spoken by over sixty million people. Apart from in Italy (which, by the way, includes the islands of Sicily and Sardinia), Italian is spoken in Corsica, parts of Istria and Dalmatia in the former Yugoslavia, and the Ticino canton in Switzerland. Massive emigration over the past hundred years has led to the establishment of Italian-speaking communities all over the world, including in the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Australia and (to a lesser extent) New Zealand.

For centuries, Italian has been the language of art, music, design and fashion. Tourists have flocked to Italy, attracted by the climate, art and architecture, opera houses and the people. Many, as a result of their visit, have decided to stay and learn the language. What is it about Italian that makes it so attractive to listen to? Is it because so many of us associate it with singing and music? One reason why singers love singing in Italian is that once they see it on the printed page, it is relatively easy to pronounce: in Italian what you see is what you hear, and every syllable counts. Once you have mastered the basic sounds you are well on the way to understanding. You probably know quite a lot already: pizza , maestro , spaghetti and ciao have all become part of English. Standard Italian, adopted by the state after the unification of Italy, is based on Tuscan dialect and is somewhat intermediate between Italo-Dalmatian languages of the South and Northern Italian dialects of the North.

Unlike most other Romance languages, Italian has retained the contrast between short and long consonants which existed in Latin. As in most Romance languages, stress is distinctive. Of the Romance languages, Italian is considered to be one of the closest resembling Latin in terms of vocabulary, though Romanian most closely preserves the noun declension system of Classical Latin, and Spanish the verb conjugation system , while Sardinian is the most conservative in terms of phonology.

Teach Yourself Beginners Italian - Get Started in Italian - 2 Audio CDs and Book