Rick Steves' Italian Phrase Book & Dictionary

Great little phrase book -- endless phrases for all sorts of situations. For our 5-day stay in Florence, we didn't need too much Italian, but I still recommend this book if you're going for a visit, no matter how short or long.

Rick Steves' Italian Phrase Book is a great quick guide resource to learn the basics in Italian. If you are looking for a book that's small enough to take along with you on a trip to Italy, this is the book for you. The book is split up into easy to find sections with common and not so common phrases that are easy to follow and learn. I'm using this guide along with a selection of Italian Phrase Podcasts that I downloaded to help me learn enough Italian to make my way around Italy on my next trip this year.

Used this compact phrase and dictionary volume with visiting to-be in-laws, with reasonable success. They speak some English, and appreciated my efforts with phrases from this book. A fun visit, therefore. Great laughs shared over phrase for "is this meat fresh" question -- suggested Italian, "How long has this been dead?"

Used this compact phrase and dictionary volume with visiting to-be in-laws, with reasonable success. They speak some English, and appreciated my efforts with phrases from this book. A fun visit, therefore. Great laughs shared over phrase for "is this meat fresh" question -- suggested Italian, "How long has this been dead?"

Although not really necessary in the larger and more tourist locations, in the smaller towns it came in handy. Having some familiarity with Italian, I would recommend listening to the pronunciation of words as opposed to just following the guide in this book, some of the words could be said a little off based on the books version. However, the dictionary and menu guide did help us at least once. Although there are apps available that will do the same, I've found being able to pull out a guide and try to speak the local language is a gesture that opens doors and cuts the tension in many situations especially with older people or rural parts where apps may be uncommon.

I just ordered and received the Rick Steves' Italian phrase book and dictionary. Rick Steves' book is great for travelers. I recently ordered the "Idiot's" book for Italian phrases. It had several recommendations on the the store Web site. What a disappointment. I decided to re-order another Italian phrase book. It was the Rick Steves' Italian phrase book which is a more approachable and better written phrase book than the Idiot's Italian book for vacation travel.

I highly recommend the Rick Steves' book any day over the "Idiot's" travel book.

ciao

I found the phrase book helpful as I studied before our trip. However, when I wanted to find something quickly I had a bit of a struggle, there were many places to look. When I was trying to find things that I bumped into along the roads in Italy they were often not included.
The pronunciation guides were very good. I just could have studied harder. I found it helpful to review the book in the evenings & see things that I could have said.

I enjoy Rick Steves' light hearted phrases as well as his serious lessons!
This book will be traveling with me to Italy...
Easy to use. Very descriptive as far as pronunciation. Easy to follow.
Also purchased Italy maps by Rick Steves'. They are made well and pretty much indestructible.

This definately will be carried with us when we go as it is small and will help with getting around. We understand English is spoken but it is nice to have a handle on what is being said to you and around. Very helpful won't leave home without it.

I like that is has English to Italian and Italian to English. The menu decoder really helped when we went to a restaurant that didn't have English on the menu. It's small so it makes it easy to fit into a bag.

Everything Rick Steves writes is helpful to find your way around tourist areas. We did use this phrase book some, but found most people who worked in hotels, shops and restaurants spoke at least some English, so it wasn't needed much. There are also apps that can be used on cell phones if you have internet availability.

This book was really small - much smaller than I thought it would be. It was like a pocket-size book. I guess that's the point so you can carry it with you. The words were small and it was just kind of boring. It had no color or flare. Also, the tear out sheets that they mention are just the same thin paper as the rest of the pages. You'd think it would be a thicker stock of paper - almost postcard like, but it's not.

However, the book was really good in its setup. At the beginning it had common phrases so you could learn phrases, rather than just a word at a time. Also, it broke it up into sections such as a restaurant section - so phrases that you might need to use at a restaurant. It also had individually words in Italian to English translation and then a section that followed, which was English to Italian translation.

All in all, it was a good book for learing some common phrases and I liked how it separated the book into sections so you could learn phrases for different scenerios (i.e. being at a restaurant).

This is a great little guide to handy Italian words and phases for travel, lodging, shopping, currency, ticket buying, or just plain questions/simple convos with locals, peppered with some classic Rick Steves humor. Buy it early enough before you plan to go - Lots for me to practice and learn before we leave in 3 months!

Great value, super info. We have used Rick Steve's on previous trips to Italy, Spain France and Ireland. We find that the new editions update suggestions for sights to see, restaurants, areas to avoid and hotels etc.

This book was tremendous help in my recent trip to Italy. The book is very organized and easy to use. The medical section and food section were of great help. I love how it gives you the word in English than spells the word in Italian and than divides it up in syllables and letters for you to pronounce it. Overall, great book that help me communicate with locals and shows people that your making an effort to communicate with them.

Although you can get along in the larger cities in Italy without it, it was handy to have for the smaller cities where many do not speak English, especially handy for understanding what's on the menu and ordering as many servers in non-tourist places do not speak much English.

Purchased this guide with the other Rick Steves guides for Italy (Venice, Rome, Cinque Terre & Almafi Coast) and found it to be very useful while we were on vacation. It has the phrases you need to know (vino della casa rosso) with pronunciation and then some phrases that are just funny. It was also very useful for interpreting the menu (for things other than pasta). I highly recommend.

Numerous words/phrases that are important for travelers in all types of situations in Italy. Gives English to Italian translation as well as Italian to English. We traveled for 9 days in Italy and it gave enough information to help every day. Small enough to pack in purse. Would definitely use for future travel in Italy and would recommend Rick Steve's other book about Italy as well.

Rick Steves does it again. This little pocket book has all the right phrases for the things that you might need while traveling in Italy. Better than taking a class in Italian Language and the phonetic help is great as well.

The way the phrases are sectioned by activity is a great help! When I'm at the train station or airport there is a section perfect to assist me. When I'm shopping in the plaza, I can get to what I need in a hurry. When I'm at the restaurant and want to verify what I'm ordering, that too can be found easily.

Rick Steve even tells you numbers, money, time, days of the week, months, and even some common verbs and their conjugations. This really is the hitch hikers guide to italian phrases. If you're planning a trip and want to prepare, or even if you have no time and are using this only as a pocket companion, you can't go wrong.

Love this little book. Perfect for throwing in my bag so I can read on the go. I especially love that the last page has a list of all the common phrases you might need to use when traveling in Italy.