I'll be in Italy in Nov. for three weeks. Rome ,florence,venice,cinque terra and tuscany. Not knowing but 5 words in Italian should it be a concern.

In one word, "Si!" <BR> <BR> Do yourself a favor. Get one of those Berlitz phrasebooks at the very least, or better yet, some tapes that you can listen to in the car. Everyone appreciates the fact that you've tried to learn a little of their language and customs. In some places, you will really need it.

Get the tapes, not the books. Books don't teach you how to hear the language, and no one is going to communicate with you by passing notes. You need to listen and speak out loud to learn a language.

Some people learn better from books.

Ron: You've got time to remedy the situation, and you should do so. I'm of the old-fashioned school that thinks your trip will be enhanced a thousand-fold if you can communicate even minimally with people. The "window" on the culture will open if you do. <BR>Get some language tapes (you can often borrow them from the public library if you don't want to buy them). Yes, some people learn better from books, but you can't learn decent pronounciation from books because it's practically impossible to transliterate the sounds of other languages into English. If you have cable TV, watch the Italian news. Check out the many websites that allow you to hear spoken Italian. Your trip will be very much improved if you do.

Plus take a phrase book, so you can look up unfamiliar words on the menus!

We've been to Italy several times and don't speak the language. While it is a bit of a challenge, it is not a big problem. Learn Hello, Goodbye, Thank you and Your Welcome. The rest is ok. <BR>