My husband and I will be heading to Italy in a few weeks and want to learn a few necessary Italian words and phrases. Can anyone recommend a good phrase book to carry with us? I have been looking at online audio sites to learn Italian, but would also like to carry something with me.
Thanks!

Hi R,

Hello Bonjourno
Hello in the late PM or evening
Bona Sera

Goodbye Arrividerci

Man Signore
Woman Signora

Please per favore
Thank you grazi

Where is... Dove e....

Toilet Toilette

Have a nice visit.

Harper Collins made (makes?) a great Italian for Travelers book that I've used with great results on two trips so far. I think it may now be out of print since I cannot find it online... I bought mine in person at Barnes and Nobles and sometimes still see copies there.

You're welcome ~ Prego

Yes ~ Si

No ~ Non

How are you? ~ Come sta?

How much? ~ Quanto costa?

One ~ Uno

rjs, see if you can get a very small book called "Speedy Italian". The ISBN# is 0-9602838-2-X.

If you can't get this book, buy the simpliest book you can find (try to get one that is as small as possible so that you can carry it with you at all times).

Dear ones, I am afraid that the help here isn't completely accurate.

Ciao!

I just got a fantastic little book called Italy, Instructions for Use. It is by Nan McElroy. I gave it to a friend of mine for her first trip to Italy next month. Included in it is an excellent section on commonly used phrases for a wide variety of situations. The book packs a great deal of information in the tiniest of formats. It would fit in a purse easily.

Here is a link to the item on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...s&n=507846

They have pages you can view by moving your mouse over them, one of them is a vocabulary page that is a good example of what I just described.

That book has officially become my travel-gift present!

Hi there -- We really like the little Rick Steves phrasebook. Every now and then, there are funny little phrases added just to see if you're paying attention. Also has a decent menu decoder.

Good luck! - h.

I think that the best phrasebook for <i>you</i> has more to do with what appeals to <i>you</i> than any particular features of the book. Go to a Barnes &amp; Noble and thumb through the half dozen (or more) that they will surely have to sell.

And I have to snicker at ira's creative spelling of &quot;buongiorno&quot;!



Best wishes,

Rex

I want to thank everyone for the great tips on phrase books. Appreciate it! I'll be going to the bookstore tonight...

I don't know of a phrase book, but over the years I have created my own menu translator. I go onto web sites or go to the library and look at Italian cookbooks. Put it all into computer and take it with me in my pocket...has really helped at restaurants..although I don't need it as much anymore.

Oh lord, Rex.

I can't believe I let that go by.

I was recognizing it for its creativity, ira, not &quot;signaling&quot; an instance of a word spelled incorrectly (since I get acccused of doing that, obsessively, all the time).

After all, there are three other words spelled incorrectly!

SDER, w/T-I-C!

Ira: Were you just trying to be funny, or did yoiu really think those were correct Italian words that you were typing. Almost all of them were incorrect, but I hope you knew that. But why mislead the original poster?

Let me try, I love to help people trying to learn the most beautiful language in the world (IMO!):

Hello- Buongiorno
Have a nice day- Buona giornata

Good evening-(starting at about 4 pm)- Buona sera
And have a nice evening- buona serata

Hello- Ciao (Chow)
Good bye- Ciao, or ciao ciao,
or arrivederci (see you again)

Man -Uomo
Mr. - Signore
Woman- Donna
Ma'am- Signora
Young woman- Signorina

Please- per favore
Thank you- Grazie, or grazie tante

Excuse me- Scusa (formal)
Scusi (s) or Scusate (pl) (informal)

a Table for two (if you go to a restaurant, and want one)-una tavola per due

Toilet- il gabinetto (Where's the bathroom)
Dov'e il gabinetto?)

Glass (as in a glass of wine) - un bicchiere (di vino)
(Pronounced bee-kee-air-ray dee vee-no)

Bottle-bottiglia (Pron: bo-tee-lyee-ah)
If you want water- you need to ask for:
Aqua (con gas) - sparkling, or mineral water
Aqua (senza gas) - for &quot;still&quot; water

Cheese- formaggio

right-destra

left-sinistra

street-La strada

this- questo
that-quello

too-troppo
too expensive- troppo caro (!)

the bill- il conto

waiter- cameriero/a

nice- gentile (jen-tee-lay)
very nice- molto gentile

I like- Mi piace (mee pee ah c(s)hay)
I'm sorry- Mi dispiace

Try to get comfortable with these few, and also take a phrase book-find one that is small and easy to keep in your pocket. The first one I got was Barron's TravelWIse, but in My experience, it's really good to try learning a few words beforehand, try them out with each other, and speak face to face if possible without looking in the book too much.

Hope this is helpful; Have a fine trip, and know that your efforts to use the Italian language will be always warmly received!

OOPs, forgot!

Yes is S&igrave;
and no is just No (Non is the French for No)

Since we have a running thread on rudeness here in our &quot;dysfunctional family&quot;, let me cross over the line, and ask a question, bellastar?

&lt;&lt;Can anyone recommend a good phrase book to carry with us?&gt;&gt;

Why didn't you answer the question as originally posed?

I don't know rex.

Um, I'm sorry, rex, but I also can't understand what your statement means- are you talking about this thread?

I am not sure I could find any &quot;rude&quot; statements here, just various people trying to help the OP in their own ways, and maybe a couple of teasing comments, but nothing I would think of as rude...

Hi bellastar, I am sure Rex was referring to another thread that a &quot;new poster&quot; started that complained about how rude most posters were. Read the thread, you will have a good chuckle I think. Ciao!!

No, bella - - I am not talking about THIS thread - - another (bordering on troll) thread about &quot;why Fodorites are rude to each other&quot;.

And as I was hoping you could tell, (by the prefacing remarks), I was only half serious about your &quot;erring&quot; by my not recommending a phrase book.

Still, I was partly serious; I think that too often, we offer a 50-250 words answer, when the better answer fills a whole book. So... here, when the OP asks for a <i>book</i>, I think the answer ought to be the <i>name</i>... of a book!

Curiously, I think that someone who feels comfortable with <i>using</i> a language is often not the best resource on <i>language learning materials</i> for someone trying to gain an introductory grasp of the language. Might better come from someone who has actually had a recent experience going from ground zero through those initial steps of using a phrase book or language learning materials - - and how well did those materials help?