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Rating: 
Summary: This book never left my side
Review: Despite two years of high school Italian, my skills are pretty weak but I know the basic grammar, conjugation, etc. This book was a wonderful resource for two weeks in Italy as well as a handy way of reviewing those old lessons. Yes, it would have been nice to have a larger vocabulary coverage, but that then leads to a book too difficult to keep in one's pocket. The vocabulary coverage was still quite good and key phrases were well organized. For those that have had some basic Italian, there are some more advanced lessons for tenses, forming adverbs, etc. Using this book does require a bit of flexibility and don't expect to find everything in a split second. It helps to skim through the book in advance and always keep it by your side.
Rating:
Summary: This book never left my side
Review: Despite two years of high school Italian, my skills are pretty weak but I know the basic grammar, conjugation, etc. This book was a wonderful resource for two weeks in Italy as well as a handy way of reviewing those old lessons. Yes, it would have been nice to have a larger vocabulary coverage, but that then leads to a book too difficult to keep in one's pocket. The vocabulary coverage was still quite good and key phrases were well organized. For those that have had some basic Italian, there are some more advanced lessons for tenses, forming adverbs, etc. Using this book does require a bit of flexibility and don't expect to find everything in a split second. It helps to skim through the book in advance and always keep it by your side.
Rating: 
Summary: Not user-friendly
Review: Having this book in Italy really improved my experience and my Italian. It is great from the English to Italian standpoint, but for translating Italian back to English, you still really need an Italian-English/English-Italian dictionary along with you. The nice thing about this book is its small size. It fits nicely into your pocket and you can leave your dictionary in a backpack for less frequent uses. The best tip I can give is this: when you're interacting with locals, just try and muddle through, ignoring the phrases you don't remember. Then, afterwards, go back and find the phrase you needed. It'll be more likely to stick with you then.
Rating:
Summary: Great for almost all needs
Review: Having this book in Italy really improved my experience and my Italian. It is great from the English to Italian standpoint, but for translating Italian back to English, you still really need an Italian-English/English-Italian dictionary along with you. The nice thing about this book is its small size. It fits nicely into your pocket and you can leave your dictionary in a backpack for less frequent uses. The best tip I can give is this: when you're interacting with locals, just try and muddle through, ignoring the phrases you don't remember. Then, afterwards, go back and find the phrase you needed. It'll be more likely to stick with you then.
Rating: 
Summary: If you take one reference book to Italy, take this one!
Review: I had a previous edition of this phrasebook/dictionary when I was stationed in Naples, Italy, and this one is even better! The book will walk you through all of the situations you could expect to encounter on a trip (including emergencies, car repair, car rental, shopping, introductions, etc.). It gives you the phrase to use along with phonetic spelling for pronounciation. A very practical book which, in addition to language, gives you the responses to questions you may encounter. It also gives you technical terms you might not find in a regular dictionary such as a list of automotive components in the section on auto repair or a list of foods in the restaurant section (especially helpful when ordering food). The book is organized by sections (i.e. "Dining Out," "Meeting People," "Renting a Car," "Emergencies!" etc... This saves you from flipping around the dictionary looking up individual words and ushers you methodically through a conversation. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Not user-friendly
Review: If you are planning to use this book as a tutorial for an extended stay in Italy, then this book just might be helpful. However, if you want to use it as a simple phrase book AND as a dictionary, it is completely frustrating. Even the most basic words are not located in the dictionary section (most likely because there were included somewhere else in the book). Thus, if you need to quickly look up a word, it is incredibly annoying to sift through all of the sections of the book to figure out where that particular word might be defined.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Italian phrasebook for navigating and eating!
Review: While the title of the review sounds a bit narrow in focus, you'll probably be spending most of your time in Italy doing one of these things - navigating or eating. Don't even try going to a restaurant without a phrasebook with a thorough section of food like this Berlitz guide has. North Americans may think they have a grasp of Italian dishes, but go to Italy and you'll find out how little we know! I also brought along two other phrasebooks. One of them was written for British tourists, where you'll find eggplant translated as aubergine, and all sorts of other lovely surprises. If you buy one of these phrasebooks, you'd better bring one along that translates dialects of English. :) I highly recommend the Berlitz book for its thoroughness and usefulness. Your time in Italy will be a lot more enjoyable if you bring it along for the ride!
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