Rome in Italy and Paris in France are must-see destinations on many people’s first trip to Europe. When I traveled there, I found that English was often widely understood in Paris, while fewer people in Italy spoke it. Of course, shopkeepers at Rome’s major tourist attractions, where many foreigners visit, often speak English well. But just a little farther away—or when you visit a small Italian town—it can be difficult when you cannot communicate well. Europeans are relatively likely to speak

This is a beginner-level language-learning textbook for speaking Italian, published by Siwon School, a publisher specializing in foreign-language conversation. The book has 35 units, each divided into four parts: conversational expressions (Today’s Expressions), grammar explanations (Today’s Sentence Patterns), sample dialogues (Today’s Conversation), and exercises. It also includes four review lessons, called ripetizioni, and an Italian Culture at a Glance feature to check your progress and

I have no special talent, but learning another country’s language is a happy experience, even if it is difficult. The phrase “Escape from Absolute Beginner Status” on this Level 1 book, One Book, One Month Italian Speaking, immediately caught my eye. It sounded as if even an absolute beginner like me could give it a try, which gave me hope. I decided to take a chance on what my cousin, who has lived in Italy for a long time, once told me: Italian is really easy. But it is hard. Sigh. Still, one

My number-one bucket-list item for 2024 was “Let’s learn a new language.” But by May, I still had not even thought about which language to learn 😢. I was wondering which language would help me the most, when one suddenly felt right: Italian. I laughed at how simple the beginning of the decision felt. I had the feeling that I had to learn Italian and visit Italy at least once before I died. The beautifully photographed night scenery had completely captured my heart. I chose this book because I

Because it is a speaking and conversation book, the dialogues are not complicated and are fun. Surprisingly, it also includes solid grammar, so it is a good Italian textbook for beginners to learn properly and with interest. The native-speaker MP3s are easy to listen to through the QR code, and the pronunciation is slow, so I had no trouble following along. Another advantage is that you can download a required vocabulary conjugation chart and a mission-sentence tracing notebook from the

I used to think I should master English to some extent before trying a second foreign language, so I could never quite take the plunge. I had a chance to experience learning a new language in a fresh way with Siwon School’s Italian Speaking textbook for absolute beginners. Siwon School is famous for its books and classes for English beginners, so it seemed like an appropriate place to start studying Italian. Since I did not know how to pronounce the words, I signed up on the Siwon School

One Book, One Month Italian Speaking, Level 1, by Yang Hye-gyeong (Flory Teacher), Siwon School.com. I dreamed of a trip to Rome this year, though I did not make it happen. That made me suddenly want to study Italian. I had only known that Italian was similar to Latin, but in a history book I recently read, Latin and Italian were described as separate languages. I understood this to mean they share similarities as Romance languages, with a particularly close resemblance. Italian is very

Korea has Cristina, a TV personality from Italy. Italy is a peninsula shaped like a boot, with a distinctive geography surrounded by sea on three sides, like Korea. In the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup round of 16, Korea beat Italy with Ahn Jung-hwan’s golden goal. The World Cup made Italy memorable to Koreans, and more Koreans are choosing Italy as a travel destination. One Book, One Month Italian Speaking, Level 1 teaches not only Italian but also essential travel phrases, so if you spend about

I studied English in school, to prepare for a job, and even after getting a job to improve my test scores, but when I meet a foreigner, I still cannot easily get the words out. When I travel, I can only manage halting conversation, enough to get by, so I always feel that my English is lacking. That makes me envy Europeans. They can cross borders by train, bus, or even on foot, and because their languages have many similarities, they seem to learn foreign languages quickly. Since my English is

I’m planning a trip to Italy in September, so I studied an Italian book out of curiosity about a language I had never learned before. This book is easy for complete beginners to pick up, even if they are learning for the first time with Flory Teacher from Siwon School. It is simply organized around words and expressions frequently used locally, so it is good for studying with the lessons. Today’s Expressions builds a solid foundation in vocabulary. Read the dialogue in the illustration, then