This article is for you if you are looking for the best books or dictionaries to learn Italian vocabulary. In this article, we will talk about the Italian dictionaries where you can Learn Italian vocabulary, and also Italian vocabulary books That include vocabulary and exercises with answer keys.
To learn a new language, you must know a lot of words in this language, and these words should be varied between nouns, verbs, adjectives, and more, to be able to make simple and understandable phrases by putting these words together.
For example, if we take the lesson “Clothing” and “Describing clothes” and use them to make a simple sentence, by putting the adjective beside the noun, we will be able to make a very simple sentence Without the need to be experts in the grammar of the language. Look at this example:
Un vestito stretto >> (A Tight Dress)
Una giacca larga >> (A Baggy Jacket)
Many polyglots prefer to start their first months of learning any language by memorizing the most common words. Because they know that they will always use these words whether they are at the first level of the language or the last.
So if you want to learn Italian and to be fluent in it, you will first need to increase your vocabulary.
Italian vocabulary Lessons on our website
On our website, we provide a lot of Italian vocabulary lessons that cover the main subjects of Italian Vocabulary that you can use in your daily life. Our Italian Vocabulary lessons contain between 20 to 30 or more words. We don’t put too many words in every lesson because we don’t want you to spend much time studying one lesson and feel frustrated. We also provide sentences for each word, exercises after each lesson, a small paragraph or list of expressions related to the terms in the lesson, and a Video on YouTube With images to help you memorize the words better.
But if you prefer to have a book/Dictionary of Italian vocabulary in your hand to study from beside our website, then here is a list of Italian books and dictionaries that cover only vocabulary lessons.
First: Italian Vocabulary visual dictionaries
Why do you need a visual dictionary, not an ordinary dictionary?
Because When you use a dictionary that contains illustrations, it will help your brain to recall the words more efficiently and make them stick in your head for much longer. And an illustrated vocabulary will activate your memory and help you remember much more quickly. On the other hand, an ordinary dictionary won’t make you excited to open it and study from it. Most people now prefer to use online dictionaries because they are easier to use.
We will talk about two famous visual dictionaries, one is Italian-Italian, and the other is Italian-English. We will talk about which one of them is best and why.
1. Dizionario per immagini By Marco Mezzadri
This Dictionary covers more than 70 essential lessons. It also contains 2000 words with illustrations for each word. This Dictionary comes in two books: the first one (Dizionario Per Immagini: Libro di Testo) has words with images (70+ lessons), and the other one (Dizionario Per Immagini: Libro Degli Esercizi) contains exercises + answer keys.
Now let’s talk about the advantages and disadvantages of this Dictionary.
Advantages
- The Dictionary covers everything you will ever need in the Italian language as a beginner. I promise this book will benefit you throughout your learning of the Italian language, and You will always need to use it.
- The Dictionary comes with adorable illustrations.
- It is the biggest Italian-Italian visual Dictionary as it contains 70+ lessons.
- You can order it with a CD so you can listen and repeat.
- It has an exercise book with answer keys so you can test yourself after each lesson.
- Very good for beginners as it is considered a perfect foundation for them.
- The book contains 2000 words.
Disadvantages
- As we mentioned, the Dictionary is Italian-Italian, which means it doesn’t support English. And that will make you put some effort into translating every word.
- The exercise book doesn’t cover all the lessons. It covers only the important ones (53 Lessons).
2. Italian English Bilingual Visual Dictionary By DK
This Dictionary contains 15 main subjects, and every topic divides into small sub-topics. The Dictionary includes more words in every lesson. For example, the human body section Doesn’t only cover the main parts of the human body but also the internal anatomy of the human body.
The Dictionary contains real-life images, Not illustrations. At the end of the Dictionary, there is an index for all the words and where they are in the Dictionary. There is also one page of useful phrases at the end of the Dictionary. The Dictionary supports a free audio app that you can download from google play or the app store, then use your copy of the book to access the audio fully.
The Advantages and disadvantages of the book:
Advantages
- In the dictionary, there are more than 160 lessons.
- It supports audio through its app, which you can use anywhere and whenever possible.
- Contains real-life images.
- Supports the English language.
disadvantages
- There are no exercises in the dictionary.
- It has too much information; some is unimportant, so you won’t use it unless you are a specialist.
Now, Which one of them do we recommend?
We will choose the first Dictionary, “Dizionario per immagini” simply because:
A.) It covers all the essential information you will need in the Italian language, especially as a beginner.
B.) It does not contain too much or unnecessary information.
C). The Dictionary is all in Italian, which will force you to make more effort to translate every word, and that effort will make every word stick to your head, and you won’t forget it easily.
D.) The most important thing is that it has a second part for exercises to test yourself.
E.) It contains illustrations which make it also perfect for kids.
At the end, the choice is always yours.
Second: Italian Vocabulary Books
In this part, we will talk about three books. Two of them come in more than one book, and the other one is one book. All of them are also dedicated only to learning vocabulary. One is suitable for beginners, and two are ideal for beginners and intermediate learners.
1. L’italiano con giochi e attività By Federica Colombo
This series of books comes in three volumes. Vol.1, vol.2, and vol.3 each book contain 14 different lessons.
Each lesson includes 15 to 20 new words with illustrations for each word.
All three books have exercises and answer keys at the end of each book.
In Each lesson, there is a small and simple part for grammar.
The advantages and disadvantages of the book:
Advantages:
- The series contains 42 lesson
- Good for beginners
- Exercises and answer keys are in the same book; they don’t come in separate books.
- It covers the basics of grammar without the boring details.
- It comes with illustrations for every lesson and exercise.
Disadvantages.
- The book Doesn’t support English.
- It is not for intermediate learners, even if they say it’s suitable for intermediate learners.
- The book Doesn’t support audio.
2. Attiva il lessico. By Federica Colombo and Juana Cattunar
Attiva il lessico consists of two notebooks, A2 / B1 and B1 / B2, to practice basic vocabulary.
The teaching materials to activate the vocabulary are suitable both for self-study and for use in the classroom.
Attiva il lessico is the best option for beginner and intermediate Learners.
At the beginning of each lesson, there is a vocabulary table (Nouns, adjectives, verbs). After the vocabulary part comes the exercises part, which is the best part because it helps you to test yourself on what you studied. All the exercises are excellent, and they use sentences related to the words in the lesson. The exercises show you how you can use every word and what they mean in Italian.
And the best part of these books is the last part of each lesson, where they give you a bunch of questions to answer in a paragraph. This way, you will write small sentences using what you learned. And at the end of each book, you can find the answer keys for the exercises.
Advantages and disadvantages of these books:
Advantages.
- Both books cover 40 essential Italian vocabulary lessons.
- They both contain exercises with answer keys.
- They provide mp3 for their books on their website so that you can listen and practice
- The second book has typologies conforming to the certification tests (CELI; CILS; PLIDA).
- These books Will level up your Italian.
- Perfect for beginners and intermediates.
Disadvantages.
- They are all in Italian, with no English included.
Which of the two series would we recommend to you?
The second one (Attiva il lessico) because they will take your Italian to the next level with their great exercises.
3. Italian vocabulary builder By Lingo Mastery
This book is number one when you search for an Italian vocabulary book on amazon. The book contains 43 lessons, 2222 words, and an example or two for each word. The book ends with 61 Italian idioms and ways of saying. The book is English-Italian, so you won’t need to translate anything; you will start memorizing the words and the sentences as they are.
Advantages and disadvantages of this book:
Advantages
- This book has 2222 words.
- The book contains Forty-three lessons that cover the basics of Italian.
- Support the English language.
- Perfect for beginners and intermediates.
Disadvantages.
- It doesn’t contain audio or CD
- It Doesn’t include exercises.
- The book doesn’t have any illustrations.
You can find the book Here.
We hope that was helpful to you. You can find all the books on amazon by clicking the blue words. If you want to know what are the best Italian books to learn Grammar click here
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