Rick Steves French Italian And German
Ordering cafe au lait in Paris, calamari in Venice, or bratwurst in Munich, it helps to speak galore of the native tongue. Rick Steves, bestselling author of travel guides to Europe, offers well-tested phrases and key words to cover each circumstance a traveler is likely to encounter. This handy guide provides key phrases for use in each day circumstances, finish with phonetic spelling; an English-French/Italian/German dictionary; the latest selective information on European currency and rail transportation, and even a tear-out cheat sheet for continued language practice. Informative, concise, and practical,Rick Steves’ French, Italian and German Phrase Bookis an necessary item for any traveler’s backpack.
ReviewIf you’re planning your Continental tour, or just heading Europewards and letting the winds of fate waft you this way and that, you’ll want galore language assistance, preferably in a form that doesn’t require an extra set of luggage. Rick Steves, cited Europe expert and writer of candid, accurate, and agreeably diverting guide books, has a phrase book and dictionary that holds the three major languages you’re likely to encounter in ramble around Europe or a trek in the Alps.
For each of the three languages, there are chapters on basic survival phrases, numbers, money, and time, transportation, sleeping, and eating, plus activenesses such as sightseeing, shopping, and nightlife. There are also segmentations on phoning and mailing, health and emergencies, and making little talk–including the necessary division on animal noises (because what’s woof woof to you is ouah ouah to the French, bau bau to Italians, and wuff wuff in German). There are also lists of the animal noises made by humans (also known as profanity) so you may get enjoyment from the linguistic color as the man next to you drops his fragile souvenir, or swear like a Roman when you stub your toe in the Coliseum.
The menu decoders are rather useful, and, in spite of the book’s little size, it covers most contingencies–from bartering over hotel-room prices to rental-car considerations, interpreting train schedules to talking about medical conditions such as constipation and diarrhea, hemorrhoids and indigestion, body odor and the giggles. The dictionary in the back shows the English, French, Italian, and German for each of 1,200 words, and there’s an appendix of utile information, including the European phone numbers for respective calling-card operators as well as their global access codes and country codes, a chart of on a monthly basis temperatures for each country and a metric conversion table, as well as tongue twisters in French, German, and Italian, to while away the train-travel hours and impress your compartment mates with your willingness to launch into their language and dare to sound like a fool. –Stephanie Gold
ReviewToday’s tourists are as likely to be toting Rick Steves as Giorgio Armani, tasting the good life without burning through the Kids’ college fund.
Language NotesText: English, French, German, Italian
Most helpful customer reviews
65 of 65 people found the following review helpful.
 It was my best friend in Europe
By Alexandra Beaubien
Rick Steves’ phrasebook was my best friend during a recent three- month tour of Europe. This book is perfectly written for the budget traveler with clear pronounciations and slices of Rick Steves’ humor that his readers have come to love. The book even includes a bit of a “script” for reserving a hotel room over the phone by including the exact phrases in the logical order. Thanks to the book, I was able to eat well in Nice, sleep cheap in Provence, chase the casanovas away in Florence and much more. Overall, this book is probably not essential for those who are only traveling in major cities where travelers are apt to find plenty of English spoken. However, this book is a bible in small towns where no English is spoken. In addition, the book helped me to show most locals that I was taking an interest in their language and not making the assumption that others could speak mine. As a reward, I believe that people were more helpful, more likely to carry on a conversation with me and, when applicable, more likely to respond in English. This was especially true in Paris.
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful.
Make Three Books Out It
By Terry Smith
I took the Italian section of this book with me on a two-week backpacking trip through Italy. It was highly-useful, especially in the restaurants. It’s well-organized with all the phrases you’ll need. The “Menu Decoder” section is great for looking up words in a dictionary format. Since I was traveling light and only needed the Italian section, I cut the book into three parts and bound each with duct tape. Now I have three phrase books!
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful.
The best phrase book
By Econ PhD Student
Easy to find what you are looking for. Has all of the truly importaint words and phrases. I think that the food translations were used the most, by me and anyone else that figured out I had this book. You really do not need a phrase book if you are traveling from big city to big city, but if you find yourself in a small village or town, this book will be very handy. If you want a phrase book, this is the one. Next time I take off over seas, this book will make its way into my backpack.
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Rick Steves French Italian And German Photo
Rick Steves French Italian And German Image
Rick Steves French Italian And German Photo
Rick Steves French Italian And German Pic
Rick Steves French Italian And German Photo
Rick Steves French Italian And German Image
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