Phrasebooks

Other comments:

My sister arrived back at our hotel room in Venice exhibiting the signs and symptoms of a stroke. As a former paramedic, I could not convey the seriousness of the situation to the front desk. Fortunately, I was able to access Google Translate on the internet and was able to relay that through the front desk to the paramedics (who arrived by boat. I was also able to prepare a translation of her recent medical history. (The medics spoke very little English).

We were very impressed with the emergency health care system in Italy - and it was totally free!

Dennis McKaig in London , On Canada 11/13/2009

I always use Rick's phrasebook while traveling in Italy. It is part of my daily armor when I go out. The "pecatta di gola" (sin of the throat) sent our waiter to the kitchen to bring out the cuocco(sp?) in a small trattoria in Le Marche. Good for a comp torta and digestivo!!! In a Roman convent I was told that although I couldn't speak Italian my pronunciation was correct. I love the Italian phrasebook! I get it at the library though, sorry Rick. Brad

brad in kings beach, ca USA 07/13/2008

I am quite deaf, and don't hear much of the spoken French around me. That may be why locals found my guidebook-based approximations quite unintelligible.

Charles Heckel in Riverside, CA USA 12/07/2007

You may want to add a comment in the Email section that French keyboards aren't QWERTY, so be prepared to hunt and peck!

Mike in Boston, MA USA 10/30/2007

We took the French phrase book on our recent 3 week trip to France. It helped us constantly and always had the right information. We carried it all the time. If we forgot it - we went back to the hotel to get it - it was that essential. I bought and read many different language guides before we left and all were useless (I learned how to buy wallpaper, but that was useless to me in travel!). This phrase book had everything we needed. We had to make 3 trips to the pharmacy and the "Health" section made all the trips a success. Thank you so much for the perfect travel phrase book!

Wendy Hudson in Colts Neck, NJ USA 08/04/2007

We used them in Italy, Portugal, Spain and France, and we didn't need anything else. The size is great to fit in the pocket for easy use and the pronunciations work everytime.

Jim Conway in Columbus, NJ USA 03/31/2007

I found the Italian phrasebook incredibly offensive. The average person might flip through it and think that men don't even exist, which is ironic since the book is about Italy. I counted, there are 5 men depicted vs. 13 women and, of course, one of the men (pg. 26) is old and somewhat obsolete and outdated. Almost every chapter heading including Help! (p. 174) showcases a woman and, naturally, all of the women are depicted as vital, vital, vital! Let's be honest, if a serious problem arose, I wouldn't feel warm and fuzzy about a lone female policeman showing up on the scene. Sorry if that makes you mad, but it's the damn truth. Rick, I'm saddened that you have to succumb to the political correctness of the times. Be that as it may, I respect what you do and I think you offer a great service to people. If I receive a response to this message, I fully expect to be castrated for my ‘horribly’ un-PC opinions and told that the problem is somehow due to my own personal insecurity, but I could care less.

Guerino Buccella in Allegany, NY USA 03/09/2007

I had the French phrasebook for my tour of France last year and I noticed that every time I went to look up a word I saw on a menu it wasn't in there, we ended up relying on a French/English dictionary instead. It would be great if you could add more "food" type words in there. For my next trip to Paris, I'm only taking the dictionary, as I have a pretty good grasp on the common phrases (4 1/2 years of French from grade school, high school and college have finally paid off!).

Erika in Seattle, WA USA 02/27/2007

I just wanted to say that Rick's Italian phrase guide was a great asset for my recent trip to Rome and Sicily. Thanks so much for the pocket guide!

Ryan in Lyons, IL USA 01/08/2007

Your “Italian Phrase Book & Dictionary” is magnificent! It’s the only handbook anyone needs to get around competently in Italy. I took it on my last trip along with a complete pocket dictionary, but never used the latter. Yours is so practical and gave me a lot of confidence. After only a week of conversing with your book’s help, people started to mistake me for Italian-speaking! I’ve been telling all of my friends to buy your book!

S. T. in Atlanta, GA USA 01/06/2007