With travelling abroad a possibility again, St Dogmaels, Cardigan author Anne Cakebread hopes her humorous, unusual, new pocket-sized phrasebook will inspire people to learn some simple Italian phrases.
Unlike many traditional phrasebooks, Teach Your Dog Italian, published by Y Lolfa, shows that learning useful expressions doesn’t have to be boring or daunting, and makes picking up a few basics accessible to everyone.
Every phrase is shown in both Italian and English as well as help with the Italian pronunciation. There are over 60 expressions to practise, from phrases such as ‘Vieni qui’ (‘Come here’) and ‘Vuoi giocare?’(‘Do you want to play?’) to general phrases such as ‘Come va?’ (‘How’s it going?’).
The phrases are accompanied by appealing 1950s-style retro illustrations, including fun illustrations of some well-known places in Italy, such as the Cathedral in Milan and the Tower of Pisa.
Anne said: “I studied languages at school, but found it difficult to pick them up as I hadn’t been to the country, and didn’t get the chance to practise. I’d love to go back in time and give this book to the teenage me.”
The book is part of a series designed to help you learn a language while engaging with your pet, and was inspired by Anne’s bestseller, Teach Your Dog Welsh.
“When I moved to Wales I adopted Frieda, a rescue whippet, who only understood Welsh. Slowly, whilst dealing with Frieda, I realised that I was overcoming my nerves about speaking Welsh aloud, and my Welsh was improving as a result – this gave me the idea of creating a series of books to help others learn.
“The popularity of the series has been amazing and it’s wonderful to see the series growing! Hopefully this book will encourage people to learn a little Italian – you don’t even have to go abroad to practise: just have fun learning and speaking a new language!”
Other books in the series cover Japanese, Māori, Cornish, Gaelic, Irish, French, Korean, Spanish, Gog: North Wales Welsh, Manx and Guernesiais.
Teach Your Dog Italian by Anne Cakebread (£5.99, Y Lolfa) is available now.