Love Italian food? Wish you could speak Italian, but don’t have a lot of time to study? Here’s a fun way to combine your passion with your ambition. Learn Italian…through food!

Designed for self-guided language learners, foodies who travel, and Italian speakers looking for an enjoyable way to refresh their skills, Italian Through Food will help you become knowledgeable and conversational on the subject of la cucina italiana [Italian cuisine].

Order your copy of Italian Through Food from Create Space or via Amazon.

Equal parts language course and food history, the book’s twenty brief units introduce essential food vocabulary and conversational skills as you explore la cucina italiana, from pizza to gelato, salumi to pasta, and il pane [bread] to fish.

By the end of this book, you’ll have built up a working vocabulary of 600 words and phrases you can use to discuss a variety of food-related subjects in Italian. 

If you’re planning on traveling to Italy, you’ll be able to apply everything you learn in this book to confidently interact with Italians in restaurants, markets, specialty food shops, or any other context in which food is the main subject.

About the author: Andrea Parisi is a linguist who loves eating and researching Italian food. She’s lived and studied in Italy, and knows first-hand how exciting – and challenging – it can be to learn a new language. As an Italian teacher, she saw many of her students get overwhelmed with homework, grammar, and not having enough time to study. Italian Through Food was created as a fun, appetizing way to keep language learners motivated and help them reach their goals.

Italian Through Food was originally designed as an evening course taught at community colleges in Chicago. Whether students were gearing up for a trip to Italy, or just wanted to better understand menu options at their favorite Italian restaurant, everyone was able to directly apply what they learned in class to their next Italian food adventure. The lesson plans were fleshed out with field research in Italy, then edited into this book for self-guided learners, so that readers everywhere can nurture their passion for la cucina italiana, la lingua italiana [the Italian language], and la cultura italiana [Italian culture].