Learn Italian slang and more…these little books are the perfect companions for your trips abroad.
Congratulations to sweepstakes winner, Susan Smoaks!
Savvy travelers know the importance of being able to speak the local language. It enhances a person’s ability to immerse oneself in the place and culture—from understanding directions and street signs, to being able to handling emergencies or sticky situations (e.g. What do you yell when you’re on a crowded train and feel the hand of a pickpocket in your pants? How do you tell an Italian flirt to get lost?)
Speaking the language
For the reasons above and others, travelers are increasingly taking advantage of opportunities to learn languages through courses and apps, many of them available for free. It is estimated that Duolingo has 200 million registered users around the world. Each day, more than 200 million people rely on Google Translate, available on some browsers and also as an app!
A new 2018 survey of travel trends by American Express reports that 15 percent of the more than 2000 respondents traveled “to experience new languages and customs” last year, and 20 percent (5 percent more than last year) plan to do the same in 2018.
The “What They Didn’t Teach You in Class” Series
The “What They Didn’t Teach You in Class” series (available in French, Italian, Russian, German and Spanish) promises to provide the slang expressions and practical words travelers are likely to need on trips abroad. It focuses on “real expressions” used by locals rather than the phrases typically taught in language school. Not much larger than the size of a passport, these trim 5×7 hardcover books can easily be slipped into a purse or backpack.
Ulysses Press has come up with a new and highly practical tool that should appeal to travelers at many different levels of language proficiency:
- Those with little or no fluency
- Those students (of all ages) who haven’t yet achieved fluency before embarking on a trip;
- Those who may have forgotten what they learned in language school (whether recently or many years ago); and
- Those who know the language well but want to master the informal slang.
What They Didn’t Teach You in Italian Class
I reviewed the 192-page Italian version of the series and was impressed with the excellent organization of the book. Divided into nine chapters, I could easily figure out where to find the right words I needed.
The chapter on “Friends and Flirting”, for example, mentions that Italians like to connect. If you’re hanging out in a bar—whether for espresso or an apertivo—you’ll know the phrases that can arm you with confidence to speak without crossing a line.
If you are a compulsive shopper (a real risk of traveling to Italy), you’ll feel empowered enough to know the difference between asking for a push-up or sports bra (regisseno).
Warning: Some of the idioms and phrases in these books are extremely explicit—and include terms you might not want to use!
The book makes for a provocative travel, and sometimes humorous, companion.
THE BOOK GIVEAWAY

What They Didn’t Teach You in Language School
The publisher of the series, Ulysses Press, is offering one lucky reader of MoreTimeToTravel a three-book set. The set includes one copy of “What They Didn’t Teach You in Italian Class” and two other companion books, “What They Didn’t Teach You in Spanish” and “What They Didn’t Teach You in French.” A total of three books!
To be eligible, simply subscribe to the MTTT newsletter by February 15, 2018 (see the top of the right sidebar) and leave a comment below saying that you did.
The winner will be randomly selected and announced on this website.
Need the book sooner? The Italian version and any of the four other languages are available both on Kindle or hardcover on Amazon.
Disclosure: The publisher provided us with a copy of the Italian book for review.
32 Comments
Theresa Moore
January 13, 2018 at 6:44 pmI subscribed – would love to win the trio of What They Didn’t Teach You books
Christine Geaney
January 16, 2018 at 2:57 pmHello Irene,
I am happily subscribed to this news letter, enjoyed the packing for river cruises and found it very enlightening. By the way, the last time I learned another language was over 25 years ago, Spanish, I retained the sentence ‘Su casa es rojo’. How many red houses could I possibly walk into before the locals would say what??!!:-) This prize would definitely help my language skills and get me around Rome without offending anyone by using the wrong terms. And, the size is handy enough to keep discretely close-by in a wristlet. It could be considered an undercover civil diplomacy package;-)
Christine Geaney
Kim Henrichs
January 18, 2018 at 12:12 pmThese books look great!! I’m a subscriber.
Diane Heinze
January 18, 2018 at 1:37 pmWould like to win the “What They Didn’t Teach you in Italian Class” and the other two on Spanish and French. Fun!!
I have subscribed to More Time to Travel.
Thank you!
Marilyn B
January 18, 2018 at 4:51 pmAlready a subscriber and am happy to be. Books look great – I need to brush up on my very rusty Spanish, and my goal has been to learn Italian. So perfect set.
Faye H
January 19, 2018 at 9:13 pmI to already am a subscriber and love the tips presented here. It sound like these books would be extremely useful!
Marie G.
January 20, 2018 at 3:55 amI subscribed. Thanks for the giveaway!
Sara S
January 20, 2018 at 5:11 amSubscribed! Thank you!
Gina
January 20, 2018 at 9:23 amI subscribed – looks like a great set!
Theresa Jenkins
January 20, 2018 at 2:15 pmsubscribed
Travis Johnson
January 20, 2018 at 5:03 pmsubscribed
rich bart
January 20, 2018 at 10:17 pmi subscribed!
Rachel
January 22, 2018 at 12:43 pmI subscribed! We’re just starting to travel (Italy in May!) so this would be so perfect.
Sarah
February 1, 2018 at 8:15 amSubscribed! Thank you!
meghan
February 1, 2018 at 12:16 pmSubscribed!
Corinne
February 1, 2018 at 3:07 pmSubscribed! thank you so much!
Nina
February 1, 2018 at 9:00 pmSubscribed – great articles. Would love these books as I’m planning to take the family to Europe this summer!
Amy
February 2, 2018 at 7:10 pmI have signed up for the newsletter. I would enjoy learning slang expressions in these languages. I hope to travel to Europe in the next year and it might come in handy!
sonya
February 6, 2018 at 10:21 amsubscribed to the MTTT newsletter!!
susan smoaks
February 9, 2018 at 6:16 pmi am an email subscriber. thanks for the chance to win.
Jill Rivera
February 11, 2018 at 6:18 pmI subscribe. I would love to win the trio of What They Didn’t Teach You books. I have the Russian version of What They Didn’t Teach You Books. I would love to have the rest of the collection.
Sharon Yarrell
February 12, 2018 at 3:39 amSubscribed.
Jennifer H.
February 13, 2018 at 7:00 pmI have subscribed.
John H.
February 13, 2018 at 7:05 pmI subscribed.
Carol
February 13, 2018 at 7:28 pmSubscribed
Natosha Miller
February 14, 2018 at 6:33 amAlways loved French and learning a new language. However, I would love to learn somethings that I wouldn’t be taught in school ☺. Sounds like a wonderful collection of books☺ Subscribed
Rose Santuci-Sofranko
February 14, 2018 at 5:13 pmI am subscribed to you at the email attached to this post. Thanks and God Bless!
Laurie Emerson
February 14, 2018 at 9:59 pmI am a subscriber.
Shakeia Rieux
February 15, 2018 at 6:22 amNew subscriber
Ed
February 15, 2018 at 11:04 amI have subscribed.
Buddy Garrett
February 15, 2018 at 9:45 pmI subscribed to the newsletter. Viola!
Philip Lawrence
February 15, 2018 at 11:41 pmI would like to win the book on Spanish to increase my ability in speaking Spanish.