Avanti: Beginning Italian

by Janice M. Aski, Diane Musumeci

This uniquely effective new introductory Italian language program meets the needs of instructors as well as learners. Three significant characteristics set Avanti! apart from other beginning Italian texts currently available: First, in response to instructors' concern that most textbooks attempt to cover too much material in the first year, Avanti! reflects reasonable expectations for the amount of material that most beginning learners can acquire in one year of classroom instruction. Second, Avanti! strives to satisfy students' desire to communicate in everyday situations right from the start. The activities guide students to communicate in truly meaningful contexts that encourage explorations of the rich Italian culture. Third, the methodology of Avanti! is firmly grounded in the latest findings from research in second language acquisition and foreign language pedagogy.

Genres: Textbooks, Nonfiction

576 pages, Hardcover

First published January 12, 2006

Reviews

[Allison · Rating 1 out of 5]

In short, it's a mess. First of all, the authors aren't native speakers and it shows. Second, they seem intent on hiding the Italian language under a barrage of superfluous information and, frankly, ego (How do you pronounce Musumeci? That's in what, Chapter 1? Answer: Nobody cares). They feel it's appropriate to stick the the past tense in Chapter 2 (Dov'e' nata il jazz?) but don't bother to explain it. There are a million ways to introduce the verb essere without the past tense. Do the authors even know they used the past tense? Boh. They don't really get the subtleties of the Italian language. The communicative method is great, to some extent. I remember when everybody was acting like the communicative method was Jesus. I had doubts then and I have stronger doubts now, but when doubts meet a career academic's agenda, doubts go to the wall. There has to be a better way, and this is not it. If you're stuck trying to learn Italian with this mess, buona fortuna.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book, terrible structure. Whoever thought that direct objects, indirect objects, and reflexive verbs should all be learned in two back-to-back sections of a chapter was completely wrong.