Avanti!: Beginning Italian [with Workbook]

by Janice M. Aski, Diane Musumeci

This textbook was a special edition for my school, Hofstra University. It is a paperback version of the Avanti! Beginning Italian Third Edition. It comes with an unused workbook as well as an online access card.

Genres: Textbooks, Nonfiction

446 pages, Paperback

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.