Italian in 32 Lessons (The Gimmick Series)

Rating:
Summary: practical, severe, lively, packed with exercises
Review: Author Adrienne tells you in her introduction that "beginners are not imbeciles." That's both a compliment and a warning. The outstanding virtue of this book is that it is packed with exercises, some of them translation and some of them Italian-to-Italian. The presentation is concise, but if you've studied a European foreign language before Italian, nothing should be too strange here. I've found other Italian self-teaching books to be too long on cultural information. If you enjoy grammar and are serious about learning Italian, this book has all the drills you need!

Rating:
Summary: Great, not perfect
Review: I've found this book very helpful. It's very concise, straight-forward, and covers a substantial amount of material.

The one downside is that it might be TOO concise for some people. It moves at a quick pace, and for someone trying to gain a fluent knowledge of Italian, this book alone is not enough.