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Rating: 
- A Good Introduction and Good Value
I enjoy Quickstart Italian mainly because it is an easy introduction split into bitesize sections. In each 10 minute segment you'll learn three or four phrases useful in circumstances such as in a taxi, hotel, restaurant etc. Do a lesson or two a day and in a couple of weeks you'll have a much better grasp of basic Italian than you did before. I agree with another reviewer that the frequent use of the title music is a bit annoying but I found the course effective and accessible which is something. My only criticism of the course is that it gives no explanation of verb structure leaving you stuck in the tenses that they use. However, Michel Thomas' Introductory course gives excellent coverage of verb structure but doesn't cover the everyday usage that this set does, so the two courses, I find, go very well together. At £8 this is great value. I recommend it to beginners.
Rating:
- Quickstart Italian(audiobook) Excellent
This is the best language CD I've heard. Don't settle for cheaper versions. Ideal for beginners and holiday communications. Clear and practical. My only previous language experience was a little french at school. I listened to this in my car learning one chapter at a time. I highly recommend this. I am so impressed I have now purchased Quickstart German.
Rating: - Good for beginners
Just listening to this CD set helped me pick up the basics of Italian. Several short scenes are played out and these are then broken down and explained. Breaks on the CD let you practice out loud without having to use the pause button on your CD player, something I find very frustrating and impractical if listening in the car. There's a booklet included (not mentioned on the cover of the pack) showing all the conversations on the CD. I found this very helpful, especially when trying to guess the right spelling of some words - and getting them completely wrong!
- A Good Introduction and Good ValueI enjoy Quickstart Italian mainly because it is an easy introduction split into bitesize sections. In each 10 minute segment you'll learn three or four phrases useful in circumstances such as in a taxi, hotel, restaurant etc. Do a lesson or two a day and in a couple of weeks you'll have a much better grasp of basic Italian than you did before. I agree with another reviewer that the frequent use of the title music is a bit annoying but I found the course effective and accessible which is something. My only criticism of the course is that it gives no explanation of verb structure leaving you stuck in the tenses that they use. However, Michel Thomas' Introductory course gives excellent coverage of verb structure but doesn't cover the everyday usage that this set does, so the two courses, I find, go very well together. At £8 this is great value. I recommend it to beginners.
Rating:
- Quickstart Italian(audiobook) ExcellentThis is the best language CD I've heard. Don't settle for cheaper versions. Ideal for beginners and holiday communications. Clear and practical. My only previous language experience was a little french at school. I listened to this in my car learning one chapter at a time. I highly recommend this. I am so impressed I have now purchased Quickstart German.
Rating:
- Good for beginnersJust listening to this CD set helped me pick up the basics of Italian. Several short scenes are played out and these are then broken down and explained. Breaks on the CD let you practice out loud without having to use the pause button on your CD player, something I find very frustrating and impractical if listening in the car. There's a booklet included (not mentioned on the cover of the pack) showing all the conversations on the CD. I found this very helpful, especially when trying to guess the right spelling of some words - and getting them completely wrong!