Practice Makes Perfect: Basic Italian, Premium Second Edition

So useful, combine grammar and basic conversations to use. I found interesting it makes a difference and teach you at the same time formal and informal way to talk and use the words.

Great way to self teach yourself a language.

I'm an intermediate (level B1) italian learner, but after taking a break from formal studying, I picked up this book as a refresher before moving on to more advanced material. If you're a complete beginner, I definitely recommend using this alongside something like duolingo or another italian course rather than by itself. The lessons in this book are short so it's good if you're busy and only have 15 mins or so a day to study. What prevents me from giving it 5 stars is the book has quite a few typos, and more importantly, mistakes in the answer key. They're frequent enough to cause some confusion, and I assume that confusion would be worse for absolute beginners, the audience this book is meant for, so I have to deduct a star.

I enjoyed this book, it was concise and had easily written chapters.

Simple easy to use book.

Excelente producto

The approach utilized in this book, is not truly helpful for beginners. Within a few pages of the first chapter (p. 6) there are sentences using the reflexive forms of verbs, and pronouns, without explanation of their use. P.8 introduces adjective endings using nationalities as examples, rather than commonly used adjectives such as good, bad, tall, short, etc. P.9 Students are expected to fill in blanks in sentences which use vocabulary, and parts of speech that have not been introduced, or explained. Example" Dopo la lezione sono molto stanca. Where was that vocabulary introduced? Not in the first 9 pages! The verb "essere"" is introduced on p. 21, but the student is expected to understand it in the quoted sentence from p. 9. Warning: Do not attempt to use without a lesson on the chapter BEFORE you use this workbook.

Unfortunately, I have to agree with those reviewers who find this book to be less than ideal to begin a study of Italian. There are numerous problems. No accent marks are included, so it is impossible to know the precise pronunciation of words. Very little explanation or exercises are given for critical items such as verb declensions; indeed, relatively few exercises are included at all. Many of them employ constructions and vocabulary words that have not yet been introduced. There are many misspellings throughout the book. I wish I had bought a textbook.

I could have ordered the first edition cheaper and gotten it sooner but I waited for this second edition because of the promised flashcards, etc. app. but it doesn't exist. And no excuses about it being a new product if it is advertised as being available and it isn't it is deceptive. Plus, what is there I could have accessed without purchasing this book. I thought it might be because I have access Apple apps via Japan's store (seemed it should be there since marketed in Japan) but I logged onto the site recommended in the book for an online version and it isn't there either. Then I went to the Official McGraw-Hill Education site and did a search for the book hoping to get more information. Couldn't find it by Title (in first 5 pages sorted by relevance), ISBN or Author.I generally like studying with this Practice Makes Perfect series of books though I do get frustrated when there are words not in the vocabulary lists that are used as exercises.Before a reading about the number of physical features in Italy, there is a list of relevant vocabulary. Great studied them first. But the 3rd exercise is the number colli in Roma, with the hint 7. It is called a total language study program on the cover but inside it says that this book is designed for middle and high school students as a supplemental text, so if I had been in one of those classes to get the total, as a young learner I might not have noticed this. And, yes, from general knowledge I could figure it out, but... they are like bumps in the exercises. Another example in studying nations and nationalities, there is an exercise asking what is a person from Lebanon is called in Italian. This country is not in the vocabulary lists, while there are many others on the list that could have been used in the exercises. Mostly I take it as a challenge but I know as a teacher my students would hate it. I don't mind that all the words in sentences aren't known. I like trying to figure them out in context and learning additional words. I just don't like it when it needs to be or relates to the answer. That said, I much prefer this to the time I've already spent trying to learn Italian through a subscription online program, which is why it gets a three.