2: Good, this aged version slightly outdated
Used this book extensively during 2 week sojourn in Italy. Very helpful, but as this edition was several years old, some vocabulary (particularly internet, phone) out of date. Other than that content was excellent, well organized and easily usable. Good Italian to English and vice versa dictionary in back of book. Would recommend getting same book in more recent publication if availble.
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4: Definitely not a stand-alone tool
I strongly agreed with the reviewers who described the Fodor's CD as poorly organized, too quickly spoken, and not terribly useful. In some instances they stated the English term and then followed it with the Italian; in others they stated the Italian term first. Because there was no warning about the switch, if you're not on your toes you may find yourself repeating the wrong Italian term for the English word you believe you are translating. The dialogues, while spoken at natural speed) are often not translated into English on the CD. You can go to the book to read the translation, but if you're using the CDs in traffic as I did, that's impossible. The CD ended so abruptly I thought perhaps my player had failed. All in all, it seemed as though the DC was designed and produced rapidly and without much thought. The book and CD are a great combination when your goal is to learn specific vocabulary and then hear the pronunciation of those specific key words. What I learned on the first CD - particularly numbers, dates, and times - was extremely helpful during my trip to Italy. (Although I have to admit that I listened to these sections of the CD repeatedly because I knew they would be essential.) But the CD would be a much stronger tool if it were consistently organized and included translations of the dialogues. When I had time to work on the language before my trip to Florence, I often put the Fodors CDs aside in lieu of the Michel Thomas "Speak Italian" CDs, which were also a two-CD set, but taught me the basics language rather than memorized phrases. Using Michel Thomas, I was able to construct my own, fairly complex sentences in Italy by simply looking up one or two additional vocabulary words. In terms of a phrase book, I preferred Rick Steve's. Steve's contained more practical phrases and information - some downright amusing - and it fit better in my pocket during the trip.
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