BEHIND THE WHEEL—ITALIAN 1

The Behind the Wheel series of language instruction takes the approach of teaching key vocabulary and verbs, and then adding to them with each exercise so that learners can observe the patterns in sentence construction and create original sentences themselves. Rather than starting with verb conjugation and grammar, BTW aims to give the student a grasp of functional Italian from the start. While this approach is effective, narrator and founder Mark Frobose is so stilted and awkward that he sometimes sounds like a computerized announcement. On the other hand, the uncredited native speaker, Anna—who provides authentic pronunciations—speaks clearly and with friendly warmth. If the listener can get past Frobose's difficult conversation style, this series is a low-stress, high-impact tool with which to start learning a new language. A.H.A. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: JANUARY 2009]