Though the CD-ROM is packed with enhanced video content, the first port of call for most students will probably be the basics of the language, which are imparted through grammar guides and example dialogues. This is not a package for advanced students--the vocabulary of 5,000 words, while enough for most purposes, is not tailored to unusual situations and the best place to begin is with the basic phrases in Italian which show the contexts of various words and parts of speech through sentence examples and role-plays. The phrases are emphasised with colour-highlighting of key parts and boxes below explain their meanings in English and the part of grammar they belong to. There is also a separate grammar section in the package which will break down the points arising from these set-piece dialogues.

Like every good language-learning software package, Linguaphone Italian in Action 2 allows you to compare your pronunciation with that of a native speaker. This will help with speaking and listening as well as with grammar and sentence-construction. On the downside, the test of pronunciation is inevitably somewhat standardised and does not reflect the large variation of accents in Italy. That aside, this is a good package for anyone who wants to learn or improve upon their Italian before embarking on their next trip abroad.--Toby Green