Feel free to adjust the playback speed. However, I recommend that you don’t slow down more than 10%, because you should get used to natural speed. I’d rather repeat the lesson than slow it down unnaturally.
On Windows, you can adjust the playback speed in Windows Media Player. On my smartphone, I use the free app Audipo.

If you already understand more than 90% of what you hear, you might want to skip a lesson or two.
If you understand less than 60% of what you hear, you might want to repeat the lesson and/or read the sentences in the booklet.
These standards apply to any text used to learn a language.

Understand the method in order to set realistic expectations! You’re not supposed to memorize whole sentences, but phrases at most, usually words. And even that doesn’t happen instantaneously. Some words will stick to your mind at once, some after a night of sleep, some after some repetition. Stick with your daily exercise and you’ll be surprised to feel how words pop up in your mind all of a sudden, when you weren’t even trying to recollect them!
If you’re human and you manage to memorize 8-10 words a day, you can already be happy. This applies to any source of vocabulary, not only this course. If you wondered, to achieve upper-intermediate fluency you need about 3,000 words. Yes, you can get there in less than a year!

If you don’t understand words, you can always recur to the booklet, repeat the lesson, and/or look up the word.
If you don’t understand why you should say that way, well, that’s grammar! And there’s plenty of books that explain it, without necessarily making you able to speak and use it. So, believe in the method and stick with your daily exercise. Sooner than you think, everything will make sense and become natural.

No. Only after you finished the lesson (the whole set of files A, B, and C), or if you repeat it, refer to the booklet. However, you should still repeat everything aloud while reading. Never read silently!

It’s totally normal if you get cut in the middle of a sentence. On the contrary, if you managed to repeat everything accurately, probably that lesson is too easy for you. So, don’t worry and keep speaking.

You don’t need to memorize either the sentences or their order. It’s enough to start speaking when you recognize the sentence after it started. If you listen to files A, B and C in a row, this will happen naturally.

There are two reasons for the apparent mismatch.
1. We don’t say the same thing the same way. For example:
a. This is Stefano and Alessia. They’re Italian.
b. These are Stefano and Alessia. They’re Italian.
Well, the Italian sentence sounds like b: “Questi sono Stefano e Alessia”!
2. There’s not always 1-to-1 correspondence of words and grammar patterns between languages. For example:
a. When do you (usually) go to school?
b. When are you going to school (today)?
Well, in Italian both sentences translate into “Quando vai a scuola?”

For this Italian audio course, I picked most of vocabulary from a list of the most frequent 1.000 words in Italian. The grammar patterns are also very common, and in fact are found in any serious language course, either written or in audio, roughly in the same order as in this course.
Understand the method to set your expectations: you’re not expected to use those exact sentences in real life. Actually, not even to remember them. That would be rote memorization and is neither expected nor desirable. After you add vocabulary and grammar patterns to your repertoire, your brain will know how to recollect them and put them together in sentences you’ve never heard before.

It’s true that the meaning of the sentences is rarely related to that of other sentences. They don’t make full dialogues. This because long real life dialogues don’t allow the kind of structure that is needed for spaced repetition.
However, they’re not random because they follow a plan. Certain words are repeated during each lesson and, more importantly, throughout the course. Grammar patterns are repeated intensively during each lesson, and add up throughout the course to build complex sentences. Vocabulary goes from basic to relatively advanced. Grammar patterns go from simple to relatively complex.
As a result, after the course you’ll be able to communicate because you’ll have learned how to handle the elements of virtually any sentence you might want to say, not limited to the sentences you heard in the course.

Research proves that you learn better if you first rely on speech only. If you rely on text, your brain tries to process letters the same way it does with your native language. Refer to visual aids only after you’ve finished the lesson, or if and when you repeat the lesson.

In a typical language class or course, first you quietly listen to a long explanation of grammar, vocabulary, grammar notes, culture notes… all in your native language. You diligently take notes and feel like you know it all. Then, you move on to drills. Practice is only a small part of study time and is usually done in a controlled environment based on contents that are typical of a classroom.

With this course, you’ll be practicing Italian all the time. In fact, the entire course is a drill! And it’s based on situations that you’ll likely face during your trips to Italian or your chats with Italians. You’ll certainly make mistakes on the way, but in the meanwhile you’re already communicating effectively in Italian. This is the most practical method that you can find.

Even though imagery helps memorize information, the focus of the course is more to think and speak directly in Italian than mere memorization. Thus, the absence of other stimuli like pictures is intended to let you focus on pronunciation and speaking.

This is course is a collection of MP3 files. It’s not an app. If you want to check your pronunciation, you can always record yourself with another device and review your recording after the lesson. In any case, don’t pause or stop the lesson to check your pronunciation.

We remember better what gives us a strong impression. If you have ever experience a major earthquake, you certainly remember where and when it was, what happened next etc.
Some sentences are earthquakes. Awkward, controversial or morally questionable. Take them for what they are – sample sentences that don’t reflect my views.

If you study Italian, you certainly want your material to be related to Italy. If you’re learning about Italy, probably you need to know about its neighbors. Most of the users happen to be from the U.S., which is a very influential country anyway. Other references are made occasionally to other major countries like Canada, China, Japan, South Korea, etc.

By the way, when I saw this comment I smiled thinking of another Italian audio course that is the source of inspiration for my course, where virtually no Italian or even European names appeared and instead all the names were from the Far East (because they made the course in Taiwan). A language course should make references to the country and the culture of that language, not be a mere translation of a standard script applied to all languages. Thus, this “bias” is an advantage.

There’s nothing awkward in studying. You’re taking an Italian Audio Course. I’d rather be impressed if I noticed someone doing that. Anyway, you don’t need to shout out your sentences in public. Speaking softly is enough, even without opening your mouth. But do pronounce everything you hear!

This course forces you to speak and think in Italian everyday. That’s as close as it gets to practicing conversation or taking a lesson with a native speaker. In that sense, if you were to pick only one self-study method, you should go for this one.
On the other hand, you certainly need to develop a variety of skills that are not covered here by other methods (especially writing, and reading too). However, there’s no learning resource that alone can lead you to fluency. But, you could say that about any course.

The advantage of an audio course is that once you’ve started it, you should feel compelled to keep pace with the audio, and that requires you actually speak Italian for 20 minutes a day, every day. You’re prompted to speak, and less prone to laziness than if put in front of a book or an app. If you’re still not motivated enough, I don’t know any learning resource than can help you. You could always invest in a good teacher.

You find detailed instructions in the booklet included in the course. Should you still have questions, you’re welcome to have a free 10-minute consultation on Skype. You find my username in the booklet.

Since this is a downloadable product, they’re no way to return it. Thus, refunds are not granted, for any reason. If you still have questions about how to use it, feel free to get in touch on Skype for a quick consultation.