Welcome to the second edition of Avanti! In the new edition out priorities remain the same as those of the first edition, to provide an introductory language course that meets the needs of both instructors and learners. Three significant characteristics set Avanti! apart from other first-year Italian texts: First, Avanti! satisfies students’ desire to communicate in everyday situations right from the start and to explore Italy's rich and unique culture in meaningful ways. Second, Avanti! responds to instructors' concern that most textbooks attempt to cover too much material in the first year. We have designed an elementary course that reflects reasonable expectations for the amount of material that most beginning learners can acquire in one year of classroom instruction. Third, the methodology of Avanti! is firmly grounded in current findings of research in second language acquisition and foreign language pedagogy. The materials provide support for instructors, particularly those with limited experience, whose goals are to teach mainly, if not exclusively, in Italian, and to create the student-centered, communicative classroom environment that is promoted by this research. The title Avanti! was chosen to convey the forward-thinking approach of this exciting new program.

The Avanti has been produced for nearly 45 years in various incarnations. Factory photographs and other materials document the history of this fine automobile. This photo journey takes us from Avanti’s initial beginnings with Studebaker in 1961 to the end of current production with Avanti Automotive SA de CV - the 2007 models built in Cancun, Mexico.

Nancy Bucceris memoir begins in the Dallas airport in 2014, when she received a phone call from an emergency room in Virginia, telling her that her husband of thirty-one years was hospitalized with life-threatening swelling of his brain. A fit, healthy sixty-two-year-old, Bob had been felled by a hemorrhagic stroke in his hotel room while on a business trip. After surviving against the odds and fighting hard for six weeks, Bob is dealt another blow: his healthcare insurance company refuses to cover the acute inpatient rehabilitation therapy he needs to get his life back. The denial of care comes just as Bob is beginning to show signs of walking again. Semper Avanti is part love story, part case study, and part survival story. It is about the love between a husband and wife, his determination to reclaim his life, and her fight to save her husband and keep her family whole through the long, excruciating journey of traumatic brain injury recovery. You will experience a range of heartfelt emotions reading Semper Avanti. I applaud the Bucceris for sharing their story, which will provide hope and inspiration to many. Jan Walters, Author