A companion set in Italian had allowed us in no time at all to get started in Italian - sufficiently to practise on the natives without breaking out in a dead sweat. By comparison, the structure of this set is different (it starts with learning how to pronounce the alphabet) and, despite three attempts, I've been unable even to get properly started. I believe a foreign language set that starts directly with simple phrases would be both more helpful and motivating. In addition, for those of us eager to learn by listening and repeating on a long car journey, constant references to a companion book are less tha helpful.