This guide is designed for a wide range of Italian language learners. The manual is designed for schoolchildren, students of lyceums, applicants and students of higher educational institutions. In compiling the manual, the authors had two goals. Firstly, to help students master the lexical and grammatical material necessary to conduct a conversation on an extensive range of topics and read the press. Secondly, the manual was built on the encyclopedic principle as a textbook on Italian country studies.