In Honor of the First Day of School...

...I will rant about textbooks.

Apparently Oggi In Italia, 7th edition no longer adequately reflected today in Italy. Therefore, the editors released Oggi In Italia, 8th edition. Fine. What irks me is that they left in all sorts of pictures of men in short shorts flirting with women with mullets and vocabulary for words like "cassette player." Given that the basics of Italian grammar probably haven't changed much since the 7th edition, the least they could do would be to put in some new pictures and vocabulary for words like "ipod" or "DVD."

Fortunately, I was able to find a used copy of both the textbook ($89.00) and the workbook ($48.00) at the bookstore, so I was relatively happy. Total cost: $137.00

Until...I became even happier when the Italian department TA informed us that all of our workbook assignments would now be done online. Great! I can return the workbook! Total cost: $89.00.

Until...she informed us that in order to access the online assignments, we would have to use the code number enclosed in our textbook--which only NEW copies of the 8th edition contained. So I would have to return both the used textbook and the used workbook and by a new textbook instead. I was peeved until I realized that this would still cost less than the original setup. Total cost: $113.50.

Until...the actual professor in the class told us that he was old fashioned and preferred for us to do our assignments in our workbook and turn them in at the end of each unit. Then he and the TA had a discussion (in Italian) about whether we have to do our assignments online or not. So, do I still need to buy an new version of the textbook? And a workbook? Nobody seems to be able to answer that question. Total cost: $161.00????

Of course, as I examined the textbooks for sale at the bookstore, I found that you had to buy a SPECIAL new edition of the textbook to get the online access code. So, no $113.50 new edition would do. You have to by the $139.75 edition. And I still don't know if I have to purchase the workbook! Total cost: $187.75????

Currently, I am confused, irritated, angry, and feeling generally ripped off and misused. I just want to learn Italian. And, something deep inside me tells me that I could probably do that with Oggi In Italia, 1st edition--with or without a workbook.