Percorsi promotes the acquisition of Italian language and culture through a media-rich program that integrates the “five C’s” principles of the National Standards for Foreign Language Education. Building on the success of earlier editions, the Third Edition is designed to provide beginning learners with a variety of tools to develop their communicative competence in the four major language skill area—listening, speaking, reading, and writing—as they acquire familiarity with Italian culture.

At its core is a brand new film, Ritorno a Roma. Produced by the 2012 Golden Globe winner for Best Short, Ritorno a Roma is the first educational romantic comedy created exclusively for learners of beginning Italian. The film, created to support the learning of Italian for users of Percorsi and exclusively written with students in mind, takes place in Roma and features scenes in Roma, Gaeta, Napoli, and Siena. It follows the trials and tribulations of four main characters—Taylor, Giulia, Elena, and Roberto—as Roberto attempts to win a national recording contract for the band that he manages. Ritorno a Roma provides an engaging, natural context for the practice of structure and vocabulary, while introducing students to colloquial language and providing them a firsthand look at Italian life and culture.