Croatia is across the Adriatic Sea from Italy's eastern coast, and has the unique position of being a Central European and Mediterranean country. It has a population of four-and-a-half million people, and the official language is Croatian, written in the Latin alphabet.

European tourists have long known the immense possibilities of vacationing in beautiful Croatia: metropolitan cities, the pristine Dalmatian Coast with its spectacular islands, majestic medieval castles and Roman ruins. Hailed as the "new Riviera" by the New York Times, over 10 million tourists from all over the world visit Croatia each year. The Croatian economy is growing, and the United States is one of Croatia's top five providers of direct foreign investment.

Ideal for tourists, business travelers, and students,áBeginner's Croatianáincludes:

• A brief introduction to Croatian history and culture
• Fifteen practical lessons with dialogues, vocabulary, and expressions
• Exercises with answer key
• Croatian-English and English-Croatian glossaries
• Two audio CDs of dialogues and vocabulary spoken by native Croatian speakers

Aida Vidanáholds a Ph.D. in Slavic Languages and Literatures from Harvard University, where she currently teaches. Her areas of interest include language instruction, sociolinguistics, South Slavic oral traditional literature and mythology, war narratives, and film.á

Robert Niebuhráis a historian and university instructor who has taught at Boston-area universities including Boston College and Harvard University. He is co-author ofáBeginner's Serbian with 2 Audio CDsandáLanguage and Travel Guide to Croatia, both published by Hippocrene Books. He resides in the Boston area.