Ven Conmigo!: Holt Spanish Level 1

Rating:
Summary: Poorly Organized
Review: As a student, this textbook was really difficult for me to learn from. There were many entirely useless sections, and many of the things we were tested on were vaguely skimmed over in a small corner of a page. It was also poorly organized, and did not structure a successful way of learning the language.

Rating:
Summary: Poorly Organized
Review: I found this book to be very poor in the teaching of Spanish. Most of the teaching relied upon vague references and much guess work. Many key areas of the spanish language were very briefly covered and had little to no explanation for the usage of words. Most of the teaching was with examples that didn't seem to follow any rules. Ultimately, I disliked this manual and the course using it. The ONE good thing about it is it teaches numbers very well and basic greatings. However, I wouldn't expect anyone using this book to ever learn how to converse in long conversations. Ultimately, if it wasn't for a few saving factors, this would be at the bottom of the barrel.
- Travis

Rating:
Summary: A decent Spanish textbook for average-slow paced learners.
Review: In my school they used this book for Spanish I. I found that although it was adequate, it went at a pretty slow pace. Throughout the entire book, as far as verbs go, it only teaches the present active verb conjugations, the simple concept of being going to do something, and at the very end, the present progressive, which translates to I am running (etc.).

One of the better parts of the book was the vocabulary. There were a good amount of nouns (although not as many verbs), and they were grouped somewhat coherently.

Rating:
Summary: This book teaches nothing!
Review: This Spanish book is extremely hard to understand and it is also pretty useless. Sure, it will teach you some words and phrases, but it is not good al ALL if you have to have a conversation. There is barely (or no) explenation as far as how to use certain things. I have been using it (sadly) for 3 years now, and I have not really learned anything. The only thing i know know are the numbers...but they are very easy and don't need any skill to learn. Sad, isn't it? Although it is inexpensive as far as textbooks go, I highly advise you NOT to purchase this book, for it teaches nothing! This book is aweful!

Rating:
Summary: I like this textbook series
Review: We used the Ven Conmigo series in my highschool Spanish I & II classes, and I found the textbooks very helpful. I guess the textbooks don't lay out every detail step by step--students need to take a certain amount of initiative for the learning process (like reviewing vocabulary on thier own time, participating in group work, and so on). These might not be the most appropriate textbooks for independent study though since a lot of the material is based on group activities, in class listening and videos, etc. Also, the guidance of a teacher (preferably a good one) goes a long way when attempting to create an excellent or great learning experience while using a good or even great textbook. Our highschool also used the parallel German series of these textbooks(I don't remember what it's called), and I also found those textbooks to be very easy to learn from.