Conversation in Spanish: Points of Departure

Rating:
Summary: Good for third year High School Spanish
Review: I have used this book in my third year high school Spanish classes with good results. The questions range from easy to more difficult, requiring from short phrases to longer, more thoughtful answers. The topics covered are timely and useful, and the students seem to enjoy working together and orally answering the questions. The vocabulary is very useful.

Rating:
Summary: The worst language textbook I have ever used
Review: This is the required textbook for an upper level Spanish conversation class I am taking at Ball State. The students in that class all dislike this book, and even the teacher admits to having problems with it. It is organized into chapters, each one being a different conversational topic, such as talking on the phone or the family. There are 52 chapters, but they are each only 2 pages long. The first page has a vocabulary list, and the second has a list of questions with a few suggestions for conversations. The first set of questions refers to one or two small black-and-white photos on the vocabulary page. Since the pictures are small and unclear, it's often impossible to answer certain questions about them. The photography is bad, and so is the reproduction of the pictures. Not all the pictures are even from Latin America (or any other Spanish speaking country)! In chapter 19 it is possible to see a sign in the background written in French. And in the following chapter, there is a photo taken in a supermarket where I could make out some Italian words on the products. Another problem is that the vocabulary lists often repeat words that were already introduced in previous chapters. That would be fine if they were placed in a separate section "for review", but I don't think the authors even noticed or cared about the repetition. The book does not contain any interesting supplemental texts, nor is it accompanied by a video, or even audiotapes. There are not even explanations or notes about when and how certain words should be used. The questions and suggested activities are unimaginative and often poorly thought-out. For more than ..., this book is simply not worth buying.