(16 reviews)
Matthew Dean, Humboldt State University
Copyright Year:2020
ISBN 13:9781947112421
Publisher:Humboldt State University Press
Language:English
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Conditions of Use
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
CC BY-NC-SA
Reviews
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It does cover all essential areas that we normally require students to learn: University, family, at home, shopping, and leisure. The selection of vocabulary is appropriate but could be more rigorous. In my opinion it is good but too general;...read more
Spanish I: Beginning Spanish Language and Culture by Matthew Dean (Humboldt State University) is a comprehensive introduction to the study of Spanish. It is organized in 5 thematic chapters (university, family, home, shopping, and hobbies) that...read more
The textbook covers the usual array of topics for a Spanish I course. The organization is stellar - with clear Table of Contents and ease of navigation.read more
The instructions for the activities and grammar explanations are quite long. It is better to have short and concise grammar explanations.read more
No glossary or index but there is a table of contents and the sections are very well organized. It is easy to find what you are looking for.read more
This book does a great job at covering vocabulary and grammatical structures for a beginner level Spanish course. However, the preterite and mandatos sections near the end of the book are often taught in higher level courses. There is no index or...read more
The textbook is very well organized and divided into 5 clear units. The opening page of each unit explicitly states the learning objectives. However, there is no general overview of the grammar topics given at the beginning of the text (in the...read more
Effective index and/or glossary was available at the beginning of each section (or unit). It may be useful to consolidate all these into one "central" index that shows everything from all sections all at once. When teaching throughout the semester...read more
The content is understandable for the students and instructors. It has clear instructions and explanations. It covers the first basic topics in grammar and vocabulary. The textbook does not have some important content such as readings, videos, and...read more
For both teachers and students, the content, would be easy to understand.read more
The book is very thorough in covering beginning topics of grammar and vocabulary. There are also very well-conceived and comprehensive student projects at the end of each chapter. However, the text is lacking in comprehensible input (readings,...read more
In my opinion the content of Spanish I: Beginning Spanish Language and Culture covers the grammatical structures and vocabulary for the first two terms of the first year at college level. Spanish I is divided in five chapters and presents similar...read more
The usual vocabulary topics and grammatical structures in a university-level first semester Spanish book are included, although there are also some less typical structures included in the last chapter, such as commands and past tenses (the...read more
This textbook covers the vocabulary and grammar concepts typically covered in first-semester Spanish at the college level. The overall approach is a traditional grammar-focused one with presentation-practice-production. Each chapter presents a...read more
It covers most grammar and vocabulary topics (more so if it is for a quarter-based system), but it does not contain sufficient cultural material (realia, explanation, practice). (See ACTFL standards). For example, by p. 264 students should be able...read more
The book Spanish I is a very complete textbook. It covers the topics, vocabulary, communicative situations, grammar structures and cultural information that a student at the elementary level needs to communicate in Spanish in everyday life. I feel...read more
Table of Contents
- 1.En la universidad
- 2. La familia
- 3.En casa
- 4.De compras
- 5.Los pasatiempos
Ancillary Material
Submit ancillary resourceAbout the Book
This peer-reviewed textbook is designed for the true beginner with U.S. college students in mind. It contains themed chapters, which are divided into 8 sections. Each section has its own set of learning objectives, and is further separated into three types of assignments, Para estudiar en casa (with detailed explanations), Para practicar en casa (homework exercises), and Para practicar en clase (paired and group classwork activities). The explanations and primary input are written to be easily comprehensible. The individual exercises are geared towards acquisition of form and function, and the communicative classwork exercises promote interpersonal exchanges between students. The digital copy includes some embedded audio files, and we are developing a website to house many more resources.
About the Contributors
Author
Dr. Matthew Dean grew up speaking only English. As an undergraduate, he began his exploration of Spanish, fell in love with the language and cultures, and never looked back. He began teaching Spanish at San Diego State University in 1997. Currently, he is Professor of Spanish in the Department of World Languages and Cultures at Humboldt State University. He has taught all levels of Spanish language, literature, and culture, and directed several study abroad programs. As a non-native Spanish speaker, Dr. Dean understands the struggles of the language learner. He has taught Spanish to thousands of community college and university students and invites you to start your language adventure today.