Conversaciones Corrientes: Temas de Cultura y Sociedad

Reviewed by Alejandra Rodriguez, Associate Professor of Spanish, Hanover College on 3/12/24

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The book is divided into seven parts, covering aspects such as personal interest in the language, enabling personal student participation in class, the Spanish language and Spanish-speaking communities, discussions on highly abstract topics, discussions on controversial topics, supplementary activities, evaluation materials, and even suggestions for designing activities. It is rare to find a book with such a comprehensive outlook, encompassing not only different topics but also approaches to language learning.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The book does an excellent job of addressing a wide range of topics and debates present in today's society. It includes a variety of perspectives, original texts, different types of exercises, glossaries, and media—everything necessary not only for instructors to lead the class effectively but also for students to achieve higher levels of mastery in the Spanish language. Additionally, the book addresses the many controversial topics with a conscious effort not to guide students' opinions but rather to provide them with the tools necessary to structure and express their own stances on those topics.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Everything included in this book is highly relevant to students of Spanish, the process of learning the Spanish language, the global reality of the Spanish language, and the experiences of Spanish speakers. Its approach to language learning is unlikely to become obsolete anytime soon, and the timeless nature of its topics ensures the book's enduring relevance.

Clarity rating: 5

This book is written in beautifully sophisticated Spanish, avoiding oversimplification while, precisely because of this, conveying its messages in a very clear manner. It is rare to find a Spanish book with such high-level prose. Any student using this book will acquire a high level of proficiency in the Spanish language.

Consistency rating: 5

Due to its well-thought-out structure, the book consistently has students practice different language skills throughout the content. It also facilitates students' contact with the real world through conversations with native speakers and invites them to explore the most creative aspects of the language with exercises, such as creating their own videos.

Modularity rating: 5

The book's modularity is highly effective, dividing each topic into lessons, allowing instructors to select which abstract topics to discuss, which controversial topics to approach, and which aspects of the Spanish language or Spanish speakers around the world to cover in class. This text is not structured cumulatively, thereby offering complete modularity.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Precisely due to its modularity, the organization of this book is highly effective. The different parts approach the content in various ways, allowing the instructor to choose which chapter from each part to work with.

Interface rating: 4

The design is not outstanding, but very effective.

Grammatical Errors rating: 4

There are some typos, such as words missing the accent mark ("espontáneo"), errors in the use of the periphrases "deber + infinitive" and "deber de + infinitivo," incorrect pronominal use of the verb "diferir," some gender agreement errors, and instances such as confusing "catolicismo cultural" with "cultura del catolicismo." However, these are very minor mistakes that do not at all indicate a poor understanding of grammar and language on the part of the authors, and they can be easily corrected in future editions.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The book encompasses cultural expressions from various Spanish-speaking countries, featuring authors from both Spain and Latin America. It delves into the different variants of the Spanish language and explores a wide range of cultural and historical events across Hispanic countries. The book is efficiently diverse on multiple levels.

Reviewed by Slav Gratchev, Professor, Marshall University on 4/8/23

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

See comments at the end.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

See comments at the end.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

See comments at the end.

Clarity rating: 3

See comments at the end.

Consistency rating: 4

See comments at the end.

Modularity rating: 5

See comments at the end.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

See comments at the end.

Interface rating: 4

See comments at the end.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

See comments at the end.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

See comments at the end.

Comments

This book is written for Intermediate Level students at American universities.
The book consists of seven parts that make up a bulky volume of almost 400 pages. First of all, the book of such size cannot be successfully covered in one semester. If it is designed for one semester only, then it should not consist of more than 180-200 pages.
The book is essentially a collection of articles about a variety of subjects related to the Hispanic world. Articles are well written, the language is comprehensive but, in certain cases, the information provided is not relevant for American students studying Spanish for practical purposes. For instance, why do students need to know when the Royal Academy of the Galician language was established?
Questions that follow articles are well-designed, but they would be good only for advanced students, not for the intermediate ones. With my experience teaching Spanish of more than 20 years I can hardly imagine a small group of students having a lively discussion of the article based on these questions. Intermediate Level students will not be ready for such a task.
The same applies to all the videos. It is nice to show the video to students but to ask them to discuss it in small groups is another matter. To discuss a video, in many ways, is more difficult than the article as the article can be held physically in front of the eye but a video cannot.
Therefore, I would suggest dividing this book into two separate volumes: one for Intermediate Level and one for Advanced. Each should consist of no more than 200 pages and be divided into no more than three parts. Students need simple and comprehensive books to fall in love with the Spanish language and its culture.
I would eliminate parts of articles (or even the entire articles) whose information is not relevant for American students. I would keep the videos but I suggest writing a set of reaction papers on them, which would be deemed more appropriate.
In my opinion, this book as it stands today and without suggested editions, could be used only as a supplemental material but not the main textbook. As a supplemental one, it is excellent as the instructor will be able to pick and choose from there only those materials that he/she thinks are relevant for the course.