Arriba: Comunicacion y cultura Student Edition (5th Edition) (MySpanishLab Series)

book: Arriba: Comunicacion y cultura Student Edition (5th Edition) (MySpanishLab Series) | Eduardo Zayas-Bazán, Susan M. Bacon, ...

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Arriba: Comunicaci...

	Arriba: Comunicacion y cultura Student Edition (5th Edition) (MySpanishLab Series) Eduardo Zayas-Bazán, Susan M. Bacon, ... Prentice Hall, 2007 - 624 pages average customer review:based on 1 review view larger image
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Wake up to the new, 5th edition of Arriba! With each new edition, more and more instructors discover that Arriba! offers a solid, proven approach to reaching communicative objectives. Through its flexible approach -- one that allows instructors to adapt it to their own teaching styles and goals -- Arriba! ensures success for both students and instructors. Built on a balance of solid grammar and communication skills, the eclectic, balanced approach of Arriba! enables students to receive the broad foundation that they need to succeed in Intermediate courses and beyond. Culture frames and infuses every chapter giving students a doorway into the cultures of the Spanish speaking world and bringing fun and excitement into your classroom. Rich in pedagogy and supported by carefully integrated supplementary materials, this complete and versatile program is the result of years of development and class testing. Now, more than ever, Arriba! brings the Spanish-speaking world to your students and gives them the tools and motivation to thrive in your classroom and the world at large.

*Also available in a brief version.

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This text is a waste of money, and perhaps your tax dollars

This book is expensive and practically useless for self study, but a required text at my university-- and if you are reading this, then it is assumable that you are in the same situation and you're about to have to suck a mighty sour lemon. I am sorry to tell you that this book along with the workbook, which you will have to purchase separately if your school requires this text (for an additional $56 at the time of this review), are a big waste of money.

It is disorganized in it's approach and introduction to the language, the pertinent information is skimmed over, and some of the lessons presented are written in an ambiguous and confusing manner. For example, there are many short articles written in Spanish throughout the text which lack translation, which is a pain, but to top it off, some of the words used aren't in the glossary either.

Admittedly, the book is attractive, with many beautiful photographs and cute illustrations dealing with cultural aspects, but IMO, it is a substandard learning tool considering the hefty price tag. The publisher must make back-room deals to get colleges to require this text, forcing students to buy it. And if the student(s) receive Pell Grants or other financial aid, the taxpayer is actually buying it.

Unfortunately, you can't really get away with buying this textbook used because of the accompanying MySpanishLab (but you can save some money by buying the workbook used). The professors usually utilize the online MySpanishLab to assign homework and the new books come with a product key that is required for access-- but for one user only. The exception being that if you happen to be able to take your Spanish courses during the summer sessions. As of now, the publisher has not set up templates for the MySpanishLab for the 3 week summer classes, so you won't need the key. But this may soon change.

However, to be fair, this book may not such a bad deal for a college class because it is used for Spanish 1 and 2, so you don't have to buy another text for the 2nd class. Still, it is a disappointment because it is not worth keeping after completing the course work for a future reference, nor does it have resale value because of the need to buy it new to get the key to access the lab.

The "Practice Makes Perfect" series by Dorthy Richmond and "Madrigal's Magic Key to Spanish" are far superior to "Arriba!" for learning, and much more affordable. I wish my university taught from them. Since they are great for self study, I can only imagine the superior learning experience I would have had if these books were the ones used for my classes. Fortunately, I had a fabulous professor and she compensated for this book's inadequecies.

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