Product Description

For two-semester or three-semester courses in Elementary Spanish. 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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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #165567 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-05
• Original language: Spanish
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 624 pages

Review

Ritmos

 

- This is one of the reasons why I finally decided to go with ¡Arriba!: music captivates students’ interest and it is a great part of culture.

- Ana Almonte, Hudson Valley Community College

 

Taller

 

- I especially like the Taller and think the students are writing at a higher level than in the past. 

            - Mary Newcomer McKinney, Texas Christian University

 

 

Grammar

 

- I like the Aplicación exercises, especially the readings which integrate the grammar structure as well as the culture.

- Angelina Craig-Florez, Columbia University

 

- The clarity and conciseness of the grammatical explanations is one of the best characteristics of this book.  Grammar explanations are always accurate.

- Roberto Fuertes-Manjón, Midwestern State University

 

 

Organization

 

- The chapters are undoubtedly easy to teach due mainly to the organizational structure.

- Roberto Fuertes-Manjón, Midwestern State University

 

- Grammar and vocabulary are simple and easy to understand by students who do not have any knowledge of language structure.

            - Luis E. Latoja, Columbus State Community College

 

- The layout is easy to follow by both instructor and student.  When you open ¡Arriba! it does not overwhelm you by complicated or confusing organization. 

            - Mikela Zhezha-Thaumanavar, Western Michigan University

 

- Contains a solid, logical progression of information.  Good variety of activities.

            - Neal Anthony Messer, Virginia Military Institute

 

Companion web site

 

- The companion web site is THE BEST, especially the review and practice tests.  A student commented today on how well he liked the web site.

            - Shannie S. Jessup, Surry Community College

 

Culture

 

- The culture sections appear quite useful, unlike many other textbooks I have encountered.

            - Albert Shank, Scottsdale Community College

 

- I think the authors have done a great job of integrating the cultural content into many of the activities, even in the grammar sections. 

            - Kathleen Wheatley, University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee

 

- I like the art work and inclusion of famous Hispanics like Carlos Santana and Pablo Picasso, Frida & Diego.  It gives me an opportunity to expand on the cultural aspects. 

            - Shannie S. Jessup, Surry Community College

 

Páginas section

 

- Reading selections are very useful and appropriate

- Albert Shank, Scottsdale Community College

 

 Approach

 

- I think it does an excellent job of incorporating all four skills along with meaningful cultural exercises, musical exercises, and video.

- Albert Shank, Scottsdale Community College

 

- We are pleased with the focus on all four skills and the strong cultural component.

            - Kathleen Wheatley, University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee

 

 

Teacher Annotations

 

- I like the suggestions and teaching tips.  I mentor our teaching assistants and international scholars, who usually have no teaching experience or pedagogy courses.  The suggestions get them thinking more creatively.

            - Mary Stevens, SUNY New Paltz

From the Back Cover
Wake up to the new, 5th edition of ¡Arriba!   Built on a balance of solid grammar and communication skills, the eclectic, balanced approach of ¡Arriba! gives you  the broad foundation that you need to learn Spanish.  Culture frames and infuses every chapter giving you a doorway into the cultures of the Spanish speaking world. 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 you and gives you the tools and motivation to successfully master Elementary Spanish.

About the Author

Eduardo Zayas-Bazán is a native of Camaguey, Cuba. He holds an M.S. in foreign languages from Kansas State Teachers College, Emporia, KS, and a Doctor en Derecho degree from Universidad Nacional José Martí, Havana, Cuba. He is a Professor Emeritus in Foreign Languages from East Tennessee State University, where he was chair of the Foreign Language Department from 1973 to 1993. Over the course of his distinguished career, Zayas-Bazán has received numerous awards in recognition of his professional achievements and has held noteworthy positions within many organizations dedicated to teaching Spanish. In addition to writing numerous articles in regional and national journals, he is the co-author, co-editor, and translator of seventeen books, including Conexiones, an intermediate Spanish textbook published by Prentice Hall.

 

Susan M. Bacon earned her Ph.D. in Foreign Language Education and Spanish Linguistics from The Ohio State University. She has taught at the University of Cincinnati since 1985 and is currently Professor of Spanish and Acting Director for the Institute for Global Studies and Affairs. She has been Project Director of a four-year grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and a Fulbright-Robles Scholar in Mexico. She has published extensively in the area of foreign language acquisition and methodology, particularly in the use of authentic listening and reading text. In addition to ¡Arriba!, she has co-authored Conexiones  and Leyendas del mundo hispano.

 

Holly J. Nibert earned her Ph.D. in Spanish Linguistics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2000. She has eighteen years of experience teaching Spanish language and linguistics at three different institutions, including UIUC, Penn State University at University Park, and Western Michigan University (WMU) in Kalamazoo.  Presently, she is Associate Professor of Spanish Linguistics and Director of the First-Year Spanish Language Program and TA Training at WMU. Nibert has published various articles on Spanish phonol­ogy and phonetics (on intonation in particular) and the use of technology in teaching Spanish.

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Customer Reviews

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.

Spanish, Communication and Cultura
Sets up student well to learn spanish. Has pictures of celebrities such as Shakira inside, and is a great reference when used in combination with the online program. Expensive, but what books aren't?

Unsatisfactory experience with Amazon
Very very disappointed and even angry! Because from day one, this seller did not respond to my e-mails, three in all. Also because I did not get the book I ordered and that put me in fix. I was in my Spanish-104 class without the book for few days and finally had to buy the book from College Book Store at higher price.

I paid for the order on the day I placed the order and as of today it is still not refunded. Very lousy experience with Amazon on my first order try! Do you think I will come again to Amazon for my future needs? I doubt.

Finally I wonder how Amazon purposes to compensate for loss of my time and frustration it caused by having such sellers on the list.