Now I have several "Laws of Spanish Textbooks" and the Third Law of Spanish Textbooks is
"Every Spanish Textbook, however Awful, has at least one Redeeming Feature "
It's usually turned out to be right. But this one I'm struggling with. Why is it so bad ... ?
Let me count the ways .... it's hard work knowing where to bloody start ... so, in no particular order, here we go ...
[a] The prospective buyer will have a hard time trying to find out what's in it. There is no index, and the chapter headings don't tell you a damn thing about what's in them. Brilliant !
[b] On Amazon it says the course consists of 6 books, 6 CDs, a Verb Book, A dictionary, and a Phonetic book ... and totals £61.05 !! Well, there's no mention of any of that ( except for 3 CDs) in my copy .. not that I can find anyway. It does mention a transcript booklet though.
[c] A phonetic book ?? Spanish is one of the most phonetically reliable languages you are ever going to find. A whole book about Spanish phonetics ? What ?
[d] As an Open University book, it is presumably aimed at "adults" yet it is full of puerile drawings, feeble cartoons, pathetic "key learning points" in little boxes ... grrrr. It's a horse designed by a committee !
[e] There's quite a few classic one-liners .. at one point they inform us that ...
The Imperative is often used in Spanish
and they feel at one point that it is time to tell us that ..
Your dictionary will be one of your most useful tools while you are learning a language.
Crumbs ! I never realised .. what a fool I have been !
[f] In the introduction it says ... "this book aims to help you revise your existing skills in Spanish, however you might have acquired them: whether through a formal qualification such as GCSE or O level, or by other routes."
Well, this book won't ... it hasn't even bothered with the Preterite for start! Maybe they'll get around to it in one of the other volumes, which don't even get a mention anywhere and for all the reader knows may not even exist.
[g] It also comes up with the terrific statement ...
" You will probably need to spend a minimum of 24 hours studying this book, but this may vary depending on your level of Spanish."
Well, we're very much in "Japanese in a Week" territory here folks. This rather heavy book is over 200 pages long ... so that's about 8 pages an hour, or about 6 minutes per page. Coo !
[h] On page 90 ( 90 !!!) it decides its time to tell us how to pronounce ll, y and ñ .It's one of those "key learning points" that educationalists seem to think are so essential. Oh yes, and also on page 90 it seems to be time to tell us where adjectives should go. No mention of apocopation though .. probably in book 6.
[i] This is all like shooting fish in a barrel ! Page 70 features a decrepit and useless crossword that takes up half a page and reinforces almost nothing.
[j] The whole book has adopted, for some cretinous reason or other, a nautical theme ( hence its title) so the grammar hints are called Atando Cabos and have a knotted bit of rope as a symbol, examples of language " in use" are labelled Cabos sueltos and have an unknotted bit of rope as their symbol, and learning strategies ( salvavidas) are signalled with a dinky lifebelt which could be a Polo Mint or one of those bolts that no screwdriver will fit. I ask the pertinent question .. why? This book is for Open University students, not nappy-wearing dolts !
[k] The whole book has a great emphasis on eating, travelling,shopping,cooking ... in some ways it could be used as a heavy, expensive phrase book. . I would have hoped that University students just might want to think beyond this and actually have a bit of an academic approach??? Yes ? No ?
[l] I'm fed up with the silly book now. This book is a ragbag cobbled together, in my opinion, by people who have totally misunderstood the brief and couldn't train a dog to shit. So, has it got a redeeming feature , as the 3rd Law of Spanish Textbooks suggest? Well... maybe the cassettes are good. Who knows ?
Attentive readers will have noticed that I haven't named in print the actual title of this book. This is to protect the authors from finding this and getting irked. Anyway, if you are one of the Core Team, Production Team, Consultant Authors, Critical Readers, BBC Production Team or indeed the sole External Assessor, I'm sure it wasn't your fault and I regard what I have written as fair comment!
Anyhow ... personally, I recommend listening to, learning and singing Spanish songs.. it's great fun, and educational too ... so let's have a bit of it shall we ... let's have a bit of life-affirming stuff from the amazing and wonderful Facto Delafé y las flores Azules .... Mar el poder del Mar ... it's a treat for the eyes as well as the ears !
Que siento que escucho que pertenezco
Que sirvo para mucho que me estremezco
Que mi mirada es limpia suave brisa
Que sientes el deseo de tenerme cerca
Que te distancias por miedo a perderme
Que el barrio es mas hermoso desde que apareci
Que soy la flor que alumbra el jardin
El viento que se lleva la señora luna
para que luzca el sol , mi amor
Hoy solo quiero decir…
Siento lo mismo por ti
El mismo sentimiento por ti
Que si que si que bien
Que me encanta escucharte
Adoro sentirte
Verte moverte y sorprenderte .. de pronto
Haciendote cosquillas en las rodillas
Que si que si que bien
Que me encanta escucharte
Adoro sentirte
El barrio es mas hermoso desde que apareciste
Que hoy luce el sol en mi corazon
Mi niña mi amor mi rayo de luz
El camino que lleva a tu casa es mi alegria
La primavera ha llegado a la ciudad
Y no sabes lo bien que me sienta mamá
Los dias tranquilos transcurren serenos
Tus pasos los mios peinando el sendero
¿Quien dijo que los muertos no iban a resucitar?
Hoy llego mas puro que el agua mineral
Tu cara tu casa tus ojos sonriendo mi cara
La brisa la mañana el sol por la ventana
La calma caricias tu respiracion
resuenan campanas desde el control
las nubes en el cielo y pasa un avion
dibuja una linea blanca algodón
tu almohada tus ojos tu mirada
estoy en tu casa adoro tu casa
cambio de color
pasa un avion traza una linea ahora de plata
de plata la medalla del subcampeon
Hoy gano tu ganas ganamos los dos
Hoy gano tu ganas ganamos los dos
Hoy gano tu ganas ganamos los dos
Esto no se para
Esto no se para
Esto no se para
Esto no se para
Esto no se para