Destinos: An Introduction to Spanish

by Bill VanPatten, Martha Alford Marks

DESTINOS is an innovative beginning Spanish program based on a 26-week television series premiering on PBS in the fall of 1992. The 52 half-hour shows of the series use the powerful appeal of a uniquely Hispanic genre -- the telenovela (soap opera) -- to make language and culture come alive. The situation and context of each episode introduce students to the basic structures, language functions and vocabulary groups of Spanish that are then presented in the print materials. (Most grammar explanations and exercises are in the workbook/study guides.) This complete one-year course is designed to help students develop communicative proficiency -- listening, speaking, reading, and writing -- as well as cultural awareness in Spanish. The plot of DESTINOS is designed to engage student viewers from the very beginning. A wealthy Mexican patriarch, nearing the end of his life, reveals a secret he has kept from his family for many years. His revelation leads to some important questions that must be answered before he dies. Raquel Rodríguez, a Mexican-American lawyer, embarks on a search for those answers, a search that takes her to Spain, Argentina, Puerto Rico, and back to Mexico. Students and viewers can join in the search -- learning Spanish and about the rich and diversified cultural context in which it is spoken throughout the world.

Genres: Spanish Literature, Nonfiction

544 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1991

Reviews

[Brendan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, this isn't actually a book, but a video instructional series in Spanish consisting of 52 half-hour video programs or podcasts in the format of a telanovela (available for free online; google the title). I really enjoyed it. If you can get through the first five chapters, which are super basic, it gets interesting as soap operas go.

The main character, Raquel, travels from mexico to spain, argentina, puerto rico, and back to mexico on a quest to find out what happened to the thought-to-be dead wife of Don Fernando who is on his deathbed in Mexico. There's a fair amount -- no, a lot -- of repetition, but I found that helped with the learning. But hell, i didn't care about learning: I just wanted to find out if Raquel and Arturo hook up!!

Defeinitely a good "book" for anyone with intermediate spanish speaking skills who might otherwise be a little rusty and need to get re-accustomed to listening to real, converesational spanish. The dialogue between the character is at real conversational speeds and not dumbed down.

Of course the drama is cheesy but, hey, that's why it is a telanovella. And quite honestly, I grew fond of the series as it reminded me of how much I love mexico and latin america in general.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finally finished this! The accompanying video as well, of course. Got off track for a few months after moving house, but I eventually got back to it. It's dated (hello late 1980s fashion!) and repetitive but extremely effective at helping to acquire Spanish. I'll probably try to dig up the second season of the show, too.

The former professor in me wonders how on earth VanPattern ever got funding to make this. We couldn't even get a large enough budget to cover photocopies for an entire semester's worth of class handouts, and this guy got an entire telenovela filmed (in multiple countries, no less!). He's a legend.

[Siobhain · Rating 4 out of 5]

This accompanies the Destinos video series. It was hugely helpful for me in catching the many things that I missed as I viewed the series. I would rate this higher, but I don't really feel qualified to rate a Spanish language textbook, nor did I use it as a textbook. However, I do highly recommend the series!! I used this textbook with an online translator to get more meaning out of the later episodes. ¡Buena suerte aprendiendo español!

Note: The 52 episode series can be found online for free. Look up Annenberg Learner, Destinos.

[Tisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

The textbook was good when used along with the online videos. However, the book is useless without the multi-media materials. Not all of the materials are found online.