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Vistas: Introducción a la Lengua Española [with Supersite, vText, & Web Student Activities Manual Access Code]
Vistas, 5th Ed, Student Edition with Supersite Plus(vText) and WebSAM Code
Hardcover
Published January 1, 2016
15 people are currently reading
282 people want to read
About the author
José A. Blanco
736 books4 followersJosé A. Blanco is an author of books on Spanish language learning for English language speakers. He is president and founder of Hispanex. He got his degree in Literature and Hispanic Studies from Brown University and the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is a writer, editor, translator, and teacher.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 7, 2022
UPDATE: so it got worse lol
I somehow didn't notice before, but the textbook literally claims that the Rapa Nui people (the indigenous Polynesians from Easter Island) abandoned the island and that we don't know much about them.
Well, that's really odd because they're the majority ethnic group on the island according to the most recent census and they have cultural festivals all the time. Maybe all the scientists that are at a loss should try going to one of those.
I get what it's trying to say, but it's making simplistic blanket statements that are more false than true in a limp attempt at educating sheltered Americans. This is all the more offensive because I have cousins that are Rapa Nui. So this textbook is claiming that they don't exist.
***
I used this for my class (we had to pay like $200 for the online access thing even though we only used like 4 chapters, which was freaking ridiculous).
Also, so I'm half Chilean but not fluent in Spanish, and I've been noticing this absolutely ridiculous trend in every Spanish class I've ever taken and I'm so sick and tired of it. Basically, the only countries that matter in the Spanish-speaking world, according to American Spanish courses, are those in Central America and the northernmost countries of Spanish South America. So basically, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Colombia. The furthest south they ever consider is Peru but only to talk about Machu Picchu. Anything else is immaterial. Forget about Spain; that seems to always be an unpleasant sidenote. It's not like the language is named after it or something. (And don't even get me started on how "Spanish" is not actually the name of the language)
This textbook has a different country highlighted at the end of each chapter. This is a great idea, and I thought it was a nice touch, but then I was struck with an extremely upsetting discovery:
Chile, apparently, only speaks 2 languages: Spanish and Mapuche.
But Chile has people who speak German, Croatian, Italian, Haitian Creole, Romani, English, and 5 other indigenous languages other than Mapudungun (which is a slightly more accurate name for the language; Mapuche is the tribe).
That's literally the same thing as saying "I'm learning how to speak Arab." It makes no sense and makes you look like a freaking idiot.
Either way, the Mapuche are not the only native group in Chile. The Rapa Nui language is not listed even though they are referenced later in the Chile section. In cases where many languages are spoken, there is a statement explaining that (especially in the cases of indigenous languages), but that was not done for Chile. That and the fact that they did not even give the correct name of Mapudungun, which even a quick Google search can provide, reflects very disfavorably on the authors and editors of the textbook.
I am so extremely offended that the "extraneous" Spanish-speaking countries are once again ignored or misrepresented in a textbook that is supposed to educate students about the Spanish language and the cultures that speak it. Even though I have taken at least 4 years of Spanish in American schools (including this current class in an accredited college), most of the knowledge I have gained about the Spanish-speaking world has been from my Spanish-speaking family and a personal desire to know. The only teacher I've ever had who encouraged his students to learn more about other countries—including Spain—and respected my desire to learn about Chile specifically, was an American man who learned Spanish in Barcelona. He left the language department to become a math teacher.
These classes and textbooks are useless and pander only to those who want to go on vacation in Guatemala. (No offense to Guatemala; it's a great country!)
I somehow didn't notice before, but the textbook literally claims that the Rapa Nui people (the indigenous Polynesians from Easter Island) abandoned the island and that we don't know much about them.
Well, that's really odd because they're the majority ethnic group on the island according to the most recent census and they have cultural festivals all the time. Maybe all the scientists that are at a loss should try going to one of those.
I get what it's trying to say, but it's making simplistic blanket statements that are more false than true in a limp attempt at educating sheltered Americans. This is all the more offensive because I have cousins that are Rapa Nui. So this textbook is claiming that they don't exist.
***
I used this for my class (we had to pay like $200 for the online access thing even though we only used like 4 chapters, which was freaking ridiculous).
Also, so I'm half Chilean but not fluent in Spanish, and I've been noticing this absolutely ridiculous trend in every Spanish class I've ever taken and I'm so sick and tired of it. Basically, the only countries that matter in the Spanish-speaking world, according to American Spanish courses, are those in Central America and the northernmost countries of Spanish South America. So basically, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Colombia. The furthest south they ever consider is Peru but only to talk about Machu Picchu. Anything else is immaterial. Forget about Spain; that seems to always be an unpleasant sidenote. It's not like the language is named after it or something. (And don't even get me started on how "Spanish" is not actually the name of the language)
This textbook has a different country highlighted at the end of each chapter. This is a great idea, and I thought it was a nice touch, but then I was struck with an extremely upsetting discovery:
Chile, apparently, only speaks 2 languages: Spanish and Mapuche.
But Chile has people who speak German, Croatian, Italian, Haitian Creole, Romani, English, and 5 other indigenous languages other than Mapudungun (which is a slightly more accurate name for the language; Mapuche is the tribe).
That's literally the same thing as saying "I'm learning how to speak Arab." It makes no sense and makes you look like a freaking idiot.
Either way, the Mapuche are not the only native group in Chile. The Rapa Nui language is not listed even though they are referenced later in the Chile section. In cases where many languages are spoken, there is a statement explaining that (especially in the cases of indigenous languages), but that was not done for Chile. That and the fact that they did not even give the correct name of Mapudungun, which even a quick Google search can provide, reflects very disfavorably on the authors and editors of the textbook.
I am so extremely offended that the "extraneous" Spanish-speaking countries are once again ignored or misrepresented in a textbook that is supposed to educate students about the Spanish language and the cultures that speak it. Even though I have taken at least 4 years of Spanish in American schools (including this current class in an accredited college), most of the knowledge I have gained about the Spanish-speaking world has been from my Spanish-speaking family and a personal desire to know. The only teacher I've ever had who encouraged his students to learn more about other countries—including Spain—and respected my desire to learn about Chile specifically, was an American man who learned Spanish in Barcelona. He left the language department to become a math teacher.
These classes and textbooks are useless and pander only to those who want to go on vacation in Guatemala. (No offense to Guatemala; it's a great country!)
November 20, 2020
I have little complaints with the grammar or vocabulary lessons or the system of language learning used in "Vistas". What I object to is their simplistic, whitewashed and low-grade racist presentation of Latinx and Hispanic populations that live in the US and Canada, as well as in Mexico.
While the pictures throughout the book are full of diversity, the "fotonovela" that is threaded throughout the lessons depicts a blond girl from Wisconsin participating in an exchange program with a family in Mexico City. The family is white, upper middle class, and depicted as having little that culturally sets them apart from their visitor from the US. They walk around an almost empty-seeming Mexico City, locations carefully sanitized from depictions of the tumultuous and stratified economy of that country and with scant representation of Mexico's endemic racial or ethnic diversity. The blond girl is carefully shepherded around without ever having to leave her comfort zone, which is of course, why we travel. To stay in our bubble of security. That was heavy sarcasm, just in case it didn't come through.
Add to this, the lessons on Hispanic and Latin American culture. Presented in little two page mini briefs, we learn things such as that many Puerto Ricans live in New York City and have a parade once a year; Cubans live in Miami in Little Havana; Mexican food is popular in the US in the form of tacos, and that California, Florida, New York and Illinois have large Spanish-speaking populations. This is a fucking college level course, not a kindergarten introduction. The lack of nuance or history is both breathtaking.
As a culturally-assimilated Mexican-American taking this class because my family chose not to teach me the language due to the racism they experienced, I'm actually offended that this is what they're offering. I'm not easily offended. Come on! Let's never mind that a significant amount of these Spanish speaking populations in the Southwest have been here for longer that those states have belonged to the US. Never mind that Mexican-Americans and Mexicans contribute way more to this country than tacos and good food. Never mind the troubling history of Spain and Latin American. Never mind the racism and scapegoating that is directed toward Spanish-speaking people, especially those with darker skin, in the US. Never mind the history of racism in Mexico and Latin America itself. We want white Americans to feel safe about approaching the language and give them a comfortable introduction to the culture...
Well fuck that. Spanish has been one of the primary languages taught in the US school system for decades now, and a sizable portion of the American public still thinks we should build a wall and keep Latinx immigrants out. If that safe approach to introducing cultural difference worked, I imagine Americans as a whole would have more empathy toward these people that we're keeping in detention centers.
Show me a Spanish language textbook that introduces us to farmworkers who aren't stealing a job that any white person wants, and who keep our country fed despite intense hardship. Where it discusses the complex legacy of colonization left behind by the Spanish, and where racism is touched on in the preference that Mexican society gives white Mexicans over Indigenous Mexicans. Let's learn that economic diversity isn't scary, that different ways of life aren't romantic or less than, they're just different. This is actual cultural literacy. Not fucking tacos and parades, stereotypes and the minimizing of different.
Do better, Vistas Higher Learning.
While the pictures throughout the book are full of diversity, the "fotonovela" that is threaded throughout the lessons depicts a blond girl from Wisconsin participating in an exchange program with a family in Mexico City. The family is white, upper middle class, and depicted as having little that culturally sets them apart from their visitor from the US. They walk around an almost empty-seeming Mexico City, locations carefully sanitized from depictions of the tumultuous and stratified economy of that country and with scant representation of Mexico's endemic racial or ethnic diversity. The blond girl is carefully shepherded around without ever having to leave her comfort zone, which is of course, why we travel. To stay in our bubble of security. That was heavy sarcasm, just in case it didn't come through.
Add to this, the lessons on Hispanic and Latin American culture. Presented in little two page mini briefs, we learn things such as that many Puerto Ricans live in New York City and have a parade once a year; Cubans live in Miami in Little Havana; Mexican food is popular in the US in the form of tacos, and that California, Florida, New York and Illinois have large Spanish-speaking populations. This is a fucking college level course, not a kindergarten introduction. The lack of nuance or history is both breathtaking.
As a culturally-assimilated Mexican-American taking this class because my family chose not to teach me the language due to the racism they experienced, I'm actually offended that this is what they're offering. I'm not easily offended. Come on! Let's never mind that a significant amount of these Spanish speaking populations in the Southwest have been here for longer that those states have belonged to the US. Never mind that Mexican-Americans and Mexicans contribute way more to this country than tacos and good food. Never mind the troubling history of Spain and Latin American. Never mind the racism and scapegoating that is directed toward Spanish-speaking people, especially those with darker skin, in the US. Never mind the history of racism in Mexico and Latin America itself. We want white Americans to feel safe about approaching the language and give them a comfortable introduction to the culture...
Well fuck that. Spanish has been one of the primary languages taught in the US school system for decades now, and a sizable portion of the American public still thinks we should build a wall and keep Latinx immigrants out. If that safe approach to introducing cultural difference worked, I imagine Americans as a whole would have more empathy toward these people that we're keeping in detention centers.
Show me a Spanish language textbook that introduces us to farmworkers who aren't stealing a job that any white person wants, and who keep our country fed despite intense hardship. Where it discusses the complex legacy of colonization left behind by the Spanish, and where racism is touched on in the preference that Mexican society gives white Mexicans over Indigenous Mexicans. Let's learn that economic diversity isn't scary, that different ways of life aren't romantic or less than, they're just different. This is actual cultural literacy. Not fucking tacos and parades, stereotypes and the minimizing of different.
Do better, Vistas Higher Learning.
December 4, 2008
This is my book this semester as I am taking Spanish I this semester. Not sure I can do a review. It got me through class. The videos are cheesy though
September 15, 2021
For a university level book it doesn’t go into many grammatical subtleties but its simplicity could also be a selling point.
August 19, 2010
This is one of my past time favorites besides taking classes at college. To learn a new language is difficult and takes a lot of practice. I keep this book around and will list my other one soon. These help to keep one polished up on a language such as this in Spanish. What I like (mi gusta)
about Espanol (Spanish) libro (book)is the Contextos Context so that you can study by subject. The Fotonovela on photo based stories of students traveling in Ecuador.The Pronunciation & Ortografia explaining the sounds in pronunciations and spelling which focuses on topics related to Espanol. Estructura gives the ease of learning the grammatical terms and what I already knew of the English Grammar. This also includes compare & Contrast similarities and differences between Spanish and the difficult words become clarified. It also provides directed and communicative practice. Adelante develops reading skills in the context of the lesson theme. It also develops writing skills and and comes with a CD to better listening skills. I really enjoy the Panorama as this presents interesting key facts about the featured country. I can look over the Vocabulario to brush up on each lesson. I read and write really well not saying I am proficient, but this will help me when my Greek and Hebrew classes that will come up while attending classes for my Master's degree.
about Espanol (Spanish) libro (book)is the Contextos Context so that you can study by subject. The Fotonovela on photo based stories of students traveling in Ecuador.The Pronunciation & Ortografia explaining the sounds in pronunciations and spelling which focuses on topics related to Espanol. Estructura gives the ease of learning the grammatical terms and what I already knew of the English Grammar. This also includes compare & Contrast similarities and differences between Spanish and the difficult words become clarified. It also provides directed and communicative practice. Adelante develops reading skills in the context of the lesson theme. It also develops writing skills and and comes with a CD to better listening skills. I really enjoy the Panorama as this presents interesting key facts about the featured country. I can look over the Vocabulario to brush up on each lesson. I read and write really well not saying I am proficient, but this will help me when my Greek and Hebrew classes that will come up while attending classes for my Master's degree.
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June 4, 2013465 B6417 2012
September 28, 2013
I thought this book was thoroughly helpful while I was taking Spanish. The exercises were simple, and the online component helped as well.
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January 5, 2019ch. 10
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews