Plazas: Lugar de encuentros (with Audio CD's) [Hardcover]

Robert Hershberger (Author), Susan Navey-Davis (Author), Guiomar Borrás A. (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0838408524 | ISBN-13: 978-0838408520 | Publication Date: February 23, 2004 | Edition: 2

Each chapter of this successful beginning Spanish program weaves together solid language instruction and opportunities for real-life communication with the rich and colorful threads of Spanish-speaking cultures.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The most significant improvements are apparent in the activities; here the authors have made the right choices in simplifying directions, introducing more variety in the activities, and refining their focus. The same holds true for the integration of cultural information in all of the activities."

"Plazas is the most appealing program to teach elementary Spanish because of its vast array of electronic materials. This variety of materials make teaching and learning Spanish a world open for students' exploration and entertainment."

"I'm really impressed with the changes you've made to Plazas. The layout and structure of the book has obviously been enhanced and improved."

"The authors clearly demonstrate a knowledge of how students go about learning a language and are supremely faithful to their approach. The emphasis on re-integrations of re-presentation of materials is really revolutionary for recent Spanish textbooks!"

"I am impressed with the thoroughness of the approach. The authors have identified difficult tasks (integrating culture into the course, making grammatical explanations understandable, promoting communication) and seek to offer a variety of remedies."

About the Author

Dr. Robert Hershberger is an Associate Professor of Spanish at DePauw University. Before working on PLAZAS, Bob authored Heinle's ¡TÚ DIRÁS! and INTERCAMBIOS CD-ROMs and was the lead author and project manager for the TEMAS CD-ROM. In addition to his teaching at DePauw, Bob serves as a technology liaison for the Department of Modern Languages and directs the Film Studies Program.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 512 pages
• Publisher: Heinle; 2 edition (February 23, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0838408524
• ISBN-13: 978-0838408520
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #174,152 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not recommended, August 29, 2006

By 

Spanish Instructor (Boston, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Plazas: Lugar de encuentros (with Audio CD's) (Hardcover)

I have been teaching with this book for 2 years and the more familiar I am with it the less I like it and the more mistakes I find on it. It was not chosen by me and I hope we'll change it soon. The textbook and workbook have plenty of mistakes even though it is a second edition.
This book claims to cover cultural elements from most Spanish speaking countries but it only sets each chapter in a different country, with very little cultural information about each place. The "encuentro cultural" section is the only cultural information in the book (apart from the video section) and most times is inaccurate or just plain boring or not interesting at all. Another problem is that many of the communication exercises are not communicative at all and not very involving for the students. Finally, I think that a book which costs more than $100 should, at least, have more pictures and color pages and it should try to make learning a language a more rewarding and fun experience.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars DOES NOT COME WITH ILRN, December 14, 2007

By 

Eric J. Eddy - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Plazas: Lugar de encuentros (Hardcover)

Despite the description the book does not come with the ilrn code or the CD-ROM of the book. If you need the ilrn DO NOT! buy here. If you buy the ilrn by it self it is hundred bucks. Amazon sent me two copies because they were not smart enough to know if the book actually came with it or they didn't ship it. Wasted my time and forced me to take a 0 on my first assignment. They did provide free shipping for both returns though and took them back without question. Book is good just don't buy from amazon.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars BUY AT BOOKSTORE NOT ONLINE!, September 5, 2009

By 

Shan "Shan" (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Plazas: Lugar de encuentros (Hardcover)

Okay, chances are you HAVE TO HAVE Ilrn to take your Spanish class- You will NEED the BOOK CODE for Ilrn.

This book DOES NOT come with that. After you purchase this book, you will have to go online and purchase the online Ilrn for $94.95- you aren't saving any money.

My school offers a package with the book, Ilrn bookcode (to register online) and a dictionary for $191. You will either lose money or break even. Keep that in mind when you buy this book online- you most likely will have to fork out an additional $94 to use Ilrn.