¡Viva! Primer curso de lengua española by José A. Blanco and Philip Redwine Donley (review)

Now in its fourth edition, ¡Viva!, an introductory college-level Spanish textbook offered by Vista Higher Learning (VHL), continues to excel in presenting substantial content in a condensed package. While other, more established titles, offer massive textbooks, one of the strongest assets of ¡Viva! is that it does not overwhelm students with long vocabulary lists or superfluous grammar and cultural topics. Instead, vocabulary is limited to essential items covered in its sixteen chapters, which include topics such as Las clases, La familia, Las vacaciones, Las celebraciones, and La naturaleza. Each chapter begins with its communicative goals clearly stated and a list of the vocabulary, grammar, videoclips, cultural topics, and readings presented in that chapter. Each chapter also features a brief Pronunciación section that focuses on area of Spanish language that is difficult for English speakers to pronounce. Escenas features a custom-made video series that includes native Spanish speakers. Filmed in Mexico, the video series features speakers from the United States, Mexico, Cuba, Spain, and Argentina, which exposes students to a variety of regional accents. Flash Cultura is a brief video clip that focuses on a cultural item from the Spanish-speaking world.

Each chapter contains either three or four grammar topics that are clearly labeled. While other language textbooks tend to hide the grammar in with other content, ¡Viva! clearly marks where each lesson begins, which makes finding the lesson easy. The grammar-based activities feature a combination of traditional drills, group work, audio clips, and interview questions. Each chapter concludes with Ampliación, which adds additional practice on the topics covered, as well as Lectura, a brief reading section also based on chapter content. Interspersed between certain chapters is ¡Vivan los países hispanos! This section focuses on a group of Spanish-speaking countries and highlights some demographics and cultural information about the countries of that regions. This section includes activities that ensure students have comprehended what they have just learned.

As with most VHL offerings, ¡Viva! has a companion online learning platform that allows students to complete additional activities online. This supersite incorporates embedded audio and video clips in with the activities so students get a reprieve from the traditional fill-in-the-blank or short answer questions. The supersite makes it possible for students to complete assignments outside of class, allowing for valuable classroom time to be used for conversation practice and instructor-guided activities. It also makes online and hybrid courses a possibility. Students can complete activities that are instructor-graded, auto-graded, or both, which allows instructors to customize the amount of time they are willing to spend on grading. Resources abound on the supersite for instructors and include audio scripts, answer keys, additional grammar and vocabulary exercises, topics for conversation, and much more. Tutorial videos allow students to watch short videos on grammar topics covered in the chapter and Vocabulary tools allow students to practice with virtual flashcard and even add additional vocabulary that the instructor introduces. There are also opportunities for students to chat virtually with their instructor or classmates, and even with native Spanish speakers.

Despite its small size, ¡Viva! has plenty of content for a two-semester introductory Spanish sequence. By focusing on necessary items in its book and saving additional content for the vast supersite, it maintains a streamlined and easy-to-consult format. Some might see an abbreviated textbook such as ¡Viva! as lacking in content since the material presented is less in depth than titles like Vistas, another VHL publication. But its small size helps keep the price relatively low compared to competitors, which is important in today’s market where open-source texts are becoming common. In a market that is growing crowded with Spanish-language textbooks and accompanying online programs, VHL is setting itself apart by offering relevant and exciting titles such as ¡Viva! that make learning Spanish in a variety of settings a possibility. For...