About the Author:
Ana C. Jarvis, a native of Paraguay, was born in Asuncion and attended school in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She received her Ph.D. in Spanish from the University of California, Riverside, in 1973. Dr. Jarvis retired from Chandler-Gilbert Community College after a long and distinguished career. Prior to CGCC, she taught at Mesa Community College; the University of California, Riverside; San Bernardino Valley College; Brigham Young University; and Riverside City College. In addition to authoring numerous Spanish textbooks, she has published several short stories in Spanish. In 1988, she was chosen as "Faculty Member of the Year" at Chandler-Gilbert Community College.
Raquel Lebredo was born in Camaguey, Cuba. She attended school in Havana and later enrolled at the University of Havana, where she received a Ph.D. in Education. She was subsequently employed as an elementary school principal, and taught literature and language at a preparatory school in Havana. She moved to the United States after living in Spain for a period of time. Dr. Lebredo was awarded a Ph.D. in Spanish from the University of California, Riverside. Since then, she has taught Spanish at Claremont Graduate School, Crafton Hills College, the University of Redlands, and California Baptist University, and has authored several Spanish textbooks. In 1985, she was chosen as "Faculty Member of the Year" by the student body at California Baptist University, and in 1991 she received a YWCA "Women of Achievement" award.
Francisco Mena-Ayllon, a native of Madrid, Spain, received his Ph.D. in Spanish from the University of California, Riverside, in 1973. He has taught Spanish language and literature courses at the University of California, Riverside; Oberlin College; California State University, Chico; the University of Redlands; and Crafton Hills College. In addition to authoring numerous Spanish textbooks in the United States, he has published a book about Federico Garcia Lorca and several volumes of his own poetry. His poetry has been published in Spain, Latin America, and the United States. His work has also been included in several anthologies of contemporary Spanish poets, and he is listed in Quien es Quien en las Letras Espanolas, 1978 (Who's Who in Spanish Letters), as an important contributor to contemporary Spanish literature. Professor Mena-Ayllon is now retired.
Review:
"The post-reading questions are very good, since it forces students to examine their own country, and then expand on what they know through comparisons to countries in Latin America, which can be an expanded portion of the Temas de conversacion section. The conversational expressions I believe are essential to helping students have a meaningful conversation as well as sounding more like native speakers. This will increase their confidence in conversational techniques."
"I really like the variety of exercises and the grammatical descriptions. The vocabulary and chapter topics are very relevant, as they reflect all aspects of culture and current events. Many of the debates and conversational exercises force students to examine their own culture and heritage as well, in order to be able to comment on and compare and contrast them with Hispanic culture."
"The grammar and vocabulary sections are very good, and I feel they are an asset to helping students acquire Spanish."
"I really like the representation of various countries, gender of authors, and styles of literature in this mix."
"The types of activities are well thought through and have a balanced ratio of individual versus pair and group activities. I also think the activities and their variety provide enough practice for the students. This is done very well. Conversemos is a great part of this textbook. It gives ample opportunity for students to apply what they have learned in an interesting manner. I applaud this portion of the textbook."
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.