As its name suggests, Aula Internacional 1 is the first level of a textbook series for adults and young Spanish students. For that reason, this book is written for new Spanish learners that want to start their Spanish learning journey. Since this textbook is going to cover the most basic topics, you don’t need to have any previous knowledge. As I mentioned before, this Spanish textbook is not for absolute beginners. It’s perfect for learners that know simple vocabulary and can keep basic conversations in the present tense. So if you already have these foundations, but don’t know the Spanish past tenses this book is for you. As a teacher that used the previous version of the book, I have to say that the new design of Aula Internacional 2 is very colorful and attractive. It’s very easy to identify which sections are the most important. The book is more interactive and contains online resources that you can use.

Additionally, you can create a free account to have access to some interactive exercises and videos that will help you reinforce concepts learned. In some lessons, you’ll find a suggested video, but it’s not clear where you can access them. They’re not in the online-free resources and it seems that you have to pay extra money for them which I don’t like. Aside from that, the rest of the exercises require that the learners think and produce some Spanish based on the knowledge they just acquired. When it comes to learning aids at the end of the book you can find verb charts and more in-depth grammar explanations. Aula Internacional 2 follows the Instituto Cervantes program. This means that the book contains standard Spanish. However, in some instances you may find a small influence of Castilian Spanish. As you may imagine, this will be more notorious in the listening activities if you’re specifically trying to learn Latin American Spanish. On top of the exercises and the grammar sections in each lesson, at the end of the book you’ll find a ‘ More exercises’ and ‘More grammar’ sections. As the name suggests, those sections provide you with extra practice and deeper grammar explanations and verb charts.

Contents

Compared to other beginner books that have the level in a single volume, Aula Internacional 2 is more expensive.

Remember that at the end of the book, there’s a ‘more grammar’ section where you can find more thorough explanations and verb conjugation charts. Pros & Cons Aula Internacional 1 is meant to introduce people to the Spanish language and take them through the vocabulary, topics and grammar structures they need to have basic and simple conversations. It’s main goal is to provide beginners with useful structures that they can use to navigate through easy daily-life situations. Even though this is a recommended textbook to start learning Spanish, there are some unique components and quirks that I’ll mention in this review. Learning Goals & ObjectivesIf you’re a self-taught learner, depending on the topic, you may need to do some research on your own to complement what you just learned. One of the main advantages of this book is that through all the lessons, you’ll find different types of exercises to reinforce the topics. Despite this, the book does a very good job with the vocabulary: everything you learn can be applied in all Spanish-speaking countries. With the purpose of setting an immersive environment, Aula Internacional 2 is completely written in Spanish. But since you should already have some basic knowledge of Spanish and the instructions are written with simple words this shouldn’t be such a big problem for you. For many students, the fact that the book is all in Spanish is very challenging, but aside from the big reading section at the end of each lesson, the instructions are simple and easy to follow. Contents

Additionally, they like the fact the program is very well organized and for those who want to pursue a DELE certification, this Spanish textbook is the place to start. Conclusion Although it takes up where you just left, there are other books that could offer more value for these topics. Thanks to this layout, the Spanish learner has different opportunities to practice the topics that she or he has learned. It’s fair to say that the reading and cultural section is way too advanced for this level and, in my opinion as a teacher and native speaker, not very useful for a daily Spanish conversation. The exercises cover all the skills you need to be fluent in Spanish: listening, writing, reading and speaking. If you want to learn Spanish by following a textbook series or want to get a Spanish certification, you should definitely buy Aula Internacional 2. But if you’re learning Spanish on your own, this may not be the best option for you.

Design & Learning “User” Experience

In summary, Aula Internacional 1 is a great Spanish textbook for novice beginners. However, it works better in the classroom environment than for self-study. Due to its content and structure, this textbook is appropriate for Spanish learners that want to pursue a DELE certification. But if you’re not sure this is the right book for you, there are other great Spanish textbooks for beginners that you could try. Conclusion Since it’s all written in Spanish, following the instructions can be challenging for some students, especially, if they’re self-studying. It’s also important to keep in mind that Aula Internacional 2 works better in a classroom environment since it has a lot of conversational exercises. Unless you want to chat with yourself, you’ll need a partner to complete these activities. Design & Learning “User” Experience