The first in a series of 5 books aimed at young and adult learners of Spanish - especially European Spanish.
Aula 1 is the first in a series of 5 books aimed at young and adult learners of Spanish - especially European Spanish. The full series covers levels from A1 –total beginners- to B2 –upper intermediate, according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. All of the books comprise of 10 units. Not to be mistaken for Aula Internacional, a special edition essentially covering the same contents in only 4 volumes and made for independent students.
Aula is widely utilized in universities, Spanish schools, and official Spanish language institutes (such as Instituto Cervantes). This fact itself is a guarantee of the quality of the materials and methodology in this book. This book claims to be the first series specifically designed for students taking part in total immersion courses – therefore studying in Spain -, and you can feel how Aula 1 is structured to help naturally and progressively acquire the language abilities necessary for daily life.
"This book is very dynamic and practical; it makes the process of learning Spanish easy, fun and interesting. Aula is a great asset for all those teachers who want to see their students start making progress from the very first day of class!"
With a very practical and pragmatic approach, the book progresses from simple greetings to describing personality within the 10 units. Each unit is split into 4 sections: COMPRENDER -understanding, EXPLORAR Y REFLEXIONAR -exploring and reflecting, PRACTICAR Y COMUNICAR -practising and communicating, and VIAJAR -travelling.
The book can be perfectly used in a non-immersion environment - I have used it myself when teaching Spanish in Beijing! -, always bearing in mind that the approach is essentially practical and a dynamic teaching method is the most convenient. As we mentioned above, the book teaches standard European Spanish. This applies to grammar and vocabulary, but doesn´t impede that some of the audio is from people from other countries - Spanish-speaking countries like Argentina or Colombia, or even non-native speakers as German or French can be heard. By focusing on these different accents and dialects, students can recognise and understand different forms of the Spanish language.
There are also some very minor errors that can be detected in the book, due to the fact that the authors are Catalonian, certain Catalan structures can be seen in certain chapters. Of course the errors are so subtle that only very specialised linguists or people familiar with the Catalan language - such is my case, having a native Catalonian mother - can detect. The book comes in a package which comes with a student’s book and a CD. In addition, plenty of resources can be downloaded from the publisher´s web site such as: a free teacher’s book (in PDF format) and a portfolio for the entire series -covering the listening, speaking, writing and reading self-check exercises. There are also Audio scripts from the listening activities and a DVD sample which accompany the book. Aula constitutes a very comprehensive, easy-to-teach and easy-to-learn method suitable for all the students of European Spanish. It is very dynamic and practical; it makes the process of learning Spanish easy, fun and interesting. Aula is a great asset for all those teachers who want to see their students start making progress from the very first day of class!
