Destinos: An Introduction To Spanish

Scheduled to premiere on PBS this fall, the latest series from the Annenberg/CPB Collection, aims to introduce viewers to the Spanish language-teaching by example, rather than by segmented instruction. We watched two episodes (Part's 3 and 13) which featured the same format, the "telenovela" (similar to a soap opera or an extended mini-series). The "story"-which has Raquel Rodriguez, a lawyer from Southern California, embarking on a mysterious quest to Spain and beyond, having to do with the past secrets of an elderly patriarch named Don Fernando-is not particularly compelling. Especially when the action is routinely stopped so that a hotel clerk can read a bunch of hotel room numbers out loud or a tour guide can count the members of his party (which, in Part 3, is the point; this segment being about numbers). In Part 13, Raquel is now looking for a guy named Angel, and her search takes her to the market and to a restaurant (this segment being about food). Except for a brief introduction, the programs are conducted entirely in Spanish. As a single tool in teaching the Spanish language, this method isn't effective. But as a supplementary tool, it would allow students to catch the rhythm of the language in actual usage, as well as introduce them to facets of the Spanish culture. Recommended for high school and college libraries, but of questionable value to public libraries. (See LITERARY VISIONS for availability.)