As the best-selling introductory Spanish textbook in the United States, Puntos de partida has long been a favorite of instructors across the country. For this new edition, the authors and editors of Puntos have turned to those very instructors to help formulate a plan that would respond to the needs of a changing discipline. We reached out to more than 160 students and instructors across the country, and the result is a thoroughly revised edition, both in appearance and content. Puntos continues to provide the solid foundation in communicative language development that has become its hallmark. At the same time, instructor and student feedback have guided the development of the seventh edition in ways that enrich this foundation even more, and also bring to the materials a number of other important and exciting changes.

Instructors: To access the Calendario cultural, click on the "Instructor's Edition" link at the left. If you haven't already registered for an account with McGraw-Hill, you will need to get a username and password from your local McGraw-Hill sales representative.

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Read what some of your colleagues are saying about Puntos de partida:

"We have been very satisfied with Puntos. I enjoy the wealth of materials for vocabulary and grammar, and I make good use of the preliminary exercises as well. The Videoteca is a wonderful resource. The ancillary materials, like the Instructor’s Resource Kit, are fabulous."
--Phillippe Seminet, Texas A & M University – Commerce

"I always enjoy teaching Spanish 103 because I find the chapter topics in Puntos to be most interesting – art, the environment, social life, work, current events and traveling abroad. The cultural features in the Instructor’s Edition are an added plus. I would have never come up with such clever homework Internet research activities on my own."
--Leticia P. López, San Diego Mesa College

"I like the fact that heritage speakers are given attention. We have a huge Spanish-speaking Latino population, and they still place into the lower level classes because they do not read or write Spanish very well."
--Enrica Ardemagni, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis

"I love all of the activities that allow the students to communicate in the target language. The vocabulary is much easier to present because the chapters are set up thematically. The Instructor’s Edition is very helpful; I especially like the additional suggestions for activities."
--Lisa McCallum, Auburn University

"I think the integration of culture – both present day and historical – is excellent for today’s students. Also, the instructor is provided excellent ideas and suggestions for presenting and applying new grammar, vocabulary and concepts. The integration of all three is well done. As a professor, I would rather have too many ideas and materials to choose from than not enough. Being able to pick and choose enables us to evolve and strengthen our natural style."
--Joy Woolf, Westminster College