The publisher packages the product in combination with any of its textbooks by arrangement with the purchasing institution. Students of this reviewer at several levels of ability in Spanish have used the program with positive results and reactions. With one glance at the index of 30 main topics in Spanish Partner , the user knows that this HyperCard-based product is meant to help students review grammar. Although it is definitely grammar-based, Spanish Partner presents most of the activities within a context of use. Also, in some sections, they must attend to the cultural clues in order to arrive at the correct response.
Learners begin the program by selecting a grammar topic and by entering their name or initials.
Students can select the level of difficulty at which they wish to engage a particular grammar topic. Many of the topics are divided into levels of difficulty or related sub-topics, although this aspect of the program is not explicitly stated by the authors. For example, the topic of Subjunctive is divided into a total of 23 activities that are grouped together by sub-theme, e.g. doubt, indefinite referent, hypothetical situation, etc. With such attention to detail in how the grammar topics are presented, it seems odd that the authors chose not to include the Passive Voice and its alternatives. The learner selects a topic and sees an introductory screen that contains a brief but useful review of the grammar point.