As its title suggests, Motivos de conversación both motivates students to use Spanish and gives them the tools they need to use it. The popularity of this communicative text comes from its realistic size and flexible organization that works no matter how many (or few) class meetings a week. In 15 simply structured lessons, Motivos de conversación provides students with core vocabulary and the essential grammar structures necessary for the first year, along with focused practice to build confidence and communicative activities to develop skills. The cultural themes carefully developed in each chapter provide a rich and interesting context for the new language students are learning. A number of improvements make Motivos de conversación, Fourth Edition, even easier to use and more interesting to read. Motivos has been shortened from 18 to 15 lessons in this edition, with a corresponding reorganization of the grammar syllabus. Two new chapter themes emphasize the cultural heritage of Hispanics in the western hemisphere, and a new cultural feature called Viaje por el mundo hispánico has been added. A variety of new dialogues, readings, realia, and cultural notes have also been added to the Fourth Edition. Read Less