The title of this textbook is Hecho en Texas, which means Made in Texas. The material in this textbook has been developed for learners of Spanish in Texas. It is designed to guide the student’s learning process and discovery of the Spanish-speaking world in Texas and beyond.

The textbook’s objectives are twofold: 

1. To prepare the learner – linguistically and culturally – to use Spanish to communicate with speakers in Texas, in the United States and around the world.
2. To strengthen their personal and/or professional connection to the language.

Throughout this textbook, students will consider how Spanish is relevant to them, both now and well into the future. The future is ours and students should choose their own journey:

1. Does the student see a present and future here in Texas or elsewhere in the United States where they use Spanish (outside of the classroom) on a regular basis.
2. Maybe they plan to spend an extended period of time (e.g., work or study abroad) in a country where Spanish is the primary language of communication?
3. Alternatively, the student may foresee a future where they work on a multicultural/multinational team, which includes native speakers of Spanish and languages other than English.

It’s not too early to reflect on these options. How might a student’s selection motivate them and impact their approach to learning Spanish?

While each module in this textbook reviews the grammar and vocabulary that is typical of a first-year university level sequence, students will also be tasked with personalizing their experience. For example, they will be asked to expand on vocabulary lists to include terms that are most relevant to them. This will allow students to make the most of the general textbook themes, which include but are not limited to academic life, the home, family, favorite foods and clothing style. In addition, this will facilitate more personal end-of-module speaking and writing assignments.

In addition, each module includes a section titled El Mundo Tejano, which highlights a different aspect (e.g., people, places, art, traditions, food) of Hispanic Texas through thematic readings and/or videos, images and tasks that will help the student learn more about the unique ways in which members of Texas’ Hispanic communities have contributed to the state. These sections build up to the My Spanish Texas end-of-semester final project that highlights the student’s real-world connections to the language (e.g., family, friend groups, campus town, hometown) and allows them to showcase their creativity.

In summary, this textbook situates the content in scenarios that are personally, professionally and geographically relevant to students at the University of Texas. This motivates the student to explore deeper connections to the language and prepares them to communicate with Spanish speakers in Texas, in the United States and around the world. To learn more about this project, which is an adaptation of the open educational resource Trayectos, visit trayectosoer.org.

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to express their immense gratitude to the following individuals and organizations for their support and collaboration:

Dr. Gabriela Zapata (University of Nottingham, UK) and her team of graduate and undergraduate students who are the authors of Trayectos (trayectosoer.org), an open educational resource (OER) for beginning learners of Spanish. Hecho en Texas is an adaptation of this work.

COERLL (The Center for Open Educational Resources and Language Learning), specifically Dr. Carl Blyth, Director, for their trust, and Rachael Gilg, Web Designer, for lending countless hours of support as materials were first moved to Pressbooks and then modified. Students and instructors alike have her to thank for the elevated UI/UX.

The Spanish in Texas Corpus, especially project coordinators, Dr. Almeida Jacqueline Toribio and Dr. Barbara Bullock for leading a project that provides open learning tools to study Spanish grammar and language variation in Texas, and for their careful mentorship during the author’s graduate studies.

The Spanish and Portuguese Department at UT, and especially the Spanish Language Program Director, Dr. Melissa Murphy, and Spanish Language Program Supervisor, Dr. Sarah Whitehead, for their trust and support, as well as weekly meetings and conversations for the betterment of the language program.

The University of Texas at Austin Library System, specifically Heather Walter, Open Education Librarian, for lending their support and the licensing that was necessary to get this project across the finish line.

Daniel Molina, Teaching Assistant, who was an integral part in the pilot phase of this project. (Learn more about the pilot journey here: Frank & Molina, 2025.)

And finally, the undergraduate students of the First Year Spanish I (SPN 601D) course at the University of Texas at Austin—both past and present— who have contributed to this project in immeasurable ways and to whom this project is dedicated.

Licensing

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

You are free to:

• Share ⎯ copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
• Adapt ⎯ remix, transform, and build upon the material

The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.

Under the following terms:

• Attribution ⎯ You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
• ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.
• No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.

This publication was made possible with the support of the Center for Open Educational Resources and Language Learning (COERLL) and the University of Texas Libraries.