Customer Reviews

1001 Pitfalls in Spanish

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a very good book although the reader has to have a basic knowledge of Spanish, both in vocabulary and grammatical structures. This is because it is not a textbook but a reference as you can see from the construction of the book. First the parts of speech in Spanish are explained in alphabetical order, beginning from adjectives up to verbs. Then the sentence structure and special topics such as measurements and pronunciation are dealt with. It is not intended to be read from cover to cover, page by page, although it is still highly recommended to read it through at least once because, someday, you would want to make sure whether you should use imperfect or preterite in a particular situation and this book will sure come in handy. The topics are selected meticulously and explained in a structured and easy to understand way with abundant examples. If you are a learner who has a basic knowledge of Spanish this book will be useful and you will find yourself consulting it from time to time. But if you are a beginning learner who still has some grammatical issues to study you should wait buying it until you have become familiar with the language.

I've taken a Spanish immersion program in Costa Rica and received this book as a gift from the school. It's very useful if you already know some Spanish and want to check out specific issues that are confusing or simple like to improve your knowledge. Great reference book!

It seems to me that the authors' objective here was to cram in the 1001 examples in as few pages as possible. Yes, it is all there, but for me there are way too few examples and not nearly enough explanation.

I have found that the books that provide little quizzes where I get to apply what I just learned, then find the correct answers in the book, help me to learn much faster, much easier, and in a much more enjoyable way.

Perhaps if you are a teacher and already know 80% of these pitfalls, you will appreciate having all this information, neatly organized for a quick review. But if you are a student like me, you will probably find this pretty boring and very, very difficult to remember.

I would recommend to you "The Ultimate Spanish Review and Practice" by Gordon and Stillman or "Advanced Spanish Grammar" by Prado if you want comprehensive workbooks on grammar pitfalls. Both are loaded with examples and exercises you can do.

If you want to improve your Spanish and don't need one book that covers it all, I'd highly recommend both workbooks by Dorothy Richmond, "Spanish Verb Tenses" and "Spanish Pronouns and Prepositions." These both are interesting, fun, and presented with so many examples and practice exercises that you can really learn the material and REMEMBER it! I can't begin to say enough good things about these two workbooks.

1001 Pitfalls in Spanish is a tremendous reference for a select group. Meaning it's extremely helpful to advanced students and educators of the Spanish language. It definitely fills in the gaps about the specifics that can possibly be found in other references but not as hands on. The grammar specifics covered are mostly pragmatic concepts about Spanish and usually they relate to the differences between English and Spanish, which make pitfalls so difficult to overcome. The book is well divided into three main sections: Parts of Speech, Sentence Structure and Special Topics. This book will definitely clarify some queries that you may have. It will prove beneficial once you keep in mind that it is not a grammar book but rather a grammar reference. This is a great reference for those who are natives, advanced students and teachers.

I bought my original copy of 1001 25 years ago, just prior to moving to South America for two years. What I discovered through this book is that there are subtle differences between English and Spanish that only the most discerning English-speaker might notice. However, native speakers will recognize right away that they ways you express some thoughts are not quite right. By carefully reviewing 1001 on a regular basis, I was able to incorporate those differences into my Spanish and become more fluent.

I am delighted to see that this book is still in print. (I just bought a copy for a friend.) I would recommend 1001 to anyone who is serious about speaking Spanish correctly.

After hoping I would find a book like this, I ran a search and happened across this excellent reference. It explains the little tricky gaps that are usually left mysteriously unfilled in Spanish classes. I found the book to be well-organized into sections such as verbs, nouns, and adjectives etc. The authors give an explanation of the grammar rule and then show you how that is broken by a pitfall. 1001 Pitfalls doesn't have any exercises to hold your hand, but it's still a great book for brushing up on the finer points of Spanish grammar. I think it would be great as a reference book for all students of Spanish, not just advanced ones (even though it is perhaps a little more geared to the advanced student). All in all, this is an amazing little Spanish grammar reference that every Spanish student should have.

Jeez... I thought after living in south america quite a while, being trilingual (and from a bilingual family), being an english teacher AND a spanish teacher.... this book would probably not benefit me much, but I was bored at Barnes and Noble and browsed through.

I was AMAZED by the depth of this book. I must say that I spent at least three hours paging through it before actually buying it; I use it frequenty when performing translations. I also have had several native spanish speakers leaf through it and tell me they are also amazed..it has all of those little grammar rules and exceptions to the rules that even native speakers screw up sometimes, especially when speaking coloquially (just like my you did that good - I mean, well....).

On top of that, I think this book would actually be useful to people on many varied levels. You may not be able to use the WHOLE book at any one level, but I can see any person of almost any conceivable level getting quite a bit of information out of this book. One would just read closer to the beginning or end of the chapter according to Spanish level.

Finally a book that clearly goes over all those confusing little rules that leave you saying "it just sounds right, that's why". I lived and studied in Spain and got a BA in Spanish, but this book has given me rules for things I thought you just had to learn by memory. It is just what I was looking for: a review of the obscure grammar that isn't given much attention in normal studies. If you have been studying Spanish and want to refine your knowledge, this book is for you. If you are just starting out you need something with the basics, but this book is a MUST for teachers!

For anyone learning Spanish, this book should be a mandatory learning aid. Novices, intermediates, and even advanced-level students will find this book useful in a variety of ways. The intention of this book is not to be a stand-alone guide to the language, or even just to the grammar. The intention here is to serve as a companion and reference book, to call to when you need help. Whether Spanish is your Major or just a hobby, this book will save you time by giving you the straight and comprehensive answers you need.

The way the book achieves all this is by focusing on the "pitfalls". Between the covers you will find a wealth of information. I say "wealth" because it's all the common questions that most people are BOUND to have either when learning the language initially, or to forget later on and need a refresher. In an effort to streamline their products and to simplify for the purpose of attracting those people who have been frustrated by piles of grammar and memorization, many Spanish courses and Spanish-learning products simplify and omit some of the details. But this book will be your best friend, perfectly complimenting whatever it is that you're using to learn Spanish.

It does this very well, by breaking up the common pitfalls into sections and addressing them by demonstrating clearly just what you can and cannot say in Spanish, why, and the specific nuances therein. It's almost like having a very articulate linguist friend on call 24-7 to answer, explain, and elaborate on all those "hey wait a minute" questions that you have. Aren't adjectives supposed to come AFTER the noun? Then why is it "mejor amigo" and not "amigo mejor"? Or why is it "nuevo año" instead of "año nuevo"? Someone isn't telling you something! All those "rules of thumb" that Spanish teachers and Spanish courses tell you are really lies in that they tend to be oversimplifications and generalizations that, while they work MOST of the time, will fail you eventually and you wont understand why. That's when it's great to have a book like this that will spell it out for you with clarity, in plain English, and yet not leave anything out.

Having only had this book for a few hours, I'm already impressed by the level of depth and the amount of topics covered. Most of the common screwups and confusions are in here, included some of the more typical mistakes that are more typically over-looked by language-learning courses or which your Spanish-speaking friends might not be able to explain to you. No longer will you have to settle for answers like "that's just the way it is" or feel like you "just have to let it sink in". This is especially true with the trends of products and professionals to rely more on "intuitive" learning techniques that, while useful, are not comprehensive. Sometimes you just need something EXPLAINED to you. Fully. That's exactly what you get here, for just about any common hurdle or mistake. You'll also be able to avoid many of these common pitfalls by making yourself aware of them early on.

All-in-all, this is a much more useful tool and learning aid than any review could properly illustrate. Think back to some of the first questions you had about Spanish that were the hardest to get satisfactory answers for, go into a B&N, and flip through the book and look for them. You'll probably find them, spelled out in clear and crisp explanations. Then you'll know just how valuable a book like this can be!

I am so glad I bought this book. It contains some grammatical rules that I already knew, but is mostly filled with information I never learned in any of my Spanish classes. I'm truly fascinated by this book and the discussion of Spanish grammar. It's a great reference for my home library. I especially love the examples of common mistakes people make and explanations of how to fix them.