Customer Reviews

Advanced Spanish Grammar: A Self-Teaching Guide, Second Edition

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

One of the problems that an intermediate or advanced learner of Spanish faces is that there are few choices of good reference books or textbooks. This book tries to fill that gap and it seems to have succeeded in it, with some reservation. Please be forewarned that this book is not for novices: all the explanations are given in Spanish though they are not too difficult to understand. Various grammatical topics are displayed in 26 lessons with explanations, exercises and answers. They are thorough, detailed and mostly very well digested to make comprehension easy. There are also 4 review tests for every several lessons. A title is attached to each lesson, such as sport, food, travel, family, work and so on. The problem is that the topic of each lesson is only related to the vocabulary shown there. In that sense, there is little reason to assign a title to each lesson. If the author included a short story or conversation to illustrate the title, I am sure that the book should be more lively and interesting. In that case, audiocassettes or CDs that record natural-speed reading or conversation will be welcome. Another thing that I think needs change is that they put more emphasis on grammatical �euse�f than grammatical �eknowledge�f itself. For example, there are sometimes tests on grammatical terminology, which I think are not necessary. I still highly rate this because it is one of the few books full of contents that an intermediate or advanced student needs.

DO NOT buy this book and Practical Spanish Grammer both. They are just about the same book, but this one is entirely in Spanish. I bought this book after already doing the entire Practical Spanish Grammer book thinking it was the next level or follow-up book, but it is NOT. This book starts at the beginning with the articles el and la then goes to basic conjugation of regular AR, ER, IR verbs, and so on ..., just like the first book. It may be a great book as the other reviews suggest which is why I bought it, but get in instead of the Practical Spanish Grammer book, not in addition to it or after you already read that one

I'm very glad to have acquired this book for a solid review of intermediate Spanish. This book is not for novices, which many of the other self-study books are (i.e., the other books are too basic). Along with a strong grammatical review, the book also provides decent vocabulary review as well. If you have a good understanding of Spanish, this book and the "501 Spanish Verbs" book are all you need.

What I like about this book is that, with the exception of limited and seemingly necessary translations, the lessons are taught completely in Spanish. It covers the advanced areas in breadth but lacks in depth with regard to offering examples and practice. I find myself frequently referring to Dorothy D Richmond's books to fill in the gaps. It is nonetheless better than most Spanish books on the market.

If you are serious about gaining control of the Spanish language and have to do it by yourself, this book is it. It is unlike any other self-study book I've encountered. Entirely in Spanish, it really gets you thinking and learning in that language. Uniquely simple and easy to follow, this book moved me far ahead into understanding the grammatical structure and its applications.

Once you've gotten past basic Spanish, you will need an intermediate/advanced Spanish grammar book. This book fits the bill perfectly. And, it's the perfect companion to another great book for really learning Spanish, "501 Spanish Verbs." Since Spanish grammar gets harder as you get more advanced, you will quickly find that you need a book like this. I know it helped me greatly with things like the subjunctive, for instance, and I'm sure it will help you too! This is one of the essential books you need if you're learning Spanish, and have gotten past the basics...

This is one of my favorite guides. It can be used as either a reference, review, or a book to start at start and finish at finish. (If you have very minimal or no knowledge in Spanish, I do not recommend this for you.)

It is all in Spanish. Not very difficult Spanish, but still in Spanish. It is VERY, VERY nice. I love it for that. It makes it fun to read. I even like to pick it up and read it in spare time.

Though it contains some good vocabulary at the start of each section, that is NOT what the book is geared to. It is like a nice supplement. The new vocabulary is used mainly in the grammar parts, where the words are used, or needed to explain a point or maybe an irregularity, whether it be in commands, participles, subjuctive, etc.

As I said, the Spanish that the book was written in is not really all that difficult. It is a pretty easy read, which makes it nice.

I recommend it for ANY Spanish student. Beginners might find good practice to read and acquire new vocabulary, intermediates might get to some good grammar points down (e.g. the subjunctive) as well as some new useful vocabulary, y las personas avanzadas pueden usar este libro como un resumen de la gramática y las estructuras del español.

Again, a very good buy. It is very nice to have around.

This book is great in that it has plenty of exercises after the concepts are explained--and if you want to learn AND REMEMBER a new language, repetition (and use) is really the only way.
It explains all of the important grammar concepts (and hang-ups for english speakers) with clarity. Of course, it's presented almost entirely in spanish, so you need to understand a good amount of Spanish to get anything out of it. This is my favorite Spanish Language book (and most of them that I own are very good).

I learned Spanish through total immersion (Peace Corps), not in the classroom. Through review, questioning, and trial and error, I had a solid foundation of the basics and I could communicate well in Spanish. This book was given to me the second year of my stay and really pulled together much of the advanced grammer rules I lacked. A few reviewers gripe about the vocabulary being too simple and some of the words are but the book is geared towards using the vocabulary with advanced tenses. The notes with the vocabulary are priceless as are the instructions in Spanish. I still review the book on occassion.

I am so glad I bought this book. After reading the one negative review I almost didn't. Although I own the Ultimate Spanish Review and Practice book and find it helpful as a reference, this book is superior as a workbook. Yes, it does start with the basic points but then it covers in great detail the various exceptions. There is adequate repetition to practice and learn. I try and complete 1-2 pages per day. I am very advanced in Spanish but I still find this book very valuable. I highly recommend this book as a workbook.