Basic Spanish Grammar [Paperback]

Ana C. Jarvis (Author), Raquel Lebredo (Author), Francisco Mena-Ayllon (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0669354511 | ISBN-13: 978-0669354515 | Publication Date: January 1996 | Edition: 5th

Reviews first and second level Spanish and introduces third level concepts, using conversational exchanges, practice exercises, and self-tests.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Spanish

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: D C Heath & Co; 5th edition (January 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0669354511
• ISBN-13: 978-0669354515
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,264,834 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Basic Spanish Grammar, June 15, 2000

By 

Leona Satter MUN 51 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Basic Spanish Grammar (Paperback)

In studing with this book with my professor, it has been very easy to understand the principles of Spanish grammar. The book is laid out in a way that a person who does not speak or read Spanish can easily understand and learn. The homework exercises are excellent. The format is excellent as well.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Teacher's Dream, November 29, 2005

By 

John Villa "villajm9" (Campbell, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Basic Spanish Grammar (Paperback)

I got this book as part of an adult education course I was teaching at a community college and, after having studied Spanish for years, this is the best text I have seen... period. It has all the basics covered, and covered well. It is thorough and concise. It does not go into a lot of unnecessary material, but sticks to what is necessary to communicate well. It consistently reinforces previous lessons and packs a tremendous amount of learning and exercise into a small amount of homework. The examples chosen are easily digested and make teaching wonderful. My students gave rave reviews of the material and I cannot recommmend it highly enough. As will all language texts, it is the student's responsibility to pack in the vocabulary on their own, but the base grammar is all here and extremely well presented. I would take an old edition of this book over any other new texts available. These are the best.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good basic Spanish book, March 26, 2006

By 

LinhMy1 (CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Basic Spanish Grammar (Paperback)

This books is a good book, but it's not a great book. The way the author chose to organize the book doesn't make sense. Some basic things that we should learn first are left until later, such as family and the names of each family member (ie. madre, padre, nino, nina, hermano, etc.). The book also has all these exercises that asks us questions and asks us to ask questions, but didn't really teach us how to ask questions. We doesn't get a formal introduction on how to use words like "Quien", "Donde", "Que", etc.

Positives of this book include: Vocabulary that is used in each chapter is usually listed in the beginning of each chapter, good and clear explanations of the grammar it does cover, and lots of exercises for practical practice.

Another quirk of this book is that it's written as if someone who's Espanol (Spain-ish) wrote it for an audience dealing with Mexicans. So, it would use vocabulary and tell us "cultural notes" that are not how Mexicans speak or write. My Spanish teacher has to tell us from time to time that certain vocabulary words are not used in Mexico and will give us the words that are used regularly. I was especially puzzled when the author put in a food menu with all the prices, dollars and cents, separated by a comma instead of a period.

Outside of a few quirks, the clarity and ease of understanding make this a good book for those learning Spanish for the first time or want a review if you haven't taken Spanish in a while. I would recommend this book.