The Complete Idiot's Guide to Learning Spanish on Your Own [Paperback]

Gail Stein (Author), Marc Einsohn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1996

Idiot-proof & entertaining steps for learning Spanish fast. Easy methods for learning idioms & slang terms used by native speakers. Valuable cultural tips for travelers & others.

Product Details

• Paperback: 375 pages
• Publisher: Alpha Books (1996)
• Language: English, Spanish
• ISBN-10: 0028610407
• ISBN-13: 978-0028610405
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #962,610 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Complete Idiot's Guide To Learning Spanish, July 2, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Learning Spanish on Your Own (Paperback)

The Complete Idiot's Guide... Is an excellent book that graphically and linguistically is very easy to learn from. It covers all areas of the Spanish language thoroughly in a simple, yet explanatory way on spots where a few people are prone to miss things. There's extra tidbits and facts noting exceptions of certain rules when trying to form sentences in Spanish that many books will fail to tell you. It's designed to walk begginers all the way to intermediate, and can very well guide intermediates fully into the advanced stages. All topics of sentence formation are covered and those technical english terms like "superlative sentences" or "past present progressive" that you'll adventually have to understand trying to learn the Spanish rules of sentence formation are always explained fully. There's no need of having a grammarbook beside you. And best of all, it stays away from technical jargon as much as possible and constantly gives scenarios of how what you're learning in Spanish now, will come into practical application when actually in a Spanish Speaking country. All while without straying from the information on the subject it's trying to give. An excellent book! A walk-through, tuturial, and personal guide to the full structure of the Spanish langauge.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Too much of words and phrases you really don't need to know!, October 2, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Learning Spanish on Your Own (Paperback)

The book was full of information which is very helpful, but some of the basics were left out. For instance, the book will tell you how to say Hello, but not how to say Good-bye. It also does not have a great index in the back. Most English/Spanish books have the words located at the back, so it is like a dictionary as well. It does have a tremendous amount of information for the beginner who can pick up some of the real basics on their own.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Despite the Errors Still A Very Good Resource, July 29, 2005

By 

Edward Meyers (Cleveland, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Learning Spanish on Your Own (Paperback)

Although there were some errors in the book, I still found that it was a pretty good resource to learn Spanish. I had originally used this book a few years ago with Barrons FSI Spanish and found that this book greatly enhanced my learning with the Barrons FSI Spanish. In fact, I recently recommended this book to a friend that's learning Spanish and I still continue use the book as a resource.

I found that the most helpful parts of the book were the "10 Minutes Al Dia" tips and the "Memory Master" sections. The book also has ample written exercises and tests to help reinforce everything that you learn.

Besides the occasional errors that the book contains, my only complaint is that the author made many useless attempts to explain the pronunciation of the Spanish vocabulary words. Not only was this unnecessary since all Spanish words are pronounced the way they are written unlike in English. It was unhelpful because in order teach correct pronunciation of a foreign language you need audio and not just text. Complaints aside, this is still a very good resource to learn Spanish.