Customer Reviews

Demystifying Spanish Grammar: Advanced Spanish Grammar, Clarifying the Written Accents, Ser/Estar (Verbs), Para/Por (Prepositions), Imperfect/Preterite (Past Tenses), & the Spanish Subjunctive

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Demystifying Spanish Grammar is quite a good book for Spanish students everywhere. At first I wondered if the book would be able to cover much ground as it is a shorter book than I expected it to be. Wow, was I ever wrong! This Spanish grammar book covers lots of territory and works wonders for helping students of Spanish like me understand basic yet critical concepts about nouns, verbs, prepositions and much more including those pesky Spanish accents. Great!

Here is a list of what the book covers very well:

1) Written accents in Spanish
2) Understanding Ser and Estar
3) Understanding Para and Por (worth the price of admission alone!)
4) Understanding the Imperfect and the Preterit (the simple past tense)
5) Two lengthy sections on understanding the Spanish Subjunctive (excellent)

There are answers to the exercises; a list of other recommended books (wow); an English-Spanish Glossary; extra information on Spanish nouns and even definitions of grammatical terms.

Author Brandon Simpson has an excellent writing style that spells things out remarkably clearly and the overall "feel" of the book is a "user-friendly" one and this book is not difficult to understand. You also still have the ability to re-read parts of the book that are particularly troublesome for you if, for example, you're having trouble differentiating between para and por--this certainly does throw many, many students of Spanish grammar--even the best of students can stumble and fall on this topic.

Overall, I highly recommend this book for people who wish to pursue the formal study of the Spanish language at the entry and intermediate levels. It's also a good book for people who wish to use it to review or refresh their understanding of certain concepts even when they are at the more advanced levels of study. In addition, this book is designed in such a way that you can use it for independent study or you can refer to it when a topic in class just isn't clearly understandable to you. Brandon Simpson has made a huge contribution to the study of the Spanish language; and we are better off for it.

Don't expect to learn a lot of Spanish or to spend hours reading this book. I went through the entire thing in a couple of hours. The book only goes into six grammatical issues facing foreign learners. For me I picked up a few small tips (using "ser" to indicate event location and a slightly better understanding of when to use the accent mark) but about 95% of the book was covered in my College advance grammer course. The book is good for a quick study before a test in one of the grammar areas and I suspect it is more useful for high school student (who don't have a good understanding of even English grammar) than for College students.

The book does give some acronyms to remember for when to use "ser" vs. "estar" and is good for people that need acronyms to jar their memory.

All in all the material, though sparse is well explained and will be useful for students that have difficulty with the concepts covered.

I am a Spanish major. I am in the process of finishing my last four classes for my B.A. in Spanish. I own too many Spanish reference books to even count. And, I know which areas of grammar usually give non native speakers of the language problems when they write or speak.

A few days ago I recieved this thin, green book in the mail. The title made me curious. I asked myself "Is it possible that this author can demystify Spanish grammar?" Well, the answer is yes. The author, Brandon Simpson, has managed to present and clarify written accents, ser/estar, para/por, the imperfect/preterit, and yes, the dreaded Spanish subjunctive in a very fresh and very user friendly way.

I especially like the way the author uses acronyms like HIDE/STARS to help inforce the usage of the imperfect and the preterit. These types of acronyms along with practice exercises are used throughout the book. And, they do what they were designed to do, they help the learner to remember and understand these often troublesome grammar areas. Mr. Simpson presents all of the above grammar topics in a very precise fashion. His book is a gem for all intermediate to advanced Spanish learners. His creativity and his ability to actually help learners is commendable.

Please note that this book does not cover every aspect of Spanish grammar. The areas mentioned above are the topics of focus. And, if you are studying Spanish, you already know why a focus on these areas and an easy to carry book like this one is necessary.

Brandon Simpson, you did a fine job. I recommend your book to all Spanish learners who want to fine tune their fluency and comprehension of the Spanish language.

Thanks for a wonderful tool!

Look, I don't know much about Spanish. Most of what I know or can dope out I picked up through my music studies and having to try and read lyrics and texts in various European languages. The only language I studied at all was a year's worth of German as an undergraduate. So, I know a little about what students go through in trying to learn a new language. If you are beyond Spanish 101 and want to get some real help in understanding some key basic elements of the grammar of Spanish works, Brandon Simpson's little book can help you.

Simpson says you should consider this book like sessions with a tutor and I think that is spot on. He sets out to help you with a few problems that his experience tells him most students studying Spanish struggle with.
1) Demystifying the Written Accents in Spanish
2) Demystifying Ser and Estar
3) Demystifying Para and Por
4) Demystifying the Imperfect and the Preterit HIDE/STARS acronyms.
5) And two chapters dealing with the Spanish Subjunctive.

He provides several mnemonics to help you remember the rules, as most good teachers will do, several sets of exercises to help you see if you really understand what you have read, and several appendices to help you get at key information and a list of other books to read and study. Simpson also provides contact information so you can get a hold of him yourself and ask questions.

A handy and useful book. Just remember that it is a few lessons with a tutor to help you learn a few key lessons rather than a big text on the all and all of Spanish grammar.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

This is really one gem of a book!

Brandon chose to cover 6 *practical* areas in Spanish grammar that give non-native speakers the most difficulty. In focusing on these topics, he affords himself the luxury to really delve into each topic and demystify these troublesome points of grammar.

One reviewer (who gave a favorable 4-star review) said "don't expect to learn much Spanish". Brandon's intent was not to teach these topics, but clarify them. You don't learn Spanish from this book -- you learn how to use Spanish CORRECTLY. There's a big difference. This little book is for those of us who have already read the "Por vs Para" or "Ser vs Estar" sections of our textbook, and are still left, at times, scratching our head over which one to use.

Clarifying a focused set of topics would, by itself, make this book worth the price tag. However, this book is special in other ways as well:

First, the book's tone:
Brandon takes on a *very* conversational tone in this book. As I read the book, it felt as if Brandon were sitting in front of me, tutoring me. It's a very personable book, and hence, utterly readable.

Second, Brandon's approach:
One of the remarkable things about this book is how Brandon approaches the demystification. A typical section of this book will:

1. State the difficulties students have with the topic.
2. Discuss the standard treatment of the topic, and why the standard treatment is either insufficient or confusing. In other words, he analyzes and critiques the standard treatment you'd find in a typical textbook.
3. He discusses how he himself stumbled onto his own personal take of the topic.
4. He presents how he himself thinks of the topic, offering illustrative examples of why his take on that particular topic is more effective than the standard treatment.

It's quite remarkable that Brandon chooses to deconstruct the orthodox methodology of Spanish education (e.g. "Ser is permanent and Estar is temporary") and then offer his own replacement methodology.

In that respect, this book actually goes beyond the stated goal of "demystifying Spanish" and begins to approach "Spanish education pedagogy".

My only real criticism of the book is that it left me wanting more of Brandon's insight. I would love to see his take on other topics in Spanish grammar. Perhaps the same book with double the content at double the price.

Which brings me to the last point: the price.

The book is about $12. If you're not completely competent in these topics in Spanish grammar, you would be insane not to plunk down the price of a 6-pack for this book. It is a very high value, very low cost book.

If you're a professor, the book is cheap enough to be on your recommended books list.

I've always had issues with the past tense in Spanish. Differentiating between the imperfect and preterite is not easy since some of it simply does not correlate in English. It is also extremely time-consuming when you have to run through your mind which tense to use, especially when you are trying to engage in conversation. Knowing and mastering the differences between the two tenses is essential though. Just think of what you talk about throughout the day: the vast majority of it is about things that happened in the past!

This book helped a lot. I liked the acronyms used, and even though I had studied Spanish for several years, I actually learned a lot of new things that have helped my conversational skills.

Maybe the methods in this book will not work for you. But if you are a serious student of Spanish and still have problems with the listed topics (written accents, ser/estar, para/por, imperfect/preterite, subjunctive) then this book is worth trying.

My major in college was French with a minor in Spanish. I haven't used Spanish for a number of years and have now decided to retire in Mexico. I purchased the book thinking, "Just another grammar book like the 40 others I have."
Was I ever wrong. This easily makes 5 points of grammar which has troubled all language students. For example:
The verb ESTAR uses the anronym LET - L = Location (not event); E - Emotions: T - Temporary feelings.

This book deserves a double 5-star rating. The material is easily learned and a lot of headaches in Spanish Grammar will have disappeared when you have absorbed Mr. Simpson's information.

Larry Tomaw

In the very first chapter of this book, the author talks a bit about his experiences as a Spanish tutor. When tutoring Spanish students, he was compelled to figure out ways to explain things to a real person---and that's what I like about this book---it's not just a presentation of grammar, it's like someone sitting down with you and explaining Spanish grammar to you one-on-one. Sometimes he says things like "Here's the way the most Spanish textbooks would explain this, but there's more to it than that..." and then he goes on to explain things in a more complete and in-depth fashion. I think anybody who reads this book would benefit from the author's experience as a Spanish tutor. It's sort of like having a Spanish tutor in book form.

Though I am not a Spanish major, I found this book to be very helpful to me as an advanced beginner of the language. It was a relief to have a clear explanation of the key points presented in this book - my teachers generally did not have the time to cover these very points that were giving me difficulty, and I often did not have the words to explain my study frustration.

Demystifying Spanish Grammar has been the answer.

It has become a handy reference tool in my personal Spanish language reference library - right along side my text book, phrase book, and Spanish/English dictionary. I recommend it to anyone who is making a serious study of Spanish - especially if you are working independently.

This little book is a handy summary of a number of tricks that will help intermediate students to understand some of the points of Spanish orthography and grammar that they are unlikely to have mastered at the beginning level. Simpson explains such matters as accent use, por/para, ser/estar and the subjunctive with simple rules, memorable acronyms and a minumum of technical language, so that the average reader of the book won't get bogged down in the terminology-laden presentations of advanced grammars.

I give the book four stars rather than five because, while it accomplishes its task well for its intended audience, it does have a few errors and some decidedly non-native examples. Overall, though, I recommend this book for high school students in the second year or above, or college students who have finished at least one semester of Spanish.

A revised version of this book with a little polishing would be most welcome.