Fodor's Spanish for Travelers (Phrase Book) (Fodor's Languages for Travelers) [Paperback]

Living Language (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 1997 | Series: Fodor's Languages for Travelers

From the Most Respected Names in Travel and Language Instruction


Fodor's Spanish for Travelers makes it easy to speak and understand Spanish, even if you've never studied it before. And it's all backed by the experience of Fodor's, the most trusted name in travel, and Living Language, publishers of best-selling language courses for more than half a century.


•2,200 words and phrases

•A 1,600-word two-way dictionary


•Speak Spanish right away -- Just read straight from the book. Accurate, easy to use phonetics help you speak like a native.

•Find what you need right away -- Words and phrases are grouped by topic.

•Handle every situation -- You'll find all the words and phrases you need for every part of your trip, from arrival to departure.

•Travel Smart -- Fodor's correspondents share their know-how throughout.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Pair a 288-page phrasebook with a two-way dictionary along with two cassettes and an audio script for following along and you have a powerful set which goes beyond the simple phrase-only approach of most Spanish tutorials. This blends a phonetics approach with grammar and travel tips to appeal to traveler listeners. -- Midwest Book Review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Language Notes

Text: English, Spanish --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Living Language (April 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679034153
• ISBN-13: 978-0679034155
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,065,003 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars phrases are spoken too fast!, January 26, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Fodor's Spanish for Travelers, 1st edition (CD Package): More than 3,800 Essential Words and Useful Phrases (Fodor's Languages/Travelers) (Audio CD)

The audio with this book has useful phrases that would be great to learn before your trip, however the phrases are spoken to quickly for a beginner to learn. Also, the format is inconsistent. In the beginning they start off first giving you the word/phrases in english followed by spanish. Then, without any warning, it changes to giving you the spanish word first and then the english. This makes learning even more difficult. This is not a good program for beginners. Maybe if you have taken spanish classes and know some basic spanish vocabulary, grammer, and phonics then this would be a helpful review. If you are a beginner like me with one semester in college completed years ago this program is not for you.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars No hablo Espanol!, January 27, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Fodor's Spanish for Travelers, 1st edition (CD Package): More than 3,800 Essential Words and Useful Phrases (Fodor's Languages/Travelers) (Audio CD)

I'll get straight to the point: Do NOT buy this unless you have a basic, solid knowledge of Spanish already.
This CD set is comprised of phrases, first said in Enlish, then repeated in Spanish. The Spanish pronunciation is difficult to understand without the book in front of you- which is confusing to follow.
This CD set does not teach grammar, pronouns, tenses, etc. It only teaches phrases- complete sentences.
In order to benefit from this set, you will need to already understand some basic verbs and pronouns (gender and formalities) or you will become lost very quickly.

This CD set is only good if you need to quickly memorize phrases for traveling- but remember, you will also need to UNDERSTAND what people say to you. It's better to learn the basic language skills than to memorize, "Where is the bus station?" and realize you have no idea what the response means!

I recommend starting with a "Teach Yourself Spanish" course first. That will give you a good foundation.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book was invaluable to us, July 22, 2004

By 

Jen C. (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fodor's Spanish for Travelers (Phrase Book) (Fodor's Languages for Travelers) (Paperback)

My husband and I travelled to Spain for our honeymoon knowing very little Spanish (cerveza, por favor and gracias were basically it). This book helped us to communicate with ease. The book is organized by situation to allow you to find stuff quickly, and also includes a small dictionary. Its small size made it easy to carry with us everywhere. We also carried the Living Language Spanish-English dictionary to help us translate specific words, but to put them in phrases that actually made sense we used this book. We will definitely buy other phrasebooks by Fodor's for our next trip.