Mexican Spanish: Lonely Planet Phrasebook [Paperback]

Rafael & Cecilia Carmona (Author), Lonely Planet Phrasebooks (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2003

I would never have found this place, learned your name, shared a bottle of tequila – unless I’d opened this book...

-local expressions and cultural facts
-culinary guide to Mexico’s world-famous cuisine
-shopping lingo, pick-up lines & sports speak

Editorial Reviews

Review

National Geographic Traveler, September 2006
'Lonely Planet Phrasebooks. Portable, pocket-size, cheap, and available for almost any country you might want to visit...'

From the Publisher

Who We Are
At Lonely Planet, we see our job as inspiring and enabling travellers to connect with the world for their own benefit and for the benefit of the world at large.

What We Do
* We offer travellers the world's richest travel advice, informed by the collective wisdom of over 350 Lonely Planet authors living in 37 countries and fluent in 70 languages.
* We are relentless in finding the special, the unique and the different for travellers wherever they are.
* When we update our guidebooks, we check every listing, in person, every time.
* We always offer the trusted filter for those who are curious, open minded and independent.
* We challenge our growing community of travellers; leading debate and discussion about travel and the world.
* We tell it like it is without fear or favor in service of the travellers; not clouded by any other motive.

What We Believe
We believe that travel leads to a deeper cultural understanding and compassion and therefore a better world.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Lonely Planet; 1st edition (October 1, 2003)
• Language: English, Spanish
• ISBN-10: 1740594959
• ISBN-13: 978-1740594950
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 3.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #585,157 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #17 in Books > Libros en español > Viajes y turismo > Latino América

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't go to Mexico without it!, May 12, 2006

By 

Glen Allan (Renfrewshire, Scotland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mexican Spanish: Lonely Planet Phrasebook (Paperback)

My wife and I went to Mexico to get married and we are not Spanish speakers. This handy book is first class and here are the reasons why:-

The book is small enough to easily fit into a coat or shirt pocket.

It has drawings of common situations with arrows pointing at items in the drawing with the Mexican word highlighted (how much easier could they make it)

The sections in the book are colour coordinated according to the situations you may find yourself (reservations,dining,partying... etc. Flick to the section and then use the obvious sentences to converse around the subject.

Pronunciation and grammar are explained clearly at the start of the book and all the words in the book are laid out phonetically (the only way you are going to get this wrong is if you can't read)

In conclusion, a first class guide, when we showed the book to the locals in Mexico they wanted to know if they could buy it in Mexico as they didn't think they could. They loved the pictures and even chipped in to help with correct pronunciation if we went astray.

The Mexican slang in the book is spot on, the Mexicans couldn't believe that some of the words were in the book.

When I go back to Mexico this book will be in my pocket, don't leave home without it.

Highly recommended

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Reasonably good Mexican Spanish, TERRIBLE pronunciation guide, September 15, 2005

By 

David W. Bodwell "mazbook" (Mazatlán, Sinaloa, México) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mexican Spanish: Lonely Planet Phrasebook (Paperback)

This handy new phrasebook is MUCH closer to the Mexican Spanish being spoken today than any other I have found. It's actually pretty good, BUT the pronunciation guide is very, very bad for anyone from the central/western US or western Canada. If you're from those areas and don't already have some idea of correct Spanish pronunciation, avoid this phrasebook.

I think the authors must have had some idea about this in advance, since they tell you, "Don't worry too much about pronunciation." That of course is totally wrong. Spanish is one of the world's almost perfectly phonetic languages and pronunciation is the MOST important thing about being understood.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars We want more!, June 10, 2005

By 

Amanda D (Dover, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mexican Spanish: Lonely Planet Phrasebook (Paperback)

I just want to say how pleased I am I have bought this phrasebook. I have used it on my recent visit to Mexico. It was a 'perfect companion'. The book is extremely well organised, covers what a visitor needs like food, shopping, etc. It also goes beyond what most phrasebooks have to offer. It has an unusual linguistic awareness of the language and its regional dialects. This is a taste of what could be developed into a course book on the Mexican language and its dialects. That would be most welcome. We want more!