Spanish for Beginners (Spanish Edition) [Paperback]

Charles Duff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1971

This complete, step-by-step introduction to the language enables students to speak, read, and write Spanish with ease. Includes a basic vocabulary of nearly three thousand words, and outlines the essentials of Spanish grammar.

Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: Collins Reference (January 1, 1971)
• Language: Spanish
• ISBN-10: 0064632717
• ISBN-13: 978-0064632713
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #285,459 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Takes you far quickly, September 11, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Spanish for Beginners (Spanish Edition) (Paperback)

Duff's "Spanish for Beginners" is concise, comprehensive, and especially suitable for self-study. It starts from the very beginning, requiring no prior exposure to Spanish, but by the end one's knowledge reaches significantly past the beginner's level; the goal seems to be dealing with unabridged Spanish by the time one has gone through it.

To allow such rapid language acquisition, the approach taken differs from many other textsbooks. There are no drill exercises; instead, the student is asked to be proactive while learning the language. The grammar is eventually taken to a fairly advanced point; the explanations are not exhaustive, however, and for the most part come in digestible chunks. Once the foundations are laid in the initial chapters, reading unmodified excerpts from original literature supplied with interlinear translations is used as the key teaching tool; the selections are not very long, are quite pleasant and include both Spanish and Latin American authors. Finally, a targeted situational vocabulary (airport, hotel, bathroom, restaurant, etc.) with sufficient examples of use is introduced in each section, nicely balancing the more literary flavor of the reading selections.

I found that by supplementing Duff with little more than a set of inexpensive tapes with dialogues, a simplified first reader, and a good dictionary, I was able to understand unabridged Spanish in both written and oral forms much sooner than I had expected. During a subsequent trip to Spain, I found that I could speak the language too.

This book was first published in 1958, so some (minor) aspects of grammar, orthography, and usage may have evolved since then, but I found them to be inconsequential to the learning process. The book performs an incredible feat of teaching Spanish from scratch to a rather advanced level in only some 330 rather modestly-sized pages, and its approach has worked very well for me. I recommend it highly.

NOTE: The book does not come with tapes, but I accompanied Duff with the inexpensive collection of graded dialogues provided on two 90-minute cassettes in "Spanish on the Go" from Barron's, and I found them to be very helpful and sufficient to break "the sound barrier". (Beware of the Castilian Spanish, rather than Latin American, accent on those tapes, at least in the first edition I have; this may or may not be what you want.) Any simple introductory course on cassettes would also do, and may be preferable for many learners as a starting point; Duff can then be used, in parallel or subsequently, to teach onself the rest of the language, since it covers far more advanced material than most audio-based courses.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Old book, but a GREAT BOOK!, March 16, 2005

By 

Zodiac13 (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Spanish for Beginners (Spanish Edition) (Paperback)

I have been taking Spanish for two semesters at a local community college and had to purchase two "one hundred dollar" books. (Actually $150 each with workbooks!) Those were good to follow along with the instructors, are only good with help, but that is where this book comes in!

Yes, it is old but I have found this book to be the best resource I have. This book actually explains the Spanish language to you rather than just drills or by clumsy illustrations. (In fact, this book has no pictures or drawings!)

One thing I really like about the book is the emphases on idioms. The Spanish language does not translate directly to English and vice versa (of course!). So this book has explained to me many phrases I have come across in my readings which did not make sense to me before.

The only thing I do not really like about the book is the "reading selections". Yes, they are interesting...but they are extremely technical; using words which most people wouldn't even run into the English or Spanish languages. But then again, maybe I'm just whining. Once again, the book was written in 1958, maybe our reading abilities have declined. Or is that just me?

I have completed reading 75% of the book and once I am finished I plan on reading it again to try and soak as much of the knowledge into my thick skull.

Great book, buy it! Beware, it is not easy reading and you need to be motivated to make it through.

Now, judging from my writing ability the next book I will need is an English 101 book!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best approach I've found for learning Spanish, November 4, 1999

By 

Gordon Klein ([e-mail]) (Maywood (near Chicago), Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Spanish for Beginners (Spanish Edition) (Paperback)

I have tried and failed with other approaches to learning Spanish. This book seems much better. It emphasizes an understanding of the language over mere memorization of phrases. I have purchased Duff's French and Italian for Beginners, too. I hope they work as well as the Spanish one.