Customer Reviews

Spanish a la cartoon

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Cartoons have always been very underrated when it comes to education. They are in fact invaluable when dealing with recall since they combine words and pictures which helps with retention and context.

This little book is filled with cartoons from all over the Spanish speaking world. Some you may find funny, others maybe not. You will learn some good Spanish words in a cultural context as well as learn a modicum of that culture.

Each cartoon is presented in its original form at the top of the page. Below this are the key words for understanding the cartoon, along with translations of these keywords. This makes it very easy to comprehend and learn the words you do not know in the cartoon.

This is probably not a good beginner's book. It does not go into great detail about grammar and verbs. It is designed more for the Spanish learner who already has a basic background and wants to expand their vocabulary.

Lastly, a brief biography of each cartoonist is presented. The cartoons are labeled by Cartoonist and their country.

Overall, the book will help someone already somewhat basically proficient in Spanish (you do not need to be an expert by any means) improve their Spanish. It may also make you laugh, but it will definitely provide you with some juicy Spanish right out of Spanish speaking culture.

If you're willing to really THINK about what's being said in each cartoon, and your students are motivated to use the words presented as vocabulary for each page, this can be a GREAT way to jump start a lesson. I made transparencies and showed these at the beginning of weekly classes for my teenage students. They helped new words to stick. I then would add a little speaking activity or something to go with each one to further the absorption.

For younger children, who need lots of activities and hands on learning, try Flip Flop Spanish, which comes with a CD!

Sra. Gose
Author of Flip Flop Spanish: Ages 3-5: Level 1 & Flip Flop Spanish: Ages 3-5: Level 2

Humor relies on so much. Cultural,political and socialogical norms all have to be known in order to appreciate a joke. Throw in another language and appreciating jokes from other countries becomes that much more difficult. It would be better to have translated US cartoons.
But it is still a welcome relief from some of the spanish resources.

So glad I bought and read this book. It is amazing. Shows Hispanic culture in a fun way.

I loved this book! I am still just learning Spanish, and I could not put this book down. My only wish is that it could have contained more cartoons! I will definitely read them all again, and I think that repetition is a critical step in learning a new language.

`Spanish a la Cartoon' is an excellent book for those new to reading Spanish. This book presents simple written Spanish in a fun format. Each page has a single cartoon (not a cartoon strip) like the kind found in newspapers with a Spanish dialogue or phrase underneath. There is then a key word section that translates the main words into English, before the complete phrase is translated into everyday English at the bottom. The cartoons are usually quite humorous and are a great visual way to start reading Spanish. There is also a Spanish-English glossary at the back. If you like this I'd recommend `Oxford Spanish Cartoon-Strip' which follows a similar format but is slightly more advanced due to the strip aspect and a bit more of a narrative to follow.

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I ordered this book thinking that it might be a good book to help spice up class for my more advanced students. But reading over the book myself, I am rethinking that.

I speak and read Spanish very comfortably myself. After 30 years of studying and speaking Spanish, I rarely have trouble with any text. But when I read this book, by the time I've digested the picture, read the words, adjusted my perceptions because of unexpected cultural or linguistic aspects of the cartoon, there is little chance for humor left. I did enjoy reading the book myself, but more because I was interested in the cultural and linguistic differences displayed here than because I found the book funny.

It disturbs me that the book includes a basic summary of grammar, including a discussion of object pronouns and a list of words that won't be translated, like "siempre" or "tener." This contrasts strongly with the text of the first cartoon (which shows a man being escorted down the street by a policeman): "¿Cómo que sin fondos? Si todavía tengo 5 cheques en la chequera." This is not a straightforward grammatical structure, and certainly should not be the first sentence encountered by the reader who needs to be told, "A Spanish-speaking child will say proudly, 'I have five years' (Tengo cinco años)," or that subject pronouns may be omitted in Spanish.

Translations are offered for each cartoon; these are not at all literal, but instead are intended to be appropriate language for publication in English. This is of little use for beginning and even, in some cases, intermediate students, although I myself found the comparison to be the most interesting feature of the book, as I compared their translation both with the Spanish original and with the way I might have translated the caption myself. ("No comprendo qué ve de romántico la gente en la caída de la hoja," is nicely translated as "I can't understand why people consider falling leaves so romantic," for example.)

This could be a nice change of pace for a serious Spanish student, but I think the book claims too much for itself.

This is a great book for Spanish teachers to use as warm-ups. Students will love to translate the cartoons while learning to use the Spanish language.