Street Spanish 1: The Best of Spanish Slang [Paperback]

David Burke (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 9, 1997 | ISBN-10: 0471179701 | ISBN-13: 978-0471179702 | Edition: 1

If a native Spanish speaker were to tell you that the pez gordo (fat fish) met a merengue (meringue) with lots of pasta (noodles) who is going to become his media naranja (half an orange), you may not know whether to offer your condolences or your congratulations -- that is, unless you've read this first book in David Burke's Street Spanish series. Street Spanish 1 lets you quickly become an insider by presenting some of the most popular slang terms used throughout the many Spanish-speaking countries. With the help of entertaining dialogues, word games and drills, crossword puzzles, and word searches, you'll finally be able to understand the everyday language used on the street, in homes, offices, stores, and among family and friends.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Spanish

From the Publisher

Learn the fundamentals of Spanish slang in 10 easy lessons. This book provides you with the conversational Spanish that will help you talk to people, conduct business, read books or watch movies in the Spanish speaking world, and it gives you all the slang you need to enjoy conversing in everyday Spanish.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (October 9, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471179701
• ISBN-13: 978-0471179702
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #373,827 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Burke is the author of over 100 products and books on how to use and understand slang and idioms in different languages. His books are currently used as course curriculum by Berlitz Language Schools, UCLA, Harvard University, New York University (NYU) and Hewlett Packard.

David was brought up in a multi-lingual household and knows English, French, Italian, and American Sign Language. He is also a musician, having worked as a television composer and as the in-house composer for the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee.

In 1999, David became known as "Slangman" to 90 million listeners in 120 countries due to his regular 5-year segment on Voice of Americas Coast to Coast. Throughout the past 10 years, he has been the owner and CEO of Slangman Publishing, Inc., a publishing company specializing in materials on slang and idioms.

David is also the creator of Slangman's World, a children's TV show, currently in preproduction, which introduces children age 2-6 to the world of foreign languages and cultures, as well as popular American expressions in an environment of music, animation, and magic.

To date, David has appeared in more than 250 national and international radio and television programs helping parents to understand their teens, including; The Jenny Jones Show, The Sharon Osbourne Show, Entertainment Tonight, CNN International, and has been a recurring guest on the KTLA Morning Show and Canada's most popular talk show, the Vicki Gabereau Show. David was also a commentator at the 2004 Academy Awards for the BBCs Five Live (a program broadcasting to 7 million people throughout the United Kingdom) to speak about slang used in American movies and TV shows.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Bad Intro to Spanish Slang, February 17, 2003

By 

Thomas F. Ogara (Jacksonville, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Street Spanish 1: The Best of Spanish Slang (Paperback)

I've owned and used this book for a couple of years, and while it is worth the read, if you need to buy one book of this sort I would go with "Streetwise Spanish" by Mary Gill and Brenda Wegmann. While the format of both books is surprisingly similar, I think that "Streetwise" covers more turf, and does it more entertainingly, than "Street Spanish."

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book on Spanish slang, February 16, 2001

By 

John Moore (St. Michael, BARBADOS, Caribbean) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Street Spanish 1: The Best of Spanish Slang (Paperback)

Street Spanish 1 is the best book I have come across on Spanish slang. It provides a wide range of phrases and terms not generally found elsewhere, but which a native speaker would normally use when talking to friends or family, or which often crop up in movies and books. In other words, it teaches the real Spanish that is needed to promote a better understanding when conversing with or listening to native speakers.

The dialogues are made up of the most popular slang expressions that are used in various Hispanic countries, allowing their usage to be observed in context while on the facing pages an English translation is provided for easy reference.

The vocabulary section that comes at the end of every dialogue focuses on each slang term and explains its usage even further by means of additional examples, while synonyms, antonyms and variations used in different countries are included to ensure that a thorough grasp of each term is reached. To gain that extra edge, this book is highly recommended for travellers and students alike.

(Having the cassettes, which are not part of the package, would be an added bonus since you would hear the dialogues being spoken by natives of Mexico, Argentina, Peru, and Spain, providing a better feel for the language, its speech patterns and the varying pronunciations).

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not your best bet, September 23, 2004

By 

El Gallo (Mexico) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Street Spanish 1: The Best of Spanish Slang (Paperback)

This is a very mediocre slang book, typical of so many that are written from dictionaries instead of real living experience. Half the words are not slang at all...just examining the pages available for free look you see stuff like tropece, nena, platicar that are ordinary speech. No depth, nothing you don't learn in your SPanish class in Iowa.

Additionally, the Spanish itself is faulty---for instance, donanadie instead of dona nadie with tilda over the n in dona.

Not so hot. Better than that "Forbidden" and "Taboo" crap, but really....not for the serious speaker.