Madrigal's Magic Key to Spanish: A Creative and Proven Approach (Paperback)

by Margarita Madrigal (Author)
Key Phrases: third man form, cartas esta mañana, escribir muchas cartas, San Francisco, Lección Número Diez, Nueva York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Based on the student's ability to create--not memorize by rote--the Madrigal method can help readers convert English into Spanish in an instant, develop perfect pronunciation (thanks to a handy pronunciation guide), form sentences from the very first lesson, and more. Previously announced in September.

Language Notes
Text: English, Spanish

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Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Main Street Books (September 1, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385410956
• ISBN-13: 978-0385410953
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (84 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,091 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

116 of 117 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entiendo Espanol..., May 9, 2001

By	Leo E. Walsh "ebraynz" (Mentor, Oh United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I got decent grades in college Spanish; two “A-‘s” and a “B+.” However, when I needed to actually speak Spanish, I was lost. I couldn’t say much except “Mas cervezas, por favor (More beer, please)!”

"Madrial’s Magic Key", along with the expensive (but quite worth it) Pimsleur tapes, have corrected the “mis-education” I was subjected to. The drills Ms. Madrigal presents are easy to remember and fun to do, not like those tedious translations and verb conjugations that college texts are so fond of. In two months, studying this book in my spare time, I retained more Spanish than I did in an entire academic year. And, for the first time, I can actually say that I understand Spanish.

I would supplement this book with a comprehensive book on Spanish grammar (I have the Barron’s, but I suppose any would work) and a dictionary. I would definitely recommend “Breaking Out of Beginner’s Spanish” by Joseph Keenan for an in depth take on colloquial Spanish as well. Further, if you have the money, buy the "Pimsleur Comprehensive" series as well. Get vol.’s 1-3, even though they are pricey. If you are an audio/tactile learner like me, I guarantee that you will retain more Spanish idioms using the Pimsleur method than any other.

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Book for Teaching Yourself to Speak Spanish., October 27, 1999

By	Gary Schroeder ([e-mail]) "schroe... (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

I have searched for years to find good books to teach myself Spanish, and this one is head and shoulders above the rest. The clear structured organization and presentation make it easy to read and to study. Most others are too basic or, it seems, oriented to very young students. If you are seriously interested in teaching yourself conversational Spanish, then this book will be very helpful. It progresses at a good rate, integrates vocabulary painlessly and uses excercises that build conversational ability. If you are interested in teaching yourself Spanish, then this book is very effective. It uses some very effective shortcuts. For example, it omits the familiar form which reduces the number of verb forms without limiting your ability to comunicate. Many books seem oriented to college course work and seem tediously and academically oriented to stucture and detail, rules and form. This book does not suffer these defiencies. It is committed to teaching you to communicate in Spanish easily (at least as easily as possible)and effectively. I am just someone who wanted to learn to speak Spanish and for that purpose, I found it very effective.

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic start to learning spanish, January 10, 2004

By	Languagelover (Manchester, England) - See all my reviews

Magic Key to Spanish is one of those rare books that you come back to again again, it inspires progress and there's so much to learn from it- it's certainly not going to be a dust gatherer if learning Spanish is what you truly want. If I've convinced you already buy it- if not read on.

The book starts with a very positive introduction and goes on to explain that an English speaker already knows hundreds if not thousands of words in Spanish and it gives you the rules that unlock this 'magic key' to Spanish. It then moves on to teach you grammar in a very novel way, none of the boring conjungations that had to be learnt by rote when doing languages at school. She starts with the past tense as this is how we speak to friends and then moves through much of the essential grammar required to Speak, Read and write Spanish.

I would recommend this book to all beginners in Spanish. It has got two downsides which are the layout, which is now dated (it was written in the early 1950's with Andy Warhol as the illustrator) and also (for me living in England) the fact that the emphasis is on South American Spanish not peninsular Spanish.

I wish the Magic Key to French and German were still in print as I have made substanital progress with my Spanish using this book, the method obviously works. If the publisher is reading this, please consider a reprint of the other two editions given the success of the Spanish version.

The late Margarita Madrigal was ahead of her time as the method she used in this book is akin to what trainers would now call Accerlerated Learning. A word of warning, make sure that you do all of the exercises and tests or you will not be learning to your full potential.

I recommend that you buy this book and use it in tandem with an audio course either the Pimsleur series (expensive) or Michel Thomas would be great- as these will give you the pronunciation which you will require to progress further. Both the audio courses are structured so that there is no repetition and so you have to consciously form the language and remain motivated not bored. If you would like more in-depth information on Spanish grammar I highly recommend 'Buscalo'

Hope this helps you with your introduction to the beautiful and very useful Spanish language- buena suerte!