Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
133 of 135 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best of its Kind, January 2, 2003
This review is from: Streetwise Spanish : Speak and Understand Everyday Spanish (Paperback)
There are a plethora of books purporting to deal with Spanish slang on the market; a surprisingly large number of them have come out in just the last few years. After having checked out many of them, I must say that this is far and away the best one that I have encountered to date.One of the problems with dealing with colloquialisms in Spanish is that they differ so much from region to region. This book addresses this by setting the dialogues in different Hispanic countries, including (dare I say it?) that particularly large Hispanic country called the United States, specifically in California and Florida. The book then selects out the colloquialisms covered in the lesson and tells you what the equivalent terms are in other Hispanic countries. Another problem with learning colloquialisms, and this is true in any language, is that they tend to vary considerably depending on the social type you're dealing with: students, business types, street people, etc. Not infrequently, the learner may have to deal with several different strata in the course of his or her travels, and so familiarity with several situations is called for. The different lessons, and lectures, in this book intentionally vary the milieu of the characters so that you get an even spread. The book also has an abundance of cultural notes and asides, jokes, and situational items to polish up your skills. Among the features I enjoyed best was the essay on that famous Hispanic folk art, the "piropo", including examples of the genre, along with some snappy comebacks for women to use when encountering this phenomenon on the street. So may study aids come out on Spanish every year that it's hard to single out the real winners. This book is definitely one of them, and regardless of your interest in the language you'll find your money well spent on this one. To top it all, it's a good read!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
 
|
|
|
|
|
|
66 of 66 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fun, Real, Entertaining Spanish!, July 10, 2003
This review is from: Streetwise Spanish : Speak and Understand Everyday Spanish (Paperback)
This book is the best birthday present I ever got from a friend...It is at once a GREAT read, with hilarious jokes, situations, and catroons sprinkeled throughout; and a solid educational resource...although you won't find it in your high school Spanish class. Also, it covers a wide spectrum of slang, from innocent proverbs to informal greetings to more risque or vulgar phrases. Which of course help you to be an informed global citizen, haha. When you think you're done learning all the words for one lesson, you can quiz yourself with the brief excercises at the end of each chapter!
But wait, there's more! Since Spanish is the official language of a dazzling 21 countries, this book also does a great job at pointing out and explaining regional differences. All in all, this book will teach you to greet, express a multitude of emotions, complain, respond to lewd comments, spout proverbs, and overall feel a lot more comfortable with your usage and understanding of everyday Spanish. With readings, excercises, vocab lists, fun, and a dictionary in the back, this book is your one-stop for picking up tons of casual Spanish as it is really spoken.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
|
|
|
|
|
|
41 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Book for Learning Everyday Spanish, June 9, 2001
This book is a great buy. I bought it recently for my final stage of Spanish, slang. I have already mastered the grammer and much of the vocabulary, so this is the last thing. When I say slang, I do not exactly mean profanity. I am talking about idiomatic expressions. This book greatly helps you to sound like a native speaker. It has a dialogues, translations, vocabulary notes and lists, exercises, jokes and cartoons, and some culture notes. It also has reviews and answer keys, as well as a bilingual glossary. I appreciate its warning of how vulgar a word can be, and also its explanation on how different words are used in different Spanish-speaking countries. You can't get confused while using this book, because everything is so easy and clear. A very good choice to learning everyday Spanish.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
by Brad Kim; Erika Domínguez
by Eleanor Hamer
