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BOOK: Breaking Out of Beginner's Spanish

Submitted by Billy Bob on Sun, 2006/06/25 - 19:33.
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BOOK: Breaking Out of Beginner's Spanish

by Joseph Keenan, University of Texas Press, Austin, c 1994 paperback, 215 pages. $18.95 list, $12.32 from Amazon.com

I found this to be a very practical and very readable book. It's one person's opinions of tips and insights to help a native English Speaker learn Spanish. I won't go into the details because you can see it all laid out by doing a search under "Keenan" on the Amazon website.

The book is well worth the price and effort.

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I second (or third) that

Submitted by fyl on Mon, 2006/12/25 - 14:58.

I have Billy Bob's copy and just want to say that the book is so much more important than this review states. That is, it is not just another book on better Spanish but a very important but very practical book.

I feel a quote is in order. Chapter 7 is called "Sixty-four Verbs up Close and Personal". I am picking servir because it is fairly short but conveys both the type of information you will gain and also the way it is presented.

"To Serve," yes, but how often do you say "to serve" in any average day? "After I serve dinner, if it serves you, m'lord, I'll serve you poinoned coffee and it'll serve you right!" In Spanish servir is much more commonly heard for "to work" in the sense of "to function." No sirve mi teléfono is "My phone doesn't work." ¿Para que sirve? is "What is it used for?" or even "What good is it?" When servir is used for "to serve," it is often dressed up in the stock phrase ¿En qué le puedo servir? ("May I help you?"). Sírvase (or Sírvete), finally, can be used for "Help yourself," but a Spanish speaker would probably say Tome lo que quiera instead.

My New Book

Submitted by Miskito Alan on Mon, 2006/06/26 - 06:23.

Babble for Dummies

That is the only language spoken on the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua.

We only use 2 English words - Grits & Okra.

Miskito Alan &#174

Babble en espanol................

Submitted by Billy Bob on Mon, 2006/06/26 - 13:42.

Babble, noun: (of baby)Balbuceo; (of stream, voices) murmullo (also a bunch of verb definitions)

Compliments of Harper Collins Spanish College Dictionary, 1290 pages , hardbound. I bought this about a year ago from Amazon for about 20 bucks because it looked like the best Big Fat Home dictionary they had.

I like it. It seems thorough and has 2 color blue and black print on white paper which makes it more readable than my cheapy travel dictionary. 2 thumbs up on this guy, but I notice on its fly that they also offer "unabridged", "concise", and, and "beginner's" Spanish dictionaries that might be better for other people.

Great book....

Submitted by Jay_D on Mon, 2006/06/26 - 04:18.

great recommendation. Love this book!

Anyone that wants to learn Spanish at the intermediate level or the expat who intends to live in a Spanish speaking country should buy this book!

Material is presented in an interesting, fun and an accessible manner.

FYI: not affiliated with author or publisher....this is only an opinion... jejejejeje