Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 128
 Best value for the buck November 3, 2009
M. J. Wallace (Marilyn Wallace, Florence, Oregon)
I'm headed to Spain next year so I'm preparing now for the language. A friend of mine had a copy of this book but left it in a Taxi outside of Madrid. He was not a happy camper....the book had helped him through some tough communication situations. I bought the book on his recommendation and after looking over the text, I'm glad I did. It handles general everyday conversations with ease and clarity. I will pack this book for sure.
Easy Spanish Phrase Book: Over 770 Basic Phrases for Everyday Use September 22, 2009
James Williams (San Diego, CA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is James from James Spanish (the learning Spanish blog). Sometimes the quickest and easiest way to make yourself understood in a foreign language is to rely on a stock of phrases. With over 770 of the most commonly used phrases, the Easy Spanish Phrase Book is an ideal companion to traveling in a Spanish speaking country, as well as a great learning aide to help you memorize some key sentences.
The phrases are organized into easy to use categories, so you can quickly find the one that you need. You will find phrases for most common situations.
Even if you don't know a single word in Spanish, and have no prior knowledge you should be able to get by in many circumstances with this phrase book. Each phrase also has helpful pronunciation tips to make sure you are understood. Most phrases are short sentences, making them easy to remember and use. Practicing the phrases, paying particular attention to the pronunciation keys, can also help you to feel more comfortable speaking Spanish and build on your confidence.
Study topics such as introducing yourself, telling the time, ordering a meal, or making travel arrangements. A little regular study of the phrases will soon get you on the road to being able to have a basic conversation without relying on looking up each individual phrase.
For students with a little more knowledge, the book is a useful back up with plenty of phrases and vocabulary that you might not already know. Its handy compact size means that it can easily be carried around to have to hand when needed.
While you may not need all 770 phrases, you can memorize some of the phrases that you are likely to use and have the peace of mind that if you get stuck, you can probably find more useful phrases in the book.
The Easy Spanish Phrase Book is not a comprehensive way to learn how to speak Spanish but it is an ideal first step. A good phrase book is a great item to have in your language learning `tool kit', and this one is a great choice.
At such a low price, this little book is one of the wisest purchases you can make if you need to speak in Spanish.
In closing my review of this product, I'd like to share with you the three Amazon products that I have found most helpful in my pursuit to learn Spanish. If you are truly serious about achieving fluency, I'd recommend getting all 3 of them if you can afford it.
1. Lights, Camera, Spanish (Book + DVD): Learn Conversational Spanish by Watching a Romantic Adventure This is actually a 90 minute movie for Spanish-language learners. It gives the option to watch the movie with subtitles but I'd recommend not using them to improve your Spanish. This "movie" also includes a workbook so that you can reinforce the Spanish vocabulary words and phrases from the film. The workbook also has lots of exercises to keep you engaged in the film. But be prepared to hear Chilean accents. Although pleasent to the ear, the accents from Chile are very different from most Latin American accents.
2. Verbarrator Version 1.1 (Windows Version) This software replaces the traditional verb conjugation books and makes learning how to conjugate Spanish verbs an interactive and fun activity. This should be a required resource for anyone who wants to improve their ability to conjugate Spanish verbs. Especially anyone who is challenged by the drudgery of learning how to conjugate Spanish verbs and who is looking for a new way to make learning how to conjugate Spanish verbs an easy and fun activity
3. Diccionario esencial de la lengua espanola de la Real Academia Espanola (Spanish Edition) If you are really serious about speaking the language fluently, then at some point you will need to replace your Spanish-English dictionary and get a pure Spanish dictionary with both the vocabulary words and the definitions entirely in Spanish. I use this one only because it was highly-recommended by a friend from Spain who teaches Spanish.
Good Basics for travel...... August 26, 2009
KatCat (Salmon, ID)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
A quick reference, light to carry, and great to have at your fingertips when struggling for words in a foreign country..
 Well Worth Buying, Studying and Taking on Vacation August 12, 2009
Eric W. Vogt, Ph.D., Author of The Spanish Subjunctive Up Close, Spanish Pronouns Up Close and Spanish Past Tenses Up Close (Seattle, WA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have always found Dover books to be worth the money. This one is no exception. Some reviewers remark that there is nothing in it that you wouldn't find in a college textbook or remember if you studied Spanish well in college. Yet this criticism misses the point of a phrasebook. A good phrasebook has organizing principles that enable the non-speaker of a language to quickly find what he or she needs to say, and hopefully be able to pronounce it right.
This Dover book is well organized. Another reviewer astutely observed that it is a good idea to study it before you need it. You'll know where the entries are that you are likely to need and you'll be able to practice saying them.
Sincerely,
Eric W. Vogt, Ph.D.
self explanatory phrase book June 24, 2009
Willy (California)
self explanatory spanish phrase book
it has a lot of travel phrases and basic everyday phrases, which comes in handy, if you travel.
I wish the book was pocketsized so I can shove it in my pockets, but the book is like any other book size.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 128
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