Hugo Latin American Spanish in Three Months: Simplified Language Course

I went through all the books at Borders, and this was the best for me. No it's not for beginners, it's for people who really want to learn and understand the language as it's actually used. It seems quite difficult to find good books like this.. for those who've already graduated from the "Hello my name is Pepe" books.

Hugo's does what many other self-study language programs don't. It builds up your basics with simple nouns before moving on to basic sentences and verbs, then verb conjugation. Instead of memorizing phrases, you're given the bits of speech so you learn the actual rules of the language, rather than parrot back simple phrases. This helps you to actually communicate, and your command of the language improves quickly. The cassettes are helpful in that you actually hear pronunciation by native speakers, but they are by no means necessary. I rarely use them except when I hit a lesson I need more help on, and aural study does help in this way. In the back is a Spanish-English/English-Spanish dictionary (my beef with this was it doesn't contain nearly enough words other than ones commonly used in this course). Therefore, I recommend buying a nice thick Spanish/English dictionary in addition. If you can't afford the time or money for a class, Hugo's is definitely one of the best alternatives I've found. In addition, however, I'd recommend "Cliffs QuickReview: Spanish 1". What bothered me about Hugo's is, while it does a great job of explaining the basics/intermediate things about Spanish, it glosses over little things that a newbie wouldn't understand (ex: "Why do I put an accent here but not here?"). Cliffs QuickReview is a great reference for every tiny bit that Hugo's sometimes forgets to mention (and all organized nicely for easy reference ... as Hugo's is organized in lesson plans, it's not easy to find that one thing you want to review i.e. irregular verbs or BOTH past tenses). In conclusion, Hugo's is the best I've found so far, and in two months' time I've definitely noticed an improvement in my Spanish. Just get Cliffs QuickReview and a Spanish dictionary to supplement Hugo's and you're set.

This is a good course, but you should know that there is no English on the tapes. So you have to sit down in front of the tape deck with the book in hand. That is the down side for me. I was looking for a way to learn Spanish during my daily commute - check out Pimsleur Quick and Simple Spanish. That being said what I have come to recognize from simply listening and repeating the phrases and words is that it's also nice to be able to look at how the word is spelled. So I'm glad I have both.

It really works!

I have previewed many books designed to teach spanish. This is the best I have seen yet. It is sequential in teaching grammar skills, in a simplified manner. It also, uses repetition to teach you the words. There are self tests at the back of each chapter. I take and re-take the tests, until I get them %100 correct. Then I review them over the course of the next several lessons. It is self-paced, and appears to be very comprehensive. Within the first couple of lessons, I was able to use my new grammar and word skills in conversations with people who only speak spanish. I have rechecked this book and tape from the library 3 times. I have decided I must purchase it to have my own copy.