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

Since the original date of publication (1951), the Real Academia de la Lengua Española (guardian of the Spanish Language) officially removed the accents on some one-syllable words. The old spellings appear in the book. For example, in Chapter 31 (common irregular verbs), these words have changed: Old form: ví, vió, dí, dió, fuí, fué New form: vi, vio, di, dio, fui, fue(NOTE: this is not a complete list!)Old spellings also appear in exercises using these words. These changes don't change the pronunciation of the words! Accent marks are used to show how a word should be written in accordance with the way it is pronounced. The rules on pronouncing weak-weak, weak-strong, strong-weak and strong-strong vowel combinations apply: so, for example, vio (new form) sounds the same as vió (old form).This is a great book for learning Spanish. Don't let the age of it throw you. My plug for a top-notch dictionary: get the Pocket Oxford Spanish Dictionary Second Edition (2000).

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.

I've been studying Spanish for over 3 years and I have purchased dozens of books. I've also completed 2 years of study in a local college. This book is by far may favorite of all the books that I have collected during my studying. The lessons are put in a very logical order and the book has been written so that it is much easier to learn! I hope to see more of Madrigal's work in the future. This is a great book. It's worth every penny. In fact, soon I will have to purchase another because I have dog earred the pages and have written all inside of the book, soon it will fall apart because I have used it so much. How's that for a write up? Seriously, it's a great book for the student who really wants to learn the language and understand how the language is assembled, etc.