Spanish in 32 Lessons

Most textbooks have mistakes of some sort...they're not perfect. I think the adrienne gimmick books have a lot to offer in terms of getting you speaking right away, using realistic everyday speech, phrases, vocabulary. Contrary to one review here that said it's not a good place to start a language, I started with the French 32 lessons on which the Spanish is based (they mirror eachother very closely) and learned a lot - enough to go to Montreal and get around quite well after about 1 year of studying it. I like her approach though - and I think Adrienne Penner was right about some things. She says in the intro 'A language is its vocabulary - there is no way to communicate without words no matter how good your grammar'. It's a point to not take lightly. Even now focusing on vocabulary is more revolutionary than you'd think in this grammar-centric world. Her lists of idioms and the 'text boxes' throughout the book containing tips on verb use, prepositions, etc are great and the layout encourages some quick absorption of this material. Anyway, I am a fan - but they are cheap now so check it for yourself. You don't have to spend a lot to do so.

this book starts you off from a different point and continues down a path unlike those found in the typical school textbooks. i took 2 years of spanish in high school but have learned more from these 32 lessons in 2 months than i did in school. the way it's put together makes learning grammar, structure, phrases, vocabulary, sayings, etc much easier and uncomplicated. there are indeed a couple mistakes in this book as previously said, granted there were mistakes in school textbooks as well. they are obvious as they don't follow the flow and stick out easily. no glossary, annoying but each chapter has a glossary of sorts. the words used in each chapter stick closely to these as well. odd phrases, as mentioned earlier, nothing i haven't said before in english. good to get some slang as well, spanish people use spanish slang. it's part of the language and thus makes this book all the better by including them. and try not to lose focus of the lesson being taught over the occasional silly (and humerous) sentences used to practice them.

Adrienne's "Spanish in 32 Lessons" is a good review book for re-learning Spanish. I emphasize the word "review." It does have drawbacks for someone who has never spoken a word of Spanish [such as no pronunciation guide], but for one who already knows the simple, logical rules of Spanish pronunciation, so what? It is nicely arranged in 32 chapters that can be used as weekly self-teaching "courses" if that is one's goal. It teaches the basic essentials and makes no bones about the fact that it is not a complete text, but does have the ability for anyone to start using those first halting words and phrases.I especially like its compact size such that on my morning bus commute to work, I can easily review a chapter and pick up a few more commonly used words/"modismos" that either I'm not acquainted with or have not used in a number of years.This reasonably priced book, for those especially wishing to review Spanish, is well worth the money.

This book moves presumes that you can figure out a good deal for yourself -- it might be a good idea also to get a book on grammar to check out the finer points that may be unclear to certain readers. Furthermore, this book offers no instruction on pronunciation. This is a fast, no-nonsense way to Spanish, and I for one love it.