Spanish: The Best Test Preparation for the SAT II Subject Test

The tests with good, detailed explantions of the answers are the core of this book. This book is much more sensibly organized than many Spanish textbooks. For instance, the irregular verbs are concisely organized according to spelling abnormalities which allows you to more quickly learn them. The more important aspects of grammar are nicely summarized with good to-the-point examples. The exercises are very good and zero in on the key points but also try to trick you with the finer points of grammar. I usually don't like books that have dictionaries in the back because they waste space and every student has there own, better dictionary anyway. But the dictionary here is more like a vocabulary list. There is only a punchy one or two word definition in a narrow column which allows you to very quickly scan the list looking for words that you don't know to improve your vocabulary. So, I use the "dictionary" as a vocabulary builder and not as a regular dictionary. My only complaint is that there is no index and the table of contents has no detail in it. So, for instance, if you wanted to find the section that contrasts por and para then you would have to thumb through looking for that section. Hopefully, the next edition will have an index and then it will merit 5 stars.

This book was an excellent resource when it came to preparing for the SAT II Spanish Exam. The easy-to-follow lessons were clear and concise for cramming instant information, and the exercises truly focused on the important details of the language. However, I found that the practice exams did not quite measure up to the difficulty of the exam itself. The grammar section of the exam was almost exactly the same as the exercises in the book, but the reading comprehension sections were much more challenging than those in the practice tests. Nevertheless, the book proved to be an excellent resource and study guide.

After struggling in spanish for three years, this book made a world of difference. The easy to follow lesson guides and the complete guides to spanish grammar, verb conjugation and vocabulary was great. My 770 made me very happy and I recommend this book to anyone who wishes to do well on the exam.