Perfect Phrases in Spanish for Confident Travel to Mexico: The No Faux-Pas Phrasebook for the Perfect Trip (Perfect Phrases Series) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This is one of the few books I have found that specifically addresses Spanish for Mexico and I found it entertainging and helpful.

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More than your average phrasebook, this portable title shows you how to be a well-mannered visitor and speak the local language in the correct context

Any phrasebook can give you a line listing of essential phrases. But if you use a phrase or term without knowing the correct way to use it, you can find yourself in an embarrassing situation.

Perfect Phrases in Spanish for Confident Travel to Mexico addresses this problem expertly. Yes, you get the basics but you get a lot more background and guidance on how to use these words and phrases correctly without making a faux pas. With the confidence that you are using a phrase correctly, you will enjoy a smoother adventure in Mexico.

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Practice Makes Perfect: The Spanish Subjunctive Up Close (Practice Makes Perfect Series) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've always thought that the Spanish subjunctive was so complicated that it could be covered in a book by itself. I've always hoped for such a book, too. Following is its table of contents:
1. When to use the subjunctive and how to form its four tenses
2. Sequence of tenses and the subjunctive
3. Subordinated noun clauses
4. Subordinated adjective clauses
5. Adverbial expressions
6. Contrary-to-fact statements
7. Comprehensive exercises
The author states early in the book that many Spanish students assume that the subjunctive is all about doubt. The author is quick to explain that this assumption is problematic. The use of the subjunctive in doubt or uncertainty is only ONE of its many uses. I'm glad there's a book on the subjunctive that addresses this issue. I used to tutor a student in Spanish who thought the subjunctive was all about doubt. And trying to get her to understand that there was more to the subjunctive than just doubt was a difficult task.
The book explains how to conjugate all four tenses in the subjunctive, then it moves on to its uses. This book explains the uses of the subjunctive in the same order as many other books. First, it explains its uses in nominal clauses, then it moves on to adjective clauses, adverbial clauses, and contrary-to-fact statements. The end of the book has exercises.
I think this book is incredible, but I personally don't think it's a good idea to explain all four tenses at once. I think it's better to start out with the present subjunctive, learn how to use it, and then move on to the other tenses. The author mentions the future subjunctive and the future perfect subjunctive, but he doesn't explain how to use them. I wish he had; it's difficult to find reference materials that explain the future subjunctive.
I highly recommend this book. 5 stars!!!
Brandon Simpson

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Get up close and master Spanish subjunctive

As you study Spanish you may see the subjunctive as an obstacle to your full understanding of the language. Learning the subjunctive can be one of the most frustrating aspects of Spanish grammar, but it is also one of the most important for being understood and understanding what others say. By adding Spanish pronouns to your range of language skills, you will open up a whole new world of communication.

With plenty of opportunities for practice, practice, practice, Practice Makes Perfect: The Spanish Subjunctive Up Close helps you better understand the nuances of this often-confusing grammar element and develop your skills and confidence as a Spanish speaker with:

Easy-to-absorb explanatory materials, examples, and exercises
Authoritative guidance on how to form the four subjunctive tenses and when to use them
A comprehensive answer key that not only gives you the correct solutions to the exercises but explains the why behind them

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Practice Makes Perfect: Complete Spanish Grammar Review

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(More customer reviews)I have been studying Spanish for 7+ years and used this book as a text book in a college course that focused on the verb conjugations and tenses. We did about 90% of the exercises in the book. It's very thorough with the material that it covers, but the answers in the back are full of so many mistakes that the book almost isn't worth it. It was frustrating for us students to use the book and check our answers only to find mistakes. Eventually our professor stopped using the book.

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Now beginners can master Spanish grammar with the proven Practice Makes Perfect method!

Combining clear presentation, exercises, and a focus on practical conversational skills has proven a winning formula for the Practice Makes Perfect workbook series. Practice Makes Perfect: Complete Spanish Grammar builds on the series' success with a similarly interactive approach, embracing all aspects of Spanish grammar that you need to master. This engaging guide offers:

An extensive grammar review, highlighted by illustrative examples
Dozens of exercises, including fill-ins, translations, and creative writing
Time saving thematic vocabulary panels to cut down on dictionary drudgery
Boxed summaries of key grammar points for focused learning
Detailed answer keys for progress checks

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Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Vocabulary (Practice Makes Perfect Series) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Speaking as somebody who is teaching themselves Spanish, I'd have to say that this book does what it claims and DOES IT WELL! USEFUL, ENTERTAINING, EASY TO USE and YOU LEARN VOCABULARY. Better than a dictionary and a whole LOT MORE FUN!
I also own the PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT VERBS, the PRONOUNS & PREPOSITIONS volume AND the COMPLETE SPANISH GRAMMER books in the series. Personally, I think this book is an excellant companion book and fits in well with the series. True, it doesn't have the LONG translation excercises, but it does contain LONG reading segments in Spanish which is, in my opinion, the best way to learn VOCABULARY! Believe me, YOU LEARN VOCABULARY when you read this book. I know today's "educators" frown upon rote learning and "memorizing", but, quite frankly, if you don't memorize anything, how much can you really know??? The reading excercises make your brain work on recalling the words from MEMORY. Sure, there's not a lot of long excercises which require you to write, but there ARE LOTS OF PRACTICE EXCERCISES.
I found the book to be FUN and ENJOYABLE. I'm learning a LOT and it's FUN, too! Unlike the Verb book, you can skip around from unit to unit. Read a unit while you're eating lunch or riding on the bus. Short sentence and phrase translations, fill-in-the-word, and true and false excercises mean you can do many of the exercises IN YOUR HEAD without the need for pencil and paper. Subject grouped word lists followed by reading excercises, short translations and T/F quizes makes your brain retain the words. And to achieve even a conversational level in any language, who would disagree that one must fill their memory with words??? You can read, study and use this book anywhere and anytime you have five free minutes. It WORKS, so I'm not sure I understand why it's not receiving better reviews.
It shouldn't be the FIRST book you buy in this series, though. I'd recommend getting VERBS first, PREPS & PRONOUNS second, GRAMMER third and this book AFTER you've used the others, as this book presupposes that you already have a basic grasp of how to conjugate verbs and construct a sentence. It DOES REVIEW verbs in general, ser/estar, reflexive verbs, por/para, pronouns, adverbs, adjectives, and grammer--all the while introducting new words and how different, but related, words are formed through the use of suffixes and prefixes.
Not only will you learn vocabulary, but you might just find a few surprising tid-bits of knowledge about history, historic and contempory people, current events, religion, science and more!!!!
All in all, I'm VERY PLEASED with this book, and I give it FIVE STARS. It's USEFUL, FUN, and EXPANDS YOUR VOCABULARY--exactly what the publisher claims. It's also INEXPENSIVE and actually has 388 PAGES of text and exercises, 436 pages total (including the answer keys). For the price, you can't go wrong!

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Polish your Spanish vocabulary skills

Building on the success of her prior book, Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Verb Tenses, author Dorothy Devney Richmond helps you attain a strong working vocabulary, no matter if you are an absolute beginner or an intermediate student of the language.

She combines her proven instruction techniques and clear explanationswith a plethora of engaging exercises, so you aremotivated and hardly notice that you are absorbing so muchSpanish. Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Vocabulary also includes basic grammar and structures of the language to complement your newly acquired words. "Vocabulary Builders" help you add to your Spanish repertoire by using cognates, roots, suffixes, prefixes, and other "word-building" tools.

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The Big Red Book of Spanish Verbs: 555 Fully Conjugated Verbs Review

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(More customer reviews)For me this book slightly edges out the now venerable 501 Spanish Verbs book, because it includes more examples of usages at the bottom of each page, and the 501 book doesn't have as many of these. There is also a nice list of the Top 50 Spanish verbs which is useful.
On the con side, I didn't like the visual layout on the page quite as much as the 501 book, and that book also includes the progressive conjugations using estar at the very bottom of the verb tables on each page. This isn't a big deal since this pattern doesn't change once you understand it, but it's still nice to have.
One other feature the 501 book has is a good section on the idiomatic uses of some of the verbs, and a fairly extensive section of conversations in different topic areas using the well-known Berlitz method. There are dozens of these at the end of the book. If you already have a book that does that, you won't need this one, but it's here if you want it. Despite these features, as I said, I still prefer the Big Red book slightly, and the two are the same price, so there's no reason to prefer one over the other there.
There is one other "big gun" in the Spanish verbs area, which is the 2000 Essential Spanish Verbs book. This one only includes about 250 tables of verbs, but there is an index which extends that to 2000 different verbs, since you just look up the verb in the index and it directs you to the correct pattern. However, this book has one major advantage over the Big Red and 501 books. It has an extensive section on the grammar of the 65 most important verbs, including many of the irregular ones, with a detailed discussion and a practice sectioni for each. I thought this was a very nice feature and so that book is worth your consideration also. I actually prefer that book to either of these, although the print is much smaller and the layout of the tables isn't as nice. If the publisher would revamp the typeface, layout, and aesthetics a bit it could definitely give the other two books a run for their money.
Any of these three Spanish verb books is excellent, however, and will help you bootstrap your Spanish speaking and reading knowledge and facility to the next level. They're also all the same price, so again, there's no reason to prefer one over the other there.

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The new "bible" of Spanish verbs makes learning faster and easier!

When we set out to build a bigger, better Spanish-verb "bible," we made certain it would be a quantum leap over Barron's 501 Spanish Verbs and every other source available today. The result is hands-down the most comprehensive, clearest, and easiest-to-use source for those of you who are beginning and intermediate learners of Spanish. It exceeds all previous standards of coverage and presentation and is in a class of its own when it comes to enhancing textbook and classroom learning. Smooth sailing through the turbulent seas of foreign grammar with:

555 fully conjugated verbs, listed alphabetically
Current idioms and expressions for each verb
Full facing page of usage examples for the top 50 verbs
One-stop, at-a-glance verb-tense profiles
More than 2,200 verbs cross-referenced to models
A handy guide to deciphering irregular verb forms
Exercises to test mastery

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Exacto : A Practical Guide to Spanish Grammar Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is set up in a manner very similar to an outline. It is as if the author took notes on every other Spanish book ever written and condensed it into this paperback. It lists grammar rules in 3 levels so that any level of Spanish student could use this book to learn or to review. I have an entire bookcase full of Spanish Verb/Vocab and Grammar books and this is by far the best.

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The innovative, user-friendly ¡Exacto! is truly "grammar at a glance." The authors have a clear, upbeat, and visually striking approach that quells the usual trepidation about learning grammar or reviewing for an exam. Everyday, lively examples from Spanish sources increase vocabulary and consolidate grammar. There's no confusing jargon­­--only what you really need to know plus imaginative exercises and an answer key at the back.

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Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Pronouns And Prepositions Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This book and the other Practice-Makes-Perfect workbook by Dorothy Richmond ("Spanish Verb Tenses") are the best Spanish books I've ever used. I just got back from 2 years in the Peace Corps in Honduras and I studied these books every day. They REALLY helped me learn more Spanish! In addition to the concise, easy-to-understand instruction sections, there's tons of exercises to do (with the correct answers in the back of the book) and as I did the exercises, I picked up all kinds of things that I'd been wondering how to say. I also liked this workbook a lot because it covered all those difficult things I never understood before, like how to use "lo que..", direct and indirect object pronouns, the passive voice, the difference between "para" and "por", and many other things. (This book is especially great if you already know some Spanish because you need some vocabulary to do the exercises, unless you don't mind looking up lots of words in the dictionary.) I highly recommend this book!

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This bestselling book in the Practice Makes Perfect series treats Spanish pronouns and prepositions systematically in a worktext format. Containing concise, user-friendly explanations with generous and varied practice, the book helps students develop their knowledge of how and why pronouns and prepositions are used. Plus it encourages students to use the pronouns and prepositions in real-life contexts.

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Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Past-Tense Verbs Up Close (Practice Makes Perfect Series) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Thank Heaven for this little book! I met the author on my bus ride home one day earlier this year. He noticed me plodding through my huge Spanish practice book and correctly noted that I was trying to learn. I now have a copy of this book, and in the first few pages, it cleared up something that I've been trying to figure out since I started studying Spanish in the late 80s--when to use the preterite versus the imperfect! That issue has literally been driving me crazy.
The author gets right to the point and gives you simple, easy-to-remember explanations of how to use the preterite and the imperfect tenses. Within 5 minutes, I felt I had the confidence to finally figure it out. The exercises help you seal in that knowledge and practice, practice, practice!
This book is highly recommended -- get it and learn how to speak the past-tense properly. You won't regret it!

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Get up close and master Spanish past-tense verbs

As you study Spanish you may view past-tense verbs as obstacles to your full understanding of the language. Learning past-tense verbs can be one of the most frustrating aspects of studying Spanish grammar, but it is also one of the most important for being understood and following what others say. By adding Spanish past-tense verbs to your range of language skills, you will open up a whole new world of communication.

With plenty of opportunities for practice, practice, practice, Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Past-Tense Verbs Up Close helps you better understand the nuances of this tricky grammar element and develop your skills and confidence as a Spanish speaker with:

Easy-to-absorb explanatory materials, examples, and exercises
Authoritative guidance on the different verb forms and when to use them
A comprehensive answer key that not only gives you the correct solutions to the exercises but explains the why behind them

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Practice Makes Perfect Basic Spanish (Practice Makes Perfect Series) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Let me first say that this book does a good job on its intended purpose. When you flip to page v (the preface), the author clearly states that this book is not intended to be the primary teaching source or that it will introduce concepts.
There's nothing wrong with that, but the title of the book is "Practice Makes Perfect: Basic Spanish." I bought it with the impression that it would introduce beginning Spanish concepts. I wanted to use this book with students or homeschooled kids who needed a good place to start. When I saw this book listed on Amazon, I was excited to see that a book for beginners had been published. But this book is not for beginners. If the title had been Basic Spanish Review, I probably wouldn't have bought it, or I might have bought it if I needed additional materials for a Spanish class.
This book is best used for maybe Spanish I in high school or Spanish 101 in college. The exercises are useful in that respect. But if you want a book that is for absolute beginners, get a copy of Getting Started with Spanish. It is one of the best, if not the best, book for absolute beginners of Spanish.
Brandon Simpson

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Learn the Spanish you need. Gain the language skills you want.

Practice Makes Perfect: Basic Spanish is a trusted companion to your Spanish-learning experience. In each bite-sized lesson, author Dorothy Richmond explains one--and only one--grammar concept and illustrates it with many clear examples. The accompanying fun and interesting exercises let you practice, practice, practice what you have learned. Although these lessons are purposely short so you can complete them in twenty minutes or less, you can go at a pace that works for you.

This guide/workbook will help you masterpresent tense verb conjugation • the ser and estar verb forms • adjectives • possessive pronouns • sentence structures • the contractions al and del• indefinite articles • tener idioms • and more

Whether you are learning on your own or taking a beginning Spanish class, Practice Makes Perfect: Basic Spanish will help you build your confidence.

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