Spanish Language: 3 in 1 Bundle 4 stars

I started to learn Spanish nine months ago, using Rosetta Stone, and have supplemented it with reading stories in Spanish, watching Spanish TV, etc. So when I saw Spanish Language: 3 in 1 Bundle by Sergio Rodriguez, including Spanish for Beginners, Spanish Short Stories, and Spanish Language Lessons, I picked it up. Because it is three books in one, I review them individually from the point of view of a person who is just learning the language.

 

Spanish for Beginners

 

This book was all that I hoped for. It offers basic pronunciations as well as all the idiosyncratic exceptions that change pronunciations. For instance, Rodriguez talks about stress and accent marks and covers basics like how the syllable with the accent mark receives the stress. But he also explains things like when a syllable does not contain an accented vowel that there are rules that determine the implicit location of the stress. He goes on to explain the rules and offers lists as examples.

 

This book goes in-depth enough that I will use it as a go-to resource. It touches on practical things like cardinal and ordinal numbers, fractions, colors, time, dates, days of the week, etc., and includes charts you can print out. I liked that this book reinforced things I had already learned, that it answered many questions I had, and improved my language skills. For instance, I wondered about the use of al. Spanish for Beginners explained that “when ‘el’ is used after the preposition 'a’ (to), they contract and form 'al’ (to the)." It also helped me better understand noun gender. Not that I have it down, or that there aren’t exceptions I still need to learn, but information about things like, “Nouns ending in -cion, -sion, -dad, -umbre, -ion, and -tud are feminine" I found helpful. This book also gave me a better grasp of pronouns, verbs (conjugating, irregular verb forms, first-person singular, exceptions, etc.) I could go on, but you get the idea.

If I were only reviewing this one book of the three, I would give it 5 stars. The only negative was that some things didn’t display quite right on the Kindle, but if I changed the font size I could make it work. I recommend this book to anyone learning Spanish. It offers practical information that is quite thorough.

 

 

Spanish Short Stories

 

The second book I found to be daunting for a beginner. Because I am at the beginning stage of learning the language, this slowed me down. The stories are written more for intermediate-level Spanish speakers, so I read the stories out loud into Google Translate to practice my annunciation. It helped me correct my accent, and it taught me new words to grow my Spanish vocabulary. The stories were entertaining, and I enjoyed reading them. The only thing I didn’t like is that I thought the stories would also be geared more toward beginners, and for this reason, I give a 4 out of 5 stars.

 

Spanish Language Lessons

 

Sergio Rodriguez’ third book in the bundle is an: Essential Spanish Phrase Book for Traveling in Spain, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Mexico. It covers places he has traveled. He talks about foods, wines, and all things edible and recommends some of his favorites to try. He also offers suggestions of places to go, things to watch out for, places you would not want to miss, the best ways to get around, costs of things and exchange rates, and points out some pros and cons for each country. His writing is conversational and makes for an easy read. 

 

If you are planning to travel to one of these countries, I’d recommend this book to you. You might pick up some useful tidbits. I give it a 4 out of 5 stars.

 

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