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Top 10 Books to Learn Spanish for Beginners 2019-2020
Spanish is in the second place of the list of the world’s most spoken languages by native speakers, right after Chinese, with more than 400 million native speakers. In addition to that, Spanish is the second language of more than 100 million people, and interest in learning Spanish has grown steadily in the last couple of decades, notably in the US but also in Asia. There are many reasons to learn Spanish (Google them if you are still not convinced), but if you are already looking for books to learn Spanish as a beginner, I got you covered!
1. EASY SPANISH STEP-BY-STEP. Barbara Bregstein
Barbara Bregstein’s Easy Spanish Step-By-Step is an excellent introduction for beginners. It’s a grammar book that makes learning Spanish a gradual process, with no required previous knowledge of the language. Through chapters organized based on the way people naturally acquire language, learners will quickly learn the most important concepts to be able to communite in Spanish. There are also verbs and key terms introduced according to frequency of use, exercises and readings.
2. MADRIGAL’S MAGIC KEY TO SPANISH: A CREATIVE AND PROVEN APPROACH. Margarita Madrigal
It’s a great book to learn how to read, write and understand Spanish, while giving you principles and shortcuts to eliminate mass memorization and boring drills. Each page includes these insights and shortcuts to accelerate the learning process. To give you an example, a shortcut would be that nouns that end in -tion can be translated into Spanish by changing it to -ción. I would recommend it with the Audio CDs of the Living Language Spanish package.
3. EASY SPANISH PHRASE BOOK. OVER 700 PHRASES FOR EVERYDAY USE. Pablo García Loaeza
It’s a very concise guide that is useful for travelers. It includes words and sentences of everyday use and expressions that will help you ask for directions or find a restaurant. Phrases are organized by category to make them easy to find, and the phonetic spellings makes this phrase book very useful. It’s very small and cheap, buy it if you are travelling to a Spanish-speaking country.
4. ACCELERATED SPANISH. LEARN FLUENT SPANISH WITH A PROVEN ACCELERATED LEARNING SYSTEM. VOLUME 1. Timothy Moser
Timothy Moser attempts to use a modern language-learning method, very different from the one used in US schools where students learn a few Spanish words and then forget everything. Even grammar is taught in a fun, easy-to-understand way! With memory techniques like memory palaces and images, you will learn Spanish quickly with this first volume.
5. SPANISH FOR DUMMIES. Susana Wald and Cecie Kraynak
If you are familiar with the For Dummies way to teach, then this may be a great choice for you. You will learn Latin American Spanish with a hands-on guide that includes grammar, verb tenses and conjugations, pronunciations, essential vocabulary and a CD-ROM that includes dialogues to get used to listening to Spanish conversations.
6. PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT: COMPLETE SPANISH GRAMMAR. Gilda Nissenberg
It’s a comprehensive guide and workbook that covers all the aspects of Spanish grammar. However, don’t feel intimidated, since this book doesn’t teach unnecessary grammar, it focuses on how Spanish is really spoken. Explanations are clear and include numerous examples to make sure you learn it correctly. Of course, there are many exercises to practise and handy vocabulary panels and common mistakes to avoid. There are even audio recordings and flash cards online!
7. PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT: SPANISH CONVERSATION. Jean Yates
It’s a great book to build up your confidence to speak in Spanish. It presents real conversational situations, from giving opinions to telling stories, with instructions on correct pronunciation and word usage. Moreover, there are hundreds of conversation-ready phrases and online resources like audios and exercises. It’s very useful to improve your conversational abilities, but you should get it after you have learned the basics of Spanish grammar and vocabulary.
8. PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT: SPANISH VERB TENSES. Dorothy Richmond
Verb tenses and conjugations are one of the most difficult aspects that native English speakers face while learning Spanish. This workbook will help beginner and intermediate level Spanish speakers learn all the aspects of Spanish verbs, through numerous examples and exercises, clear explanations, practical verb conjugation tables and audio recording and quizzes. If you are having a hard time learning how to conjugate verbs in Spanish, this is a great pick.
9. BREAKING OUT OF BEGINNER’S SPANISH. Joseph J. Kennan
Joseph J. Kennan makes learning Spanish entertaining, combining grammar, pronunciation and word usage with lots of humor. He teaches tips for using more colloquial (Mexican Spanish) expressions to make you sound less “gringo” and introduces the most widely used Spanish slang. All in all, it’s a very practical book that makes the process of learning more enjoyable and easier to comprehend for native English speakers, unlike traditional workbooks.
10. LIVING LANGUAGE SPANISH: COMPLETE EDITION. Living Language
Living Language Spanish is a complete pack to learn Spanish, including beginner, intermediate and advanced levels. This package offers 3 books with lessons and a grammar summary, 9 Audio CDs with vocabulary and dialogues, and language resources like flash cards and quizzes. There’s no comparable product in terms of price-quality, since this program will give you the big picture of Spanish.
Tips to learn Spanish (or any other foreign language)
Books are not enough to learn a foreign language. To truly learn another language, you must immerese yourself in the language and culture. There are many ways to do so, but here are a few tips and ideas:
- Read books in Spanish
- Watch TV shows, movies or YouTube videos in Spanish
- Listen to Spanish podcasts, radio shows and music
- Talk to native Spanish speakers, in face-to-face conversations or through language-learning websites like Duolingo
- Travel to a Spanish-speaking country
- Make learning Spanish a part of your life by forcing yourself to think in Spanish or doing tasks and activities in Spanish
- Join Spanish online communities and make Spanish-speaking friends
There’s also additional material that you could buy to learn Spanish, like Spanish Vocabulary flash cards, flash cards for kids, Spanish vocabulary and phrases for travelers and beginners, or Spanish vocabulary handy guides, or grammar guides.
Hungry of more Spanish books and material?
You can listen to The History of Spain Podcast to learn about the history of my motherland! But in the store of the website you can find merchandising, travel guides, history books, cookbooks, or Spanish literature.