Madrigal's Magic Key to Spanish: A Creative and Proven Approach

This book has alot of great info and very easy to read. I am learning alot from it. I would recommend it.

Absolutely the best self-teaching guide I have found. The keys make learning so much easier. This book will assist you with so many aspects of the Spanish language.

This is James from James Spanish (the learning Spanish blog). Although it seems too good to be true to offer a `magic key' to learning Spanish, this book really does help you to retain vocabulary, master grammar and gain more confidence in speaking.

There are thousands of words that are similar in Spanish and English, and by focusing on these you can quickly build your vocabulary.

Because you can see real results in a short space of time the book is a great way to motivate yourself and keep you interested in learning more.

One of the biggest challenges for learning a second language is the feeling that you aren't really getting anywhere, so this book offers some valuable encouragement.

Although the book was written in the 1950's, the approach adopted by the author, Margarita Madrigal, was ahead of its time and is now a widely accepted form of teaching used by many Spanish professors and tutors. Her writing style is easy and natural, which makes the book engaging and a pleasure to read.

Unlike many other courses, this book begins by teaching you about the past tense since this is the tense most used for telling stories, explaining what you have done, and generally talking conversationally with friends. The exercises then move on through other tenses in a well organized and easy to follow manner.

The drills are fun and highly effective at helping you to remember words and conjugations.

The information given is in depth enough for you to have a real understanding of how the grammar works, but not too technical as to put you off or make the lessons boring and dry. The key is really to teach you conversational Spanish that you can use. Obviously, the more likely you are to use a phrase, the more likely you are to repeat it and therefore remember it, which is another reason why this book works so well.

The book progresses in a logical order and you will get the most value out of it if you complete each lesson and work through the exercises as they are presented in the book since it is designed to continue to build on the knowledge that you are gaining at each step.

You will quickly find yourself acquiring more vocabulary, almost without effort, as well as getting to grips with verbs and grammar without struggling to understand or memorize rules.

In closing my review of this product, I'd like to share with you the three Amazon products that I have found most helpful in my pursuit to learn Spanish. If you are truly serious about achieving fluency, I'd recommend getting all 3 of them if you can afford it.

1. Lights, Camera, Spanish (Book + DVD): Learn Conversational Spanish by Watching a Romantic Adventure This is actually a 90 minute movie for Spanish-language learners. It gives the option to watch the movie with subtitles but I'd recommend not using them to improve your Spanish. This "movie" also includes a workbook so that you can reinforce the Spanish vocabulary words and phrases from the film. The workbook also has lots of exercises to keep you engaged in the film. But be prepared to hear Chilean accents. Although pleasent to the ear, the accents from Chile are very different from most Latin American accents.

2. Verbarrator Version 1.1 (Windows Version) This software replaces the traditional verb conjugation books and makes learning how to conjugate Spanish verbs an interactive and fun activity. This should be a required resource for anyone who wants to improve their ability to conjugate Spanish verbs. Especially anyone who is challenged by the drudgery of learning how to conjugate Spanish verbs and who is looking for a new way to make learning how to conjugate Spanish verbs an easy and fun activity

3. Diccionario esencial de la lengua espanola de la Real Academia Espanola (Spanish Edition) If you are really serious about speaking the language fluently, then at some point you will need to replace your Spanish-English dictionary and get a pure Spanish dictionary with both the vocabulary words and the definitions entirely in Spanish. I use this one only because it was highly-recommended by a friend from Spain who teaches Spanish.

I've read a lot of language Guide Books but this is by far one of the best. The most important thing is that it is very simple and easy to follow - I did not lose interest once, which unfortunately has happened with previous language books. I definitely recommend this for anyone wanting to learn Spanish.

This is the first time in my life - and I am not born yesterday - I have met such a textbook that is so motivating , so clear and so concise in the process of learning a foreign language .

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I am stupefied with the simplicity and the real effectiveness of her method of teaching not only Spanish but also any other Latin based language ( French, Italian, Portuguese, Rumanian).

She makes you learn by concepts and shies away from simple memorizing which she clearly despizes :" Memorizing is dull and ineffectual. When you learn 20 verbs by rote you are apt to forget most of them and be bored by all of them...But when you invent a verb it is your creation ; you have made it, and you will always like it. "

These were Madrigal's own words . What is the secret you say ? Well go to page 53 of his book and read it yourself.

Don't tell the publisher, I would have paid 5 times its price if the book was advertised on the cover not by " magic key " but rather by : Learn to speak and write Spanish by CREATING your own verbs WITHOUT memorizing in 30 days or your money refunded. "

Wow ! What a textbook !