1001 Most Useful Spanish Words (Beginners' Guides)

This book has helped me a lot, and it is very easy to carry around. The price was great, and it came in a few days. I have been using it ever since

This is James from James Spanish (the learning Spanish blog). Learning 1001 of the most useful Spanish words might not make you fluent, but it is certainly enough to make yourself understood in most circumstances, even if you have no prior knowledge of Spanish.

Not only does the book provide a hefty serving of vocabulary, but it also uses each word in a sentence in Spanish, letting you see how it is used. These sentences are also handy in and of themselves, building your repertoire of Spanish. The example sentences for each word have been carefully chosen, to show the most common usage and many times you may find that while searching for just one word you find the exact full sentence that you were trying to say.

The words are organized by topic, and then alphabetically so it is fast and easy to find the words that you are looking for. Since the words are sorted into categories you will often find many useful words and sentences to fit your situation on the same page.

While a standard dictionary may have you flipping back and forth to find the names of different fruits while you are at the market, this book will present many of them to you in the same section, along with useful words to help you make a purchase, and many sentences that will come in handy.

As these are the 1001 Most Useful Spanish Words, you can also be confident that the words you need most will be right at your fingertips. No leafing past lists of words that people rarely use... each word is carefully included because it is valuable to have. For this reason, it is also a good idea to take the time to really read through the book to familiarize yourself with these words, as well as the example sentences.

The book is a great accompaniment to any full language course, providing extra samples of how words are used. As the example sentences use different tenses and pronouns, they can also help you to understand how various elements of grammar are applied too.

Light and small, this book is extremely portable, fitting into any bag or even a pocket. It is even slim enough to slip inside one of your sturdier books. At such a low price it is a must-have addition to your Spanish learning library.

These are the three Amazon products that I have found most helpful in my pursuit to learn Spanish.

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 dialog from the film. The workbook also has lots of exercises to keep you engaged in the film and to reinforce the Spanish that you learn. 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.

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 are entirely in Spanish.

This book is compact, with well chosen vocabulary. He has recognized the need to learn a word and fix it in memory by using it in a sentence and has provided the English translations to reinforce it. You couldn't ask for more in a book designed to build vocabulary.

As a professor of Spanish with 30 years of experience, I have accumulated a lot of hints for building vocabulary. One is to get a book like this! Another is to look up the vocabulary you find yourself using -- this could be professional or social. This list will be somewhat different for everyone. For instance, if you install doors for a living and have to speak to Spanish speakers on the job, you will need to know the words for "hinge," "door knob" and "screws." But the average person only will need to know the words for "door," and "key," as well as associated vocabulary such as "open," "close," etc. Another hint I have is to label the objects you commonly use, or pictures of them. Don't forget to learn the article associated with the nouns so you will remember if they are masculine or feminine.

Eventually, putting your vocabulary to use in meaningful and communicative ways will require you to master grammar. Beginners, as they move into intermediate and advanced levels of Spanish, will have to learn the ins and outs of many areas of grammar.

Without a doubt, if you build a vocabulary, you'll have the building blocks; grammar is the cement that allows you to put it all together correctly.

Enjoy the process and keep working at it!

Sincerely,

Eric W. Vogt, Ph.D.

This is an additional resource to my Spanish-English software, audio CD's and internet forums and online dictionaries. Very helpful when on the go.

I work on my language skills when I travel and gets some CDs that have helped alot in hearing how things are pronounced and becoming familiar enough that I can be polite.

This book is a great addition and suplement when you need to find words. I browse through this before a trip to find words I may not know, and put them in context of things I have already learned.

I am not fluent by any stretch, but can definately be polite and try to speak some Spanishg as best as I can, which really does go a long way in making a trip more pleasant and enjoyable for both myself and people I meet.