Spanish For Gringos

I bought this book because I was taking a 10-class course in Spanish at my church. It really came in handy for lots of things I wanted to know. I also used the Larousse Student Dictionary and both of them together made it so much easier.

I appreciated the format and that the book is easy to read and understand. It also does not try to cover too much material in one chunk, but spreads it out at a nice pace. The illustrations are also very helpful. I enjoyed that the author is encouraging the reader not to worry about grammar or being precise in their learning of the language. Especially for someone who is a bit older and does not learn as quickly as someone still in school it was an excellent introduction to learning a new language.

I am not a big fan of this book,especially the "spanglish". This is insulting to either language. If you get the copy with the tapes and simply want to memorize words, it is probably adequate for beginners.However, my class of adults found it disjointed and difficult to string sentences together with Harvey's format. We are switching to Spanish made Simple, an older version which I introduced to them, and which they all really liked. Because it gives a good bit of phonetic pronunciation as well as starting right off with simple sentences, one can retain the meaning of the words and start "thinking" in Spanish.

This video is the best way for people with no prior knowledge of spanish to learn the language! The video allows you to copy the pronunciation better by "watching" the speaker's mouth. William Harvey is the first spanish "teacher" to speak slowly and clearly enough to understand and pick up the pronunciation. The video is very entertaining to watch. After watching it four times within two weeks, most of the vocabulary was imbedded in my brain. The video teaches you enough pronunciation tips that you can continue your spanish instruction with books and cassettes more easily. Great for any age. The vocabulary is all purpose and useful.

I was very pleased with both the book and the cassettes and would strongly recommend the set to anyone wanting to learn Mexican Spanish.