Conversando En Ingles = Speaking in English [Spanish]

by Jaime Garza Bores

Book Overview

Provides a background in English grammar and vocabulary for speakers of Spanish through pattern exercises, dialogues, and other materials.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: Spanish
• ISBN: 0844271012
• ISBN13: 9780844271019
• Release Date: January 1993
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies
• Length: 203 Pages
• Weight: 0.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Excellent and quite inexpensive too

I am a native English speaker who's studying Spanish for the first time since the two years I had it in school, which was at least a couple of decades ago at this point. This book is designed for Spanish speakers who want to improve their English, but after a couple of months of intense self-study, I'd reached the point where I could read this book pretty well. It's been very helpful to see English from "the other side" starting out with the the most useful English expressions and grammar, and then see them discussed from the standpoint of the Spanish. The verb and grammar tables were especially interesting since they assume and start with Spanish as the "normal" state of affairs, and then discuss how English differs from it. I found this quite refreshing and enjoyed seeing English from a different viewpoint from the perspective of the grammar, as I have a pretty good background in grammar and general linguistics, but haven't thought about English that much compared to some other languages.The book is just over 200 pages long and has 61 brief sections discussing various aspects of English, from grammar to phonetics to practical phrases and conversation. There are dozens of tables illustrating various aspects of English grammar, especially the verb system, and how it differs from Spanish. For example, one main difference is English's use of helping verbs and modal auxiliaries, which allow the use of so-called periphrastic verbal constructions for these functions, which is different from Spanish and French and the other Romance family languages. The book also includes hundreds of useful phrases, several vocabulary lists with Spanish phonetic equivalents, numerous example sentences to translate, and many other practical exercises such as word substitution and sentence-completion drills, a list of over 130 of the most common irregular verbs in English, a list of the most common irregular adjectives in English, and lists of new words and expressions to expand your vocabulary. Overall, a very nice little book and a great value at the price considering it's only eight bucks.

A very helpful teaching tool

Last year I graduated with a BA in Spanish literature. As an Anglo teaching English to Spanish speakers, I find this book extremely useful. I have ordered many copies for my students, who particularly like the vocabulary with the phonetic pronunciations (I consider my students the best judge of the tools that can help them towards their goals). I like the grid layout for memorizing the verb patterns; it gives a consistent framework for conceptualization. While the book argues that it is the perfect way to master everyday conversation painlessly and efficiently, I would argue that to learn a second language is not painless. But the results that I have found using this tool have been very encouraging.