Household Spanish

by William C. Harvey

Book Overview

Practical words, phrases and Spanish expressions are presented in this user-friendly book for English-speakers who have had no Spanish, but need to communicate with Latinos employed in the household.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0764129414
• ISBN13: 9780764129414
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Barron's Educational Series
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.67 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.3" x 7.7"

Customer Reviews

The Spanish Book I Can't Live Without

We have a Latin American person living in our home now who only speaks Spanish, and I have taught myself how to "converse" in Spanish in just over a month, thanks to this book and the cassette tapes. I have checked out many Spanish books at the library, but none gets to the heart of conversation like Household Spanish does. The introduction of vocabulary is useful and gradual, and the presentation of verb conjugation comes at just the right speed. To complement this quick-start book, I have purchased a Spanish/English dictionary and a workbook for reinforcement. With this combination, I can say almost anything, but it helps if your Spanish speaker is very patient!

An instant vocabulary builder of terminology in the home!

This mini dictionary focuses on "household terms in Spanish". Don't expect anything more or less. The book is divided into seven chapters each with thematic vocabulary. Within each section there are mini sections that focus on cultural themes (temas culturales), a review of what has been taught (repasemos), key words (palabras claves), to name a few sections. There is a pronunciation guide in brackets beside every word but I don't think it would be helpful if you are a true beginner in Spanish. I believe that sounds and phonetics need to be taught to ensure correct pronunciation and accentuation. I found the vocabulary to be interesting at times but there are so many ways in Spanish to say a word it just depends where a person is from but I think that Barron's tried to use the most generic word at all times. I really believe the book is good if you want to learn some Spanish vocabulary without having to worry about grammar and sentences etc. If you decide to purchase this book you will instantly increase your vocabulary and most of all know how to say everyday household terms in Spanish. This is a fun resource for learning Spanish vocabulary.

great resource

I recently started using a cleaning service and thought I had picked one where they spoke english but when the ladies showed up I learned that only the owner of the service speaks english. This book has been so very helpful, along with another book called "Your Housekeeping Source Book for the non-spanish speaking home owner." These two books have been invaluable to me. This book, household spanish, gives you the tools you need gramatically and word-wise to make sentences (simple ones) which is useful if you want to go beyond the very basics. It also has some helpful tips like putting labels on certain items etc. Great resource!

Much more than the title suggests/Great Book for beginners

This books provides much more help than communicating with Spanish-speaking household help. I purchased it a couple years ago and to my surprise, it's been one of the most valuable Spansih-reference books I've bought to date. It's got just about every household object listed in Spanish, cleaning, and commands.The best part about this book is that every-single word in Spanish is spelled out phonetically in English; so if you're not familiar with Spanish pronunication, this book has you covered!I'm nearly fluent in Spanish and my mother is trying to learn the language using Pimsleur's Spanish CDs (which by the way is possibly the BEST way to learn basic conversational Spanish for the basic basic beginner). She came to me and asked if I knew of a book that could teach her to "read" Spanish (i.e., correctly pronounce the words). I immediately thought of this book, adding that it could teach a lot of useful household Spanish as well.I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to expand their Spanish vocabulary, not just learning how to communicate with your Spanish employees.

a lifesaver

This book was a lifesaver. I have forgotten all my high school Spanish and my new housekeeper does not speak English.This book is a great resource for quick help such as "please vacuum under the bed" as well as a guide to enable you to recall that Spanish that you have forgotten.