Better Reading Spanish : A Reader and Guide to Improving Your Understanding of Written Spanish

by Jean Yates

Book Overview

Sharpen your Spanish language skills through readings about its speakers' daily lives and culture Better Reading Spanish offers you entertaining, "real world" texts to help you understand and learn... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0071391371
• Release Date: October 2002
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.8" x 0.8" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

good review

Very good review materials for upper level high school or intermediate level university Spanish courses.

Superb instruction on a much-neglected topic

Jean Yates can now count me as a member of her fan club. Her book "Correct Your Spanish Blunders" is one of my most trusted Spanish learning aides, so I was already familiar with her scholarship when I stumbled across "Better Reading Spanish". I bought the book after only a cursory glance, and my initial hunch about its value has proved correct. A book like this is long overdue. The syllabus of any high-school or college Spanish course is almost guaranteed to state that the goals are to help the student achieve proficiency in speaking, writing AND reading. Yet reading always seems to get the short end of the stick. How is an instructor to know whether students are tracking with the reading material, or pinpoint the source of their reading comprehension deficiencies? Errors in speaking and writing, on the other hand, are obvious, and those two areas usually dominate the coursework and in-class activities. For reading practice, the teacher generally assigns a primary source -- in my experience, either short stories or books -- assuming students will have minimal difficulty reading in a foreign language. But even with the guidance of patient and dedicated instructors, I still agonized over many long reading assignments. If only "Better Reading Spanish" (and its French counterpart) had been around when I was in college! The most obvious feature of this book is the reading material, all of which was well chosen, IMO. I also found the selections highly engaging. But besides that, the book has a set of detailed and comprehensive self-test exercises after each selection, as well as sidebars on the various Spanish phrasing introduced in the reading. In particular, I liked the infobox describing Spanish's use of the gerund to express continuing action (e.g., va recogiendo, anda silbando, and the "seguir + gerund" I learned long ago). For me, this book has taken the mystery out of unfamiliar words, idioms and grammatical constructions. It has also helped me discover the pleasure of reading original works without having to consult a dictionary, or worse yet, a translation. So once again I say bravo to Jean Yates, this time for her guidance on reading foreign-language text. A previously overlooked area of instruction now has the definitive self-help guide for mastering this important skill.

This is a great book for an advanced student

As the editor suggests, this is not a text for beginning Spanish students. However, as a supplement to a class, it's excellent. Use this when you need a refresher during the summer, or before you delve back in to an intense course. The great thing is that the readings are so diverse! If you don't like one chapter, the next will surely give you another take on vocabulary, grammar, etc. It is not a textbook - it's a reading book. Definitely, it's geared toward older students, avid readers. For younger students who want to be able to write out activities or draw in their text-workbooks, try Flip Flop Spanish.

Spanish Culture Made Interesting

Have you ever sat in a classroom learning Spanish with books that bored you? Do you remember reading those terrible passages that taught you nothing and only put you to sleep? Now, you don't need to suffer that unbearable ordeal any longer. With this new book, the author has retold Spanish culture in a new way of teaching. The passages vary and they all contain entertainment and valuable information. Not only do the passages keep you focussed, but you want to go out and buy the books or newspapers or other sources that this author used in creating this text. As I read this book, I am intrigued about the writing style, the exercises, and the selected passages. Out of all the years that I've learned the language using various books, this book has to be the easiest to follow with the most enjoyment. The book is filled with page turners, and the comparison between various cultures reveals more than just the language, literature, and grammar. It reveals another side of the language that most people do not learn in their classes. If I was a department chair for Spanish I would certainly require all the students to buy a copy of this book for educational purposes. I guarantee you that you will not waste your money with such a wonderfully written book. This is a very talented author who will succeed far in her writing endeveurs.