Cassell's Colloquial Spanish: A Handbook of Idiomatic Usage

By: Arthur Bryson Gerrard

Book Overview

Cassell’s Colloquial Spanish is one of a newly revised series of handbooks which provide convenient and fascinating coverage of modern languages, and of the pitfalls and difficulties inherent in... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0020794304
• ISBN13: 9780020794301
• Release Date: March 1981
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• Length: 303 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.0" x 0.5" x 4.3"

Customer Reviews

Maybe the Best All-Around Presentation of Collouqialisms

While I agree with all the comments of previous reviewers on this little gem of a book, I feel that it is incumbent on me to point out what this book is, and what it is not. It is not a general review of Spanish slang. It was not meant to be, and while it covers a fair amount of slang, it is more in the sense of pointing out those types of colloquialisms that are long-standing and which the foreigner should understand when he or she hears them, e.g., common and universal obscenities. For an extensive review of colloquialisms along with background on the ones that are peculiar to specific areas of the Hispanic world, the book "Streetwise Spanish" is a better choice.However, in the field of discussing the basic nuts and bolts of standard spoken Spanish, there is simply no better book on the market than this one. It is true that Joseph Keenan's recent offering, "Breaking Out of Beginner's Spanish" offers more in the way of colloquial grammar points, but "Cassell's Colloquial Spanish" will acquaint you with the the sort of vocabulary that you will hear the most often at home, on the street, in the classroom or the office or anywhere else you may end up. If you learn what's in this book you'll be able to communicate effectively 95 percent of the time. What's more, the book is a good read, good enought even to be a bedside book. There aren't many language books you can say that about.

One of the few "essential" reference books I've found

I can't say enough good things about this little gem. It's an outstanding reference book. The author's mastery of Spanish is rather humbling, but he is able to convey a great deal of knowledge using a writing style that is both relaxed and very enjoyable to read. This book is a sort of Spanish-to-English dictionary, but it doesn't simply list English equivalents of a Spanish word the way a regular bilingual dictionary does. It goes into a discussion of the word in question and explains the little nuances and shades in meaning in a way that most dictionaries never come close to doing. The definitions given include examples and anecdotes that put the words in context to help the reader better grasp their meaning. When necessary, the author is always careful to point out the various meanings a particular word might have in different parts of the Spanish-speaking world. Further, the author is not afraid to list "off-color" or vulgar words in an attempt to save the reader from unwittingly making a fool of him or herself by using the wrong word in the wrong part of the world.My only "complaint" is that this book isn't even longer and more exhaustive than it is (it's 303 pages), although the book's relative brevity makes it easier to completely read and digest. Still, a second volume that picks up where this one leaves off would be wonderful to have.I've lived in South America and have a four-year college degree in Spanish, yet I still learn something new (or relearn something I've forgotten) every time I pick up this book. Students of all ability levels from beginning to very advanced will benefit from this work. That said, I think most beginning students will already have enough on their hands with learning the nuts and bolts of Spanish grammar and acquiring a basic vocabulary. For that reason, I tend to think that a book of this type is better suited for intermediate and up students. Along with a good dictionary like the Larousse Gran Diccionario, this is a must-own reference book for any serious student of the Spanish language.

Old Title (Beyond the Dictionary) Was Better

It's kind of hard to review a book when you are speechless with admiration. In the US we don't have much of a culture of foreign language learning, so we fail to appreciate the importance of vocabulary. I read a remark by Hemingway once to the effect that when he decided to tackle Spanish he bought a dictionary and began to read, so it lead me to try an experiment. I took a bilingual dictionary and started to read the *English* side and I soon discovered that there was hardly a single English phrase in the entire dictionary (bilingual dictionaries have less vocabulary than a big monolingual dictionaries, naturally) that one would not expect a fluent English speaker to know. This was frightening, because it implied that a fluent Spanish speaker would probably know all the words and idioms on the Spanish side! So how should a native English speaker, who wishes to become fluent in Spanish, make a serious effort at expanding his vocabulary in Spanish? The problem with reading a bilingual dictionary (a la Hemingway) is that such dictionaries are notoriously inaccurate and are virtually completely devoid of contextual information that would serve to illustrate how words are actually used. It would be an exaggeration to say that Bryson's book fills the entire gap; it's too small for that, but it does fill quite a few gaping holes, and it is beautifully written with a lot of amusing anecdotes that help one *remember* what is being taught. He has also changed the way I think about language. His book has taught me, among other things, to always look for English cognates as a means of alerting myself to how Spanish speakers use different metaphors than English speakers to express similar concepts. Before Bryson I was less conscious of the Spanish I used & my mastery was diminished as a result. For that habit of mind, and for the many useful clarifications, I am very grateful. Mr. Bryson thank you so much for this fine book. I only wish there were a few academics who took an interest in offering the kind of service you have offered us. Then perhaps we would have a Colloquial Spanish the size of a Gran Larousse. - John Strong

Read it from cover to cover.

This book is really beyond praise -- one of the most enjoyable and yet edifying books I have ever read. You can see clearly that the author has a real knowledge of the whole Spanish-speaking world, from Spain to Tierra del Fuego. (This is one reason why this book is considerably better than Keenan's book, which focuses on Mexican usage almost exclusively.) In addition to sound advice about False, Unreliable, and Good Friends, (words that appear similar in Spanish and English but whose meanings may or may not be the same) he has some absolutely fascinating tidbits of information: e.g., -barra- in music means the vertical bar-line; what we call a musical bar or measure is compás. Speaking of bars, I think he's had a few nights out with these -hispanohablantes-, and thus he understands the culture in a familiar and deeply amicable way. He has a fine sense of humor and insight. I read the book cover to cover and recommend the same without reservation.