Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Verb Tenses by Dorothy Richmond
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Book Reviews of Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Verb Tenses
Book Review: An excellent review for someone with previous knowledge
Summary: 5 Stars
Fantastic series!
What kind of learner am I?
I teach in a university-based adult education program, where many of my students are native Spanish speakers. My high school and college Spanish classes were a distant memory, but when I chose this book and its companions (complete grammar and pronouns/prepositions), I DID remember enough to communicate at a basic level. I've found this series excellent for improving my Spanish enough for my students to comment enthusiastically after a relatively short time. I have no instructor, but I learn well from books, and I already knew how to pronounce Spanish words. For someone else in my position, I can't recommend this series highly enough--it's the best I found after extensive searching, library loans, etc.
Getting the most from this product:
I also recommend getting all three books (complete grammar, pronouns/prepositions, and verbs) as I did. I've found that it's been helpful to work through a few sections in one book, switch to one of the others, and move ahead in similar jags through all three at once. I can tell when to switch by when I start to feel like I'm getting in over my head--I think it would be difficult to learn alone using just one of these.
Another tip: This series is pure grammar, but there's plenty of culture and literature available free online. I've supplemented the books by reading Spanish-language newspapers online (my favorite seems to be the BBC/Latin America), pasting the text into www.freetranslation.com to check my reading as needed. Often, I've translated these in their entirety for practice (the free translation's enough to understand, but not a particularly good translation). I also found a Spanish-speaking penpal by visiting Spanish chatrooms, and write back and forth frequently as a way to practice my written Spanish. These activities have provided the learning richness that simple grammar texts aren't intended to offer.
Who shouldn't use this?
However, if (for example) you know no (or almost no) Spanish now or remember very little vocabulary, this would be a poor choice. It definitely assumes some level of familiarity with the language. Also, if you're an auditory learner or need a human instructor, you won't find it in this (or any other) text-only book.
Book Review: I can't say enough positives about this book!
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm quite a bit older than most people trying to learn a new language, and I have found it much more daunting than it was when I was in high school. I am determined to learn to speak Spanish - not just to read it or even to write it. I have found most over-the-counter do-it-yourself books to be extremely lacking in one way or another. Some don't cover all the verb forms (hey, who needs "tú" anyway? You're never going to become friends with anyone who speaks Spanish, right? And of course, you'll never need "vosotros!"). Most don't even begin to cover the tenses except, maybe, the past perfect. Still others aren't much more than long lists of nouns. What was disturbing me was that after nearly a year of independent study I knew more than 700 words, but I couldn't begin to say things I wanted to say - things that are quite natural to me in English - to my Spanish-speaking friends.I found this book about 2 months ago and I consider myself fortunate to have done so. It starts out quite simply and builds upward from there. It's like a dam has burst and suddenly I can see how to say what I want to say. I enjoy working with it so much, I literally spend hours on it every day. Once I've finished the written exercises I hand the book over to my "significant other," who then reads the English sentences to me so I can say them back in Spanish.
The astute learner will find that the book covers many aspects of the language such as word order and preposition use which are not annotated in the book, but will be absorbed through exposure. I would love to see an annotated version of this book - it would be even more valuable.
This book would be daunting for a rank beginner because it depends upon the reader to already have some established vocabulary, but for the early intermediate to advanced learner it is a GODSEND. And it's so incredibly inexpensive, I'm going to buy another one once I'm finished with it and go through it again! Thank you, Ms. Devney Richmond, for this book. I can't wait for more from you!
Book Review: Excellent
Summary: 5 Stars
Though I spent 5 weeks at Tec de Monterrey in MX learning Spanish, I am now learning mostly on my own. I have several college-level textbooks, but this book, by far, is helping me understand verbs more than any other process, including living and using the language daily. Used with other resources (a dictionary, etc), a person can really get a solid sense of the different conjugations, regular and irregular. The authors are correct, the verb is the "engine" of a sentence. General vocabulary will get you only so far.For basic conversation, you need the verbs, and you need to know multiple tenses. Even knowing the irregulars is not as important as being able, at the least, to switch from past to present to future to conditional. If you mess up an irregular, but use the right tense you want, a native speaker will understand you well enough. And, when you misunderstand their use of an irregular, you'll have enough knowledge to be able to ask about it and understand their explanation. And, that, ultimately is how you learn a language. Not though perfect speech, but rather through a process and tools that help you get through the rough and tricky spots. This book is that... a great tool!
I'm getting ready to head to Puerto Rico this summer and feel exceptionally confident my continued study of this book will influence my ability and confidence greatly when it comes to actually talking with native speakers. Also, I like this book so much that I'm purchasing Richmond and Devney's similar "Pronoun and Preposition" book. I only wish they had about 6 more of these kinds of workbooks.
Book Review: Conjugate your life away...
Summary: 5 Stars
I would not have learned what I know about Spanish verbs if I hadn't bought this book. The price is almost embarassingly low, and the amount of information you get for your money is astounding.This book will help with reading comprehension and writing of Spanish. All of the verb tenses are covered, and accompanied by exercises that solidly reinforce the material. All you need to do is sit down with a pencil or pen, start reading and then start writing. The exercises are designed to reinforce your learning, and you'll be surprised how much you retain from completing them. I am almost completely self-taught (I had some help from some native speakers with conversation), and this book was a part of my language-learning arsenal that helped me more than get by with Spanish in South America and Spain.
LIttle by little the book goes through the various Spanish verb tenses starting with the present (hablo, hablas, etc). Before that the book goes over some basics like pronouns to provide a foundation (yo, te, me, elle, etc.). From there the book goes on to cover every Spanish verb tense I've ever heard of, including an elucidating few chapters on the subjunctive. You can literally start with almost no knowledge of Spanish. The book will not help you with speaking, however, nor will it teach you everything. Believe the words on the cover: this book is about verbs.
Verb conjugation may not be the most exciting thing humans have come up with, but this book almost makes conjugation fun (did I say that? No, not me, must have been someone else).
You certainly can't go wrong for the price.
Book Review: A course in itself on Spanish verbs- a great resource!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the only textbook/workbook available on the market so far that is thorough in its objective which is to study, analyze and understand Spanish verb tenses and moods. I deem this workbook as a course in itself on Spanish verbs and the various rules and usage due to the completeness and extensive coverage provided in every chapter. The book provides a summary of the topic to be covered, examples of the verb concept in a phrase, practice exercises and amazingly enough a practice translation which encompass all the verb concepts taught in the chapter and concepts taught progressively throughout the book. The practice exercises allows for immediate application of the concept being reviewed and the answer key at the back allows you correct your exercises and realize your strengths and weaknesses during the learning process.I recommend this book to intermediate and advance level Spanish students as well as native speakers who wish to clarify and perfectionize specific verb concepts that prove to be difficult in Spanish. I have used this book with my students and also for personal clarification of doubts from time to time. This book will definitely prove to be beneficial and can be studied as a course in Spanish verbs. If you follow the lessons chapter by chapter you will realize the correlation from one chapter to the another and therefore progress in your understanding of the concepts being reviewed. You can't go wrong with this purchase as it is educational, economical and an eternal verb resource material. High recommendation given.