Product Description

Many language books are boring—this one is not. Written by a native English speaker who learned Spanish the hard way—by trying to talk to Spanish-speaking people—it offers English speakers with a basic knowledge of Spanish hundreds of tips for using the language more fluently and colloquially, with fewer obvious "gringo" errors.

Writing with humor, common sense, and a minimum of jargon, Joseph Keenan covers everything from pronunciation, verb usage, and common grammatical mistakes to the subtleties of addressing other people, "trickster" words that look alike in both languages, inadvertent obscenities, and intentional swearing. He guides readers through the set phrases and idiomatic expressions that pepper the native speaker's conversation and provides a valuable introduction to the most widely used Spanish slang.

With this book, both students in school and adult learners who never want to see another classroom can rapidly improve their speaking ability. Breaking Out of Beginner's Spanish will be an essential aid in passing the supreme language test-communicating fluently with native speakers.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6273 in Books
• Published on: 1994
• Original language: English, Spanish
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 229 pages

Language Notes
Text: English, Spanish

Customer Reviews

The most entertaining language book you'll ever read!
I recently bought another copy of this book as the first one has fallen to pieces from much use. It's not your typical language text and not for rank beginners but it certainly gets the points across in an easy and often humorous manner. The lack of an index is a minor annoyance, and who has ever died from having to flip through the pages of a book?

Breaking Out of Beginner's Spanish
GREAT BOOK!!!! Buy it if you are trying to advance from an intermediate speaker to an advanced speaker ... very useful

wonderful read of spanish grammar/usage
Perhaps the only book dealing with spanish grammar I enjoyed reading. The author does a wonderful job of not bogging down in technical jargon while instilling the difference between knowing the technicalities of a language and being FLUENT in a language. It was profoundly helpful!!