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Correct Your Spanish Blunders: How to Avoid 99% of the Common Mistakes Made by Learners of Spanish
A witty, fast-paced guide to eliminating Spanish bloopers for beginners Mixing genders, inverting subjects and objects, and trusting falsos amigos (a.k.a., false cognates) are just a few of the blunders English-speaking Spanish-language learners commonly make. In Correct Your Spanish Blunders , veteran Spanish teacher Jean Yates identifies these and other common trouble spots and clearly explains the reasons behind them. Learners discover how grammar patterns of Spanish differ from those of English and why trying to translate word for word, structure for structure, from English, can lead to big trouble. Beginning Spanish students learn to break bad habits and correct their mistakes, while developing a much more natural feel for Spanish language patternsand have fun doing it!with the help
368 pages, Paperback
First published November 4, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 30, 2018
It is finished! At last!
This book took me a great deal of time to finish (~9 mo) and my copy is really showing signs of aging due to extended use. My slow progress is partly due to me having only short breaks to do a few pages of the book at a time, partly due to the density of the material covered and partly due to its somewhat dry prose. I read another book from this author and I think that one was a lot easier to get through.
While it is targeted for beginner-intermediate students of Spanish language but I think it is still useful for more advanced students as well. In fact, I believe some grammar sections are pretty advanced. Even though I consider myself an advanced student at this moment and I was already aware of many of these mistakes, I was still able fix a few of my own mistakes along the way. I think fixing all of these mistakes is not possible by reading this book just one time. The material needs to be reviewed and re-reviewed along the way until it is internalized. It just takes time and persistence! The owner of this book will want to keep it as a reference book for later consultation.
There are a ton of common mistakes and blunders covered in this book, of which the majority are about differences in English and Spanish grammar but there is also some coverage of orthographic errors and vocabulary errors (false cognates etc). There is a small exercise section at the end of each subsection and a grand review at the end of the book. Table of contents, subject index and answers to all exercises in the book are also included.
Do I recommend this book? Yes but it is not for everyone. Some people will be put off by its style. It takes an effort and a bit of willpower to finish it.
This book took me a great deal of time to finish (~9 mo) and my copy is really showing signs of aging due to extended use. My slow progress is partly due to me having only short breaks to do a few pages of the book at a time, partly due to the density of the material covered and partly due to its somewhat dry prose. I read another book from this author and I think that one was a lot easier to get through.
While it is targeted for beginner-intermediate students of Spanish language but I think it is still useful for more advanced students as well. In fact, I believe some grammar sections are pretty advanced. Even though I consider myself an advanced student at this moment and I was already aware of many of these mistakes, I was still able fix a few of my own mistakes along the way. I think fixing all of these mistakes is not possible by reading this book just one time. The material needs to be reviewed and re-reviewed along the way until it is internalized. It just takes time and persistence! The owner of this book will want to keep it as a reference book for later consultation.
There are a ton of common mistakes and blunders covered in this book, of which the majority are about differences in English and Spanish grammar but there is also some coverage of orthographic errors and vocabulary errors (false cognates etc). There is a small exercise section at the end of each subsection and a grand review at the end of the book. Table of contents, subject index and answers to all exercises in the book are also included.
Do I recommend this book? Yes but it is not for everyone. Some people will be put off by its style. It takes an effort and a bit of willpower to finish it.
April 4, 2013
This was a daunting cover-to-cover read, and as such, I went through it in small bites so that I could have some hope of remembering what's in it.
The book is arranged by parts of speech, verb tenses, phrases, vocabulary, and common idioms. The caveat is that one Spanish-speaking country's blunder is another's correct usage, so it's always best to listen to native speakers, but in general, this book offers excellent and thorough guidance on how to avoid most grammatical and word choice errors as a neophyte Spanish speaker.
It's completely overwhelming as a full volume, but will be indispensable as a reference, with a comprehensive index. I found it a humbling experience, feeling that I've come a long way in my Spanish studies only to be rather cut down by the many pitfalls (over a thousand listed within these covers) that I am likely to encounter. I'll be taking a deep breath and then referring to it often as I continue to improve my skills with this language.
The book is arranged by parts of speech, verb tenses, phrases, vocabulary, and common idioms. The caveat is that one Spanish-speaking country's blunder is another's correct usage, so it's always best to listen to native speakers, but in general, this book offers excellent and thorough guidance on how to avoid most grammatical and word choice errors as a neophyte Spanish speaker.
It's completely overwhelming as a full volume, but will be indispensable as a reference, with a comprehensive index. I found it a humbling experience, feeling that I've come a long way in my Spanish studies only to be rather cut down by the many pitfalls (over a thousand listed within these covers) that I am likely to encounter. I'll be taking a deep breath and then referring to it often as I continue to improve my skills with this language.
September 30, 2018
There are some errors that are listed that are just so common sense like spelling errors but the other big problem is that what is wrong in one region of the country may be correct in another so they are not necessarily blenders unless you happen to be in the wrong place
September 2, 2011
This book was incredibly helpful to me when I was trying to learn Spanish. I will continue to review this and use it as a reference for as long as am still attempting to learn the language.
May 24, 2016
Very clear, very concise book for students with a decent basic grasp of Spanish.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews