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Pauvre Anne
Pobre Ana by Blaine Ray The easiest novel in an easy series of novels for first-year students. Ana is a 15-year-old California girl who leads a tough life. Her mother is always on her. Her family doesn't have much money, but her best friends' families are rich. She's extremely jealous of them. When she gets an opportunity to go to Mexico, she goes to a small city where she lives with a very nice family that is poorer than her own family. Her view of her life changes radically. When she gets back to California, she sees everything in a different light. Pobre Ana is short and easy.
37 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 251 reviews
November 11, 2022
Una primera historia completamente en español
TPRS is a living foreign language teaching method that stands for Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling created by a Spanish teacher, Blaine Ray, in the late 1980’s. Pobre Ana is the first and easiest novel is a series of four TPRS efforts written by Blaine Ray for first year students of the Spanish language. With a vocabulary of only 300 words, Pobre Ana will clearly not win any prizes for literary value or plot development. But it’s short, it’s easy and its value is in demonstrating to a student who may be intimidated or afraid that they are making no progress that have actually learned a significant amount of Spanish.
Ana is a 15 year old angsty teenager (no … let’s make that spoiled, ego-centric and self-centered 15 year old brat) from California who feels herself immensely hard done by. She thinks her parents never appreciate anything she does and do nothing but complain to her or yell at her. She thinks they are poor and bemoans the fact that there never seems to be any money for new clothes or eating out in restaurants. When she has the opportunity to go on a trip to live with a Mexican family for a couple of months on her school’s dime, she jumps at the chance and hopes that it will be an opportunity, at least for a short while, to get away from her problems. Maybe it will be but, then again, maybe it won’t!
Consider this English translation of the opening paragraph in the “novel”:
“Ana is a girl with problems. She has lots of problems. She has problems with her friends and her family. She’s a normal girl but she has many problems.”
The repetition, as you might have guessed, is intentional. It gives the reader a chance to learn vocabulary, to have it stick in the brain, to see it in different grammatical placements and constructions and, ultimately, to read and understand a sentence in the target language, Spanish, without going through the mental intermediary of translation into English. The series is first rate and a great way to develop vocabulary, competency and confidence in Spanish with a minimum of pain or forced effort. I’m looking forward to challenging the remaining three books in the series as well.
Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss
TPRS is a living foreign language teaching method that stands for Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling created by a Spanish teacher, Blaine Ray, in the late 1980’s. Pobre Ana is the first and easiest novel is a series of four TPRS efforts written by Blaine Ray for first year students of the Spanish language. With a vocabulary of only 300 words, Pobre Ana will clearly not win any prizes for literary value or plot development. But it’s short, it’s easy and its value is in demonstrating to a student who may be intimidated or afraid that they are making no progress that have actually learned a significant amount of Spanish.
Ana is a 15 year old angsty teenager (no … let’s make that spoiled, ego-centric and self-centered 15 year old brat) from California who feels herself immensely hard done by. She thinks her parents never appreciate anything she does and do nothing but complain to her or yell at her. She thinks they are poor and bemoans the fact that there never seems to be any money for new clothes or eating out in restaurants. When she has the opportunity to go on a trip to live with a Mexican family for a couple of months on her school’s dime, she jumps at the chance and hopes that it will be an opportunity, at least for a short while, to get away from her problems. Maybe it will be but, then again, maybe it won’t!
Consider this English translation of the opening paragraph in the “novel”:
“Ana is a girl with problems. She has lots of problems. She has problems with her friends and her family. She’s a normal girl but she has many problems.”
The repetition, as you might have guessed, is intentional. It gives the reader a chance to learn vocabulary, to have it stick in the brain, to see it in different grammatical placements and constructions and, ultimately, to read and understand a sentence in the target language, Spanish, without going through the mental intermediary of translation into English. The series is first rate and a great way to develop vocabulary, competency and confidence in Spanish with a minimum of pain or forced effort. I’m looking forward to challenging the remaining three books in the series as well.
Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss
March 29, 2019
Sorry, but these here short little stories (presented in German and a number of other languages) and of which Arme Anna (Poor Anna, originally penned in English by Blaine Ray and translated into German by Helen Small) seems to be the first of the series and thus of course also the most basic, and always deliberately kept "simple" both with regard to content and especially writing style (for beginning level foreign or second language learners) I for one have generally have found them all and sundry majorly monotonous and not all that personally and culturally interesting. And indeed while I (as a German language instructor myself) do believe that introducing novice level language learners to easily comprehended and uncomplicated stories early on in the language learning process is likely both positive and beneficial, the presented anecdotes and tales should, no they must be relevant and relatable (and I guess that personally I simply find neither Arme Anna nor any of the other presented stories in this series of language learning resources all that interesting, engaging and relatable).
And furthermore, and in my opinion much more importantly, these stories should also NOT take the place of teaching basic grammar, syntax and the like (and which unfortunately does often seem to be the case nowadays, as more traditional language teaching textbooks and especially having students be taught basic grammar rules and learning the mechanics of a given language are sadly being cast aside and often even totally abandoned in favour of simply reading stories to students or having them tackle these on their own and with the assumption that even for adult learners, grammar, syntax, how a language such as German, French, Spanish, English etc. works should and will just naturally happen thorough osmosis). One star, and indeed while I am now generally being basically forced by my university language department to teach using Arme Anna and the rest of the series, I have also (and on the sly so to speak) made use and continue to make use of photocopies of multiple grammar handouts gleaned from my favourite German language textbooks and my own experience (because I have certainly found that MOST adult language students actually both want and even often require basic grammar rules and regulations being shown to them, and even though my department now insists on the ONLY German language textbook being "stories" I for one am with neither regret nor any guilt whatsoever also incorporating more traditional language teaching methods in my lessons, and yes, my students' final marks are usually considerably higher than the marks of those students whose instructors only and slavishly make use of "stories" to teach language and language concepts).
And furthermore, and in my opinion much more importantly, these stories should also NOT take the place of teaching basic grammar, syntax and the like (and which unfortunately does often seem to be the case nowadays, as more traditional language teaching textbooks and especially having students be taught basic grammar rules and learning the mechanics of a given language are sadly being cast aside and often even totally abandoned in favour of simply reading stories to students or having them tackle these on their own and with the assumption that even for adult learners, grammar, syntax, how a language such as German, French, Spanish, English etc. works should and will just naturally happen thorough osmosis). One star, and indeed while I am now generally being basically forced by my university language department to teach using Arme Anna and the rest of the series, I have also (and on the sly so to speak) made use and continue to make use of photocopies of multiple grammar handouts gleaned from my favourite German language textbooks and my own experience (because I have certainly found that MOST adult language students actually both want and even often require basic grammar rules and regulations being shown to them, and even though my department now insists on the ONLY German language textbook being "stories" I for one am with neither regret nor any guilt whatsoever also incorporating more traditional language teaching methods in my lessons, and yes, my students' final marks are usually considerably higher than the marks of those students whose instructors only and slavishly make use of "stories" to teach language and language concepts).
January 11, 2012
This book makes me very mad because Ana complains a lot and its like suck it upppp. shes all like enjoying being in mexico or whatever but she cant understand anything they say she is complaining about that now too! GAH! Im glad shes going home wait no give it time she will start complainging there too. well i finished reading this book and the ending isnt so bad i mean she doesnt complain anymore and she goes home and helps people instead which is good i guess
December 28, 2015
This was a truly inspiring story of satisfaction and love. Ana's show of compassion at the end of the story tugs on the heartstrings, and the conclusion evokes a tear-jerking and bittersweet ending for all lovers of Ricardo and Ana's beautiful relationship-- a perfect mix of platonic caring and clear passionate undertones. Full of deep characters and developed themes, Pobre Ana fills the heart and mind, and is truly worth a read.
April 28, 2015
Amazing literature. Changed my life.
March 22, 2018
we stan this messy queen
February 21, 2018
As the most spoiled girl I've ever seen in literature once said, "Él es guapo. Es muy, muy guapo!"
January 4, 2023
pauvre Anne is so annoying. I hate her, and I hate this book. Anne is an annoying little b***h; all she does is complain and cry all the time. It's an ok book, but Anne is so irritating.
April 20, 2018
It is surprisingly interesting. It is a story about a girl who lives in a poor and abusive family, while constantly being shunned by her friends. She then decides to run away to Mexico, where she is assisted by a network to help her find a home. In Mexico, she finds associates who she decides to work with. With the help of her new partners, Ana plots revenge against her family and friends, all while dealing with the everyday life in Mexico. Ana returns to America, driven by anger. Using newfound skills she learned in Mexico, she finally confronts everyone at home, and ultimately wins in the fight that ensued.
(Please note that my account of the story may not be entirely accurate)
(Please note that my account of the story may not be entirely accurate)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 22, 2013
This book is an easy read for Spanish beginners. I read this in my Spanish 3 class, and it was really easy to understand. This book is about a girl named Ana who complains about the littlest things in her life. Ana wins a chance at school to go to Mexico, and live with a family for a few months. Ana realizes that her problems aren't nearly as bad as the problems in Mexico. I would recommend this book to high schoolers that are currently learning Spanish, or want to learn Spanish. It's a great book to start out with. I would give this book four out of five stars, because it is very simple, and fun to read.
January 25, 2018
This is on Goodreads apparently. Only Maddie (or anyone else that takes Spanish) will get this.
April 23, 2023
This book sucked. But I guess that wasn't really the point. This book was meant to help people learn French and it did help me with that. But and was really annoying and whiny.
June 7, 2011
Pobre Ana is about a girl named Ana. Ana is very annoyed with the way her life is going. Her dad never gives her money to buy clothes, her mom always yells at her over stupid things, and her siblings take her things without asking and never help her with her homework. One day, Ana’s spanish teacher offers her a good opportunity to travel to Mexico for the summer, and stay with the Sánchez family. At first, Ana isn’t allowed to go because her dad has no money to pay for it, but then she tells him the school is paying for it, and he lets her go. When Ana is in Mexico, she loves the Sánchez family from the start. They’re very welcoming and caring. When Ana comes back to the U.S, she is a changed person because of what she learned in Mexico . . .
I HATED this book. I’m in spanish 1, so Ms. Conant had to pick a pretty easy book for us to read because we don’t know a ton of spanish. I understood almost all of the words, but the story was just so boring. It takes me a while to read things that are in spanish, which made the book even less enjoyable. The plot wasn’t that bad, but it annoyed me how Ana hated her life just because her dad wouldn’t give her money, her siblings wouldn’t help her with homework, and stupid things like that. The book took a while to reach the climax, and when it finally did, the author spent barely any time telling about Ana’s experience in Mexico. I would have liked to hear a little more about that. In the end though, I liked the message of the book. It was something like, “you’re not the only one with problems in your life, so keep your head up and look on the bright side”.
I would give this book a 1 out of 5. It’s deathly boring, and with a dry plot, it’s actually quite painful to read. I only read it because I had to, so I wouldn’t recommend this to someone who is just bored and needs a good book to read. I guess it’s helpful in teaching spanish sentence structure, and it’s definitely good with teaching the uses of verbs. I’d probably only recommend this to spanish 1 teachers though. Any spanish level above that...no. Still though, if I were a spanish teacher, I’d find a more interesting book than this one.
I HATED this book. I’m in spanish 1, so Ms. Conant had to pick a pretty easy book for us to read because we don’t know a ton of spanish. I understood almost all of the words, but the story was just so boring. It takes me a while to read things that are in spanish, which made the book even less enjoyable. The plot wasn’t that bad, but it annoyed me how Ana hated her life just because her dad wouldn’t give her money, her siblings wouldn’t help her with homework, and stupid things like that. The book took a while to reach the climax, and when it finally did, the author spent barely any time telling about Ana’s experience in Mexico. I would have liked to hear a little more about that. In the end though, I liked the message of the book. It was something like, “you’re not the only one with problems in your life, so keep your head up and look on the bright side”.
I would give this book a 1 out of 5. It’s deathly boring, and with a dry plot, it’s actually quite painful to read. I only read it because I had to, so I wouldn’t recommend this to someone who is just bored and needs a good book to read. I guess it’s helpful in teaching spanish sentence structure, and it’s definitely good with teaching the uses of verbs. I’d probably only recommend this to spanish 1 teachers though. Any spanish level above that...no. Still though, if I were a spanish teacher, I’d find a more interesting book than this one.
May 16, 2018
It is rare that a novel is so masterfully crafted that it captures your heart and keeps it for long after you have put the book away. The novella Pobre Ana is one of those rare books. I finished the novella few days ago and (for better or worse) every word has stuck with me. It haunts my dreams (and my nightmares). It is the story of love and growth. It is the epitome of literature. A stunning achievement! A masterpiece greater than anything Monet ever created. Dónde está the sequel?
May 13, 2011
Worst book in the whole wide world. First sentence: Ana has problems with money and her family. I had to read it in Spanish. It was painful to read.
February 2, 2018
It was the worst book I've ever read.
February 20, 2018
"él es guapo. es muy, muy guapo!"
April 24, 2017
OH MY I FINALLY FINISHED THIS. trust me, this took much longer than one month.
I thought the story was meh. It's about this girl who has a whole bunch of problems but when is given the chance to live with a family in Mexico over the summer, she goes there. Then she meets new friends and learns that the problems that she has with her family are normal and that she should be more grateful for what she already has.
In terms of using this book as a learning tool for those taking beginning Spanish, it works well and it also gives you a strange sense of accomplishment.
But if you're looking for an AMAZING, JAWDROPPING story, this is not it. It was hard to get into and not the most original.
Overall, pretty average in terms of story and just eh with characters, but Yiu can definitely use this if you are learning Spanish.
I thought the story was meh. It's about this girl who has a whole bunch of problems but when is given the chance to live with a family in Mexico over the summer, she goes there. Then she meets new friends and learns that the problems that she has with her family are normal and that she should be more grateful for what she already has.
In terms of using this book as a learning tool for those taking beginning Spanish, it works well and it also gives you a strange sense of accomplishment.
But if you're looking for an AMAZING, JAWDROPPING story, this is not it. It was hard to get into and not the most original.
Overall, pretty average in terms of story and just eh with characters, but Yiu can definitely use this if you are learning Spanish.
July 19, 2024
Not as difficult or long as I remember it being in middle school. Came back to make this book my puta. Pobre Ana has aged like a fine wine. Ana goes on a trip to Mexico and realizes that life isn't all about Calvin Klein, Nike, and Ford Mustang. When she returns from her trip, she has a new perspective on life. Highlighted the words I was not 100% sure of and am adding to Anki. Shoutout Señora Delopez for the recommendation 10 years ago.
December 17, 2021
es muy bien pero ricardo es muy feo. fight me. LONG LIVE BILLY
December 11, 2025
Es un libro perfecto para los nuevos hablantes de español. Repita los frases, usa frases sencillas, verbos comunes. Lo recomiendo para todos.
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April 20, 2018hi hello
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 19, 2018
(In English) In the beginning, Anne was a little annoying and all she did was complain about what she wanted and what she didn't have, but in the end she came around after her experience in Belgium.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 10, 2024
It's-Hard-To-Be-Lower-Middle-Class-In-An-Affluent-High School Ana.
December 20, 2019
Yo tengo que leer Pobre Ana en mi clase de español, y yo creo que es un bueno libro. Me gusta aprender y leer nuevas cosas en español, y el libro es interesante.
May 22, 2023
Pobre ana was ass
January 29, 2013
This book is a good read, and is an excellent book for students learning how to speak Spanish. My Spanish III class read this and it was easy to understand with our knowledge of Spanish. I thought the author did an excellent job adding in the facts about Mexico. This book is about a girl named Ana that complains about a little problem. She gets offered to go to Mexico and live with a family for a few months. I recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn Spanish or someone who is currently learning Spanish.
February 21, 2025
? Nieuwsgierig naar boekjes die ik zou kunnen gebruiken bij mijn hulp aan anderstaligen...
🤔 Het is eigenlijk wel een verhaaltje waarin iets mist. Anne is ongelukkig met haar gezin, gaat voor 3 maanden naar Amerika, waar andere kinderen ook niet altijd gelukkig zijn met hun gezin en daarna is ze weer heel blij met haar gezin in Nederland...wat is er gebeurd dan? Dat staat er dus niet in en is dus eigenlijk ook wel goed om nav dit boekje met anderstaligen te bespreken...Maar ook wel een beetje lastig dus...
MW 16/2/23
🤔 Het is eigenlijk wel een verhaaltje waarin iets mist. Anne is ongelukkig met haar gezin, gaat voor 3 maanden naar Amerika, waar andere kinderen ook niet altijd gelukkig zijn met hun gezin en daarna is ze weer heel blij met haar gezin in Nederland...wat is er gebeurd dan? Dat staat er dus niet in en is dus eigenlijk ook wel goed om nav dit boekje met anderstaligen te bespreken...Maar ook wel een beetje lastig dus...
MW 16/2/23
November 17, 2022
Ana’s character development through this is her only redeeming quality and it felt so forced. Ana complains about everything and is a very annoying protagonist. This was my first full book in Spanish we read in class, sure it was good for learning the story was dull, predictable, and plain boring. Like I don’t care that much that she smiles for the first time since her birth at the end of the story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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June 13, 2009Come on.. this was just lame. and it was "the easiest book in the easiest series for beginner spanish". Way to make me feel stupid. I hate Sra. infanzon!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 251 reviews