Spanish For Beginners: ¡Hola, Lola!

by Juan Fernández

This story is the first part in a series of Spanish Easy Readers called SPANISH FOR BEGINNERS , whose aim is to help you learn Spanish from scratch and reach an intermediate level. Therefore, the difficulty of the text and the language used in this short story have been adapted to help students revise and consolidate their grammar and vocabulary in Spanish at level A1 on the Common European Framework of Reference. Repetition is key in this you will read the same words, the same expressions and the same grammar structures again and again. When learning new words and new expressions in a foreign language, repetition is essential. You need to read (and hear) the same words again and again, in different contexts, in order to understand its meaning and to be able to remember them later on.That is the reason we say this book is carefully designed to help you revise and consolidate fundamental vocabulary and basic grammar structures studied in any Spanish beginner you will read the same words, the same expressions and the same grammar structures again and again, in different contexts, in order to help you understand its meaning and be able to remember them later on. Each chapter comes with a list of the main vocabulary used in the text and reading comprehension questions to help you understand the story and learn the vocabulary and grammar involved.

Genres: Spanish Literature, Fiction, Esp

214 pages, Paperback

Published March 6, 2018

About the author

Juan Fernández is a Spanish teacher at University College London. He was born in the south of Spain, in Granada, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. In 1997 he moved to the UK, where he has been teaching Spanish for more than 15 years.
He is also the creator of 1001 Reasons To Learn Spanish, a website with games, videos, podcasts and many activities to help you learn Spanish in a pleasant way.

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won't try to convince you that this is great, or even good, literature. This is a book written in the present tense with lots of repetition. But, I do think it was really helpful as I try to improve my Spanish. I found that there were very few words that I needed to look up. If you have the Kindle version much of the vocabulary is available with the online dictionary. At the end of each chapter this is a vocabulary list that is helpful to review. Some have mentioned that it is like the Dick and Jane readers (aging myself) that we had as our first readers. It s more than that but there is an emphasis on simple sentences and he repeats the same idea in different ways because, as you know, there is more than one way to say something.

The thing I really enjoyed was that as I progressed through the book, ebook, I found that I was simply reading and not translating. I will be getting more of his books.

[Braga · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ideal book for beginners in castilian Spanish (aka the Spanish spoken in Spain)

Again, you cannot jump into this book as your first Spanish learning item, I'd recommend to become familiarized with basic vocabularies and grammar with apps like Duolingo/memrise before taking this up. I enjoyed this book very much.

[Dana G · Rating 5 out of 5]

One thing that’s missing from many language learning programs is the opportunity for lots of contextualizad repetition. This little book provides exactly that. The story is simple but it held my interest. Repetition is provided in the form of redundancy in sentence structure and vocabulary and also in the protagonist sharing his thoughts repeatedly so that we keep hearing the same questions and expressions. While this is a beginner book it is not for a true language learning beginner. Some basic vocabulary and familiarity with Spanish is assumed. Fernandez has several books ranging from beginner to intermediate/ advanced levels. I look forward to his other books in the series.

[Jaclynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book for beginners \intermediary learners! I loved it and will be rereading it

[Louisa Mead · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s not exactly top tier literature but a fun way to learn basic Spanish via lots of repetition and some humour.
William really is a miserable so and so though!

[melis]

al principio me aburrió muchísimo. fue muy repetitivo, pero aprendí nuevas palabras gracias a esta cualidad.

[Darren · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a beginner (well, whatever level is slightly past beginner and WAY before intermediate), I can't say enough about this author's ability to communicate and teach a language. His humour in his YouTube videos and Podcasts (check them out!) is found right here in ¡Hola Lola! As a beginner, I had a blast reading about Guillermo's (aka Will) search for a genuine flamenco dancing Spanish Chica. I have tried reading other beginner levels Spanish short stories and didn't find them engaging enough to read past half a dozen pages. I finished Hola Lola in record time and will re-read and re-read it, and then I'm going to buy more books from this author. And no, I don't know Juan, but I would love to have a Cerveza with the bloke. 😊

[Revati · Rating 5 out of 5]

Writing an engaging book at an A1 level cannot be easy, but this book is very much so. It is written in the present tense and uses a lot of repetition to reinforce sentence structures and vocabulary - but it was funny and clever, and the repetition is often used as a humorous device.
It didn't feel like reading a graded reader, it was great fun to read. Good choice for a first book in Spanish for adult learners!

Part of why I enjoyed it was because I do listen to Juan's podcast, and his voice and sense of humour come through in the book. I think the book would still be quite enjoyable even without that, though.

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It's all written in the present tense, except for one word towards the end. Thoughts and sentences are repeated often and in different ways, which really helped me to learn how Spanish is used. The story was interesting and funny. I couldn't put it down and I laughed all the way through, except when Edoardo came into the bar and started talking to Paloma and William. I felt really sorry for William at this point and wished he could find some better people to talk to.

[Kristinita · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this book is written in such a smart way to help encourage information retention.

I really enjoyed William’s thoughts, and descriptions of everyone, especially Edoardo, Fernando, and Julio.

Even if your level is more advanced than this book’s, as mine is, it’s a quick, easy read, and you may still learn some handy new vocabulary.

[Hooman Moghaddas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very useful

I really liked the way the book teaches you and it repeats everything that you practice the words and verbs on different sentences. Highly recommended

[neen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very accessible and I like the concept again but oh my goodness the main character is beyond insufferable I found myself thinking CALLATE GORDITO DE MIERDA POR FAVOOOORRRRR

[Ninjakicalka · Rating 4 out of 5]

"¡Hola, Lola!" to bardzo dobry wybór dla początkujących, na takim najniższym poziomie języka hiszpańskiego. Skupiamy się tu przede wszystkim na powtarzaniu. W kółko i w kółko te same słowa. Po prostu im dalej tym bardziej rozbudowane zdania. Łączenie wyrażeń w różny sposób. Na końcu każdego rozdziału jest tłumaczenie pogrubionych słów na angielski, niestety nie wszystkie się tam znajdują, chociaż powinny. Za słownikiem znajduje się krótki test typu ABCD do wcześniejszego tekstu.

Co do treści to mamy tu niestety niedokończoną fabułę, nie wiadomo co się dzieje dalej z bohaterami. Szczerze to czuję się oszukana, bo akurat pod koniec zaczynało się rozkręcać. Doszedł nowy wątek, a poprzednie nie zostały rozwiązane. Sam główny bohater jest, lekko mówiąc, dziwny, ciągle na siebie narzeka, a jednak nie ma polskich korzeni. Jest też miejsce, by mu współczuć, facet próbuje się odnaleźć w wielkim mieście, a nikt nie chce z nim rozmawiać, jego znajomi są naprawdę chamscy i pokazują to na wiele sposobów.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Spanish is probably around an advanced beginner level. I have been trying to read children’s novels but it’s still pretty slow and tedious. Finding this book has been a huge confidence boost! I could understand all of it, only looking up a few new words here and there. The repetition was helpful. It fulfills its purpose in providing beginner Spanish learners a book that could be challenging but achievable for a beginner! Looking forward to reading through his whole series! I also enjoyed the humor sprinkled throughout and how the writing gradually got more mature as I progressed through the book.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strongly recommend

This is the best graded reader for beginner Spanish I have ever read. It starts with the absolute basics and slowly adds grammar and vocabulary until you’re fluidly reading long passages of natural sounding Spanish. I loved all the repetition, and as an intermediate learner I even picked up a few words. I was surprised to realize after reading the book that it was written by Español con Juan himself! Gracias por todo, Juan.

[LatinaBunny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great for learning, but unfortunately, I didn’t like the story nor the characters. It has very unlikeable characters and no exploration of Spanish culture.

The main character has stereotypical views people, especially of the Spanish people, and then also acts like everyone (but especially the native Spanish speakers and Spanish class students) was “dumb” or “deaf” if they couldn’t understand his accent, and several characters didn’t want to interact with him, either.

The main character didn’t seem to really want to learn about the Spanish culture outside of learning salsa from (what he assumes should be) a Spanish woman, and has some bad luck throughout.

I’m guessing this is supposed to be a “funny failure” type of comedy, but I didn’t really like it, so the story became a slog to finish. It also had an unsatisfying ending. :-/

On the positive side, it was great for reading to learn for high beginner level, with straightforward present tense usage, short sentences, and repetition.

So a really good resource for learning or brushing up the language for high beginners, but I just couldn’t enjoy the story content.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great starter book for beginners!

I loved this book. It’s a bit below my level but since I haven’t read an entire book in Spanish before, I wanted to start with this. There are a lot of useful words and phrases in this book and it is rather entertaining. Thanks for this series Juan!

[Darren Hardesty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is not gonna win any prized for literature but it is a very accessible read for a Spanish language beginner.

Lots of repetition and laid out with easy reference - great to read on Kindle as you can use the Spanish dictionary to help with words you don't know but do not expect it to be 100% accurate

[Kaavya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hola Lola es mi primero libro en español. Es muy facil y interseante. Yo no hablo mucho español pero yo leer este libro. En el comienzo, lo es poco aburrido porque es muy repetitivo para que puedas aprender el vocabulario. Pero, después, este es muy interesante y divertida. También, tiene preguntas al final de cada capítulo a prueba tu comprensión. Gracias para leer!

[Maria Y · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's so difficult to find legitimate A1 reading material! This book finally fit the bill and the bonus is that the story is laced with some pretty funny lines thanks to the repetition used. It does lose some of its repetition as you get further into the book as it gets replaced with increasingly more complex sentences/vocabulary. Great book to start with as a true beginner!

[Jacqueline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for Spanish learners! The story and characters are amusing and I felt my vocabulary improving. The only complaint is that not all of the bolded vocabulary words seen throughout the chapters are in the vocabulary lists. Otherwise, it’s definitely a win and I’m looking forward to more graduated readers from this author.

[Melisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun and helpful

This book is a helpful learning tool and fun to read as well. It is difficult to find materials to read as a beginner in Spanish, that are educational and also entertaining. I recommend this title.

[Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wouldn't say the story itself is compelling but it was well thought out in how it slowly introduces new words and concepts in context. Enough so that I've bought his book for the next level and look forward to progressing further my understanding of Spanish, poco a poco.

[Leon Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic learning tool

This book has been a great help in my Spanish studies. I have managed to learn new words effortlessly and gradually improved my understanding of the language along the way. Looking forward to reading the next book.

[Zen Runner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hola Lola was a fun and entertaining way to practice reading Spanish. The characters are endearing and funny. I could see this as a sitcom. I look forward to reading more of Juan’s stories. Also it’s worth checking out his great videos on YouTube.

[Matt Skinner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant!

Really cleverly written to help solidify the use of present tense conjunction. I've noticed a huge improvement in this area having read this book a little each day for the last week. More improvement in one week than in many months using other methods.

[Mary Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pequeño libro muy útil

Este libro es una brillante introducción a la lectura en español. La historia está estructurada para demostrar cómo funciona el idioma. Fue fácil de leer y comprender. Se lo recomiendo a cualquiera que esté comenzando en el viaje de aprender español.

[Francisco d'Anconia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Juan’s typical humor and a touching ending. Looking forward to reading the next I. The series. Reads as a diary of someone learning Spanish. Starts very easy and builds with constant repetition to a much more complex story. I’d recommend for levels A1-b1.

[Mark Alford · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was my first Spanish read!

As my first book in Espan̈ol it was great. I have completed 600 hours of audio comprehensible input prior, and that made this a great confidence booster that kept me interested and reinforced what I had been hearing.

[Michael E · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hola Lola is a great book for learning Spanish and entertaining to follow the story!

I loved this little book and was surprised how great the story was, and how it kept me reading and wanting to find out more within the storyline.