Bilingual Short Story for Spanish Beginners. LA BAILADORA ASESINA - THE ASSASSIN DANCER: Learn Spanish the fun, easy way! (La Bailadora Asesina Trilogy nº 1)

La bailadora asesina #1

by Cristina López

"I couldn't put it down!"

Maria sashays through ancient Córdoba in full Flamenco dress, searching for her next victim. What is it with her castanets? And why does her world turn upside down one hot summer night?

Immerse yourself in Spanish through this offbeat mystery, where flamenco meets murder and nothing is quite as it seems. Written entirely in the present tense and following a no-dictionary method, this page-turner helps you absorb grammar and vocabulary naturally as you read. And if you ever get stuck, a full English translation is right there to guide you.

Ideal for early learners who can understand basic Spanish sentences, this short story includes key vocabulary in each chapter, reading comprehension questions and answers in English, and a complete translation.

Written by Cristina López, Spanish academic and creator of the popular Learn Spanish at Home Instagram and TikTok accounts.

Genres: Spanish Literature, Fiction

108 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 2, 2022

About the author

Cristina López is a Spanish language academic, best-selling author and social media influencer originally from Spain. Now living in the UK, she writes bilingual novels and short stories for Spanish beginners which are loved by readers worldwide. Her page-turning romantic comedies and mystery tales subtly incorporate new vocabulary and grammar, allowing readers to grasp the language in a fun, effortless way.

When not writing or lecturing, Cristina is busy creating language videos for Tik Tok, Instagram, YouTube and more. Catch up with her on her LeanSpanishAtHome accounts!

Reviews

[Dana’s Swamp Monster]

This book is a MUST for Spanish learners. I took up spanish in April with Duolingo, and in June received this book as a gift. I’ve taken it slow, a chapter every few weeks, and it’s benefited me so much. The author encourages you to “read for gist” initially (it’s all explained in the book) and this was a huge breakthrough for me. Instead of being so hard on myself I just had fun with it. Not only did it work, but it was fun, and the story really made me want to keep reading. I read every chapter once in my head, and then once out loud.

For such a reasonable price, if you’re thinking of buying this book, please do.. aside from Duolingo itself, it’s been a really great resource for me, and I’m looking forward to giving the sequel a good crack🥰🥰

Thanks so much Cristina Lopez, please keep writing these books, I need all the help I can get!

[Milan]

I really liked it for a short story. The end felt very rushed but for a first book it’s alright. Hope I see more of what happened between chapter 9 and 10 in parts 2 and 3

[Annalisa]

I loved this! It was an easy way to start learning as a beginner and I really enjoyed the story. It was very interesting. I look forward to more of these books.

[Jenny]

As a story, it was kind of odd and absurd, but fun. And as a way to practice Spanish it was fabulous.

[Rochelle]

I made a suggestion to my local library to increase their bilingual collection of books (specifically Spanish/English) and recommended this book along with a couple of others written by the same author. Not only was I pleasantly surprised that the books were immediately purchased by the library, but was even more surprised at how enjoyable it was to read Ms. Lopez' book. (I can't wait to read her others!)

I've been trying to learn Spanish for quite some time now, but am quite frustrated at how poor my reading comprehension remains to be. However, the author removes many of the challenges that I believe tends to hinder my ability to progress, by keeping everything verbs in the present tense, introducing new vocabulary and phrases prior to each chapter, adding a reading comprehension section to re-enforce the "reading for gist" concept, and having a full English translation after each chapter. So what a delight this book was for me, because I actually "got it"! Also, the storyline was very engaging as well.

[Talal Almarri]

سافرت للأرجنتين في مايو ٢٠٢٣، وقررت بعد الرجوع للكويت أن أتعلم هذه اللغة الساحرة، فدخلت صف أسباني واللغة جميلة وقريبة من العربية.
بعد أن فرغت من أول مرحلة من اللغة قرأت هذا الكتيب، وهي قصة قصيرة من ١٠ فصول، كل فصل صفحة ونصف تقريبا ويقابلها ترجمة بالإنجليزي. في مقدمة الإنجليزي مفردات أسبانية تعينك على فهم القطعة.
من المهم أن لا تترجم كل كلمة عندما تقرأ، المهم أن تفهم القصة بشكل عام لأن التوقف بشكل مستمر سيقطع عليك الفهم.

[Haley Huizar]

Great read for spanish learners! Only wish there was a little but more complexity to the story. It was perfect for my level (maybe A2-B1?), but super short and could finish the whole thing in maybe an hour or less. Also would enjoy maybe some more past tense thrown in. Maybe its more of an early beginner book but the vocab seems more later beginning focused. Still, great, more adult like story, and I have books 2 and 3 so will be excited to continue the series!

[Jennifer Tate]

As a total beginner I very much enjoyed giving myself this challenge to pick out a few words, building confidence as the book progresses. I like the format, the chapters are short, they explore new vocabulary and some of it may stick! I'll definitely revisit once my vocab improves to see my progress.

[Macie]

I recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn Spanish or studying it at GCSE. It’s simple yet it increases your reading and comprehension skills which would help with the reading paper. Its short so you don’t get bored but its also a really interesting story with lots of useful vocabulary that even if you are a bit more advanced than a beginner,you will still learn something. I love it!

[Amy]

An awesome book for beginner Spanish learners! It’s easy, fun, and actually a good story. I just wish it were longer! I could’ve read an entire book about the flamenco assassins! Gracias a Cristina, este es un libro muy bueno para principiantes como yo :)

[Donna Wilson]

I was so happy to find these books. As someone who loves reading and trying to learn Spanish this was a great book to help me further get to grips with the language. I will be purchasing the others in the collection and fully recommend to anyone learning Spanish.

[Mike]

Fun story good for studying Spanish

Interesting premise, lovely setting. Unfortunately, the plot has a lot of holes in it, but don’t let that stop you from enjoying and learning from it.

[Jesse Rowland]

Books like this are a godsend for beginner/intermediate language learners who can’t yet read a normal book in Spanish. Fun, easy to follow story with the English translation to check yourself against. I’ve now ordered the next book in the series.

[Kelly Dobbins]

Great read

This book was so fun and intriguing! You wanted to keep reading it. Before each chapter they have translations for the words and after they have the chapters in English, brilliant!!! Highly recommend!

[Robert Campbell]

Great for Spanish learners.

[William Orr]

Probably a good book for those with beginner or low-intermediate levels of Spanish. I would read a book like this to learn French or German. (I already know Spanish.)

[Sebastian Bell]

Great for learners as anything by Lopez

[Cam]

Likely one of the best books you can read as a “beginner” Spanish leaner. The term beginner is really more so someone at an a2 level, not quite literally a beginner. It’s also genuinely a good story.

[G. Smith]

It was a cliff hanger, so I looked forward to reading the next chapter.

[Michael McCarthy]

easy to understand

It’s so nice to read and understand the text! I’m level a2-b1 and I understand about 85% of the text. It’s also an interesting story.

[Aashi Patel]

Es un bueno libro para estudiar espanol !!

[JellyLooksFishy]

It’s pretty good for what it is, though the chapters are a little short and the reading comprehension questions could be a little more involved.