Easy Spanish Reader

by William T. Tardy

Learn how to read in Spanish--starting right now!

"Easy Spanish Reader" is a unique, easy-to-follow guide based on the premise that the best way to learn a language is to start reading it immediately! Whether you're a brand-new beginner or an advanced-beginning learner, this new edition gives you ways to dive into the language with engaging readings that progress in difficulty to match your growing reading skills. This process will allow you to rapidly build comprehension and confidence as you enjoy the stories.

"Easy Spanish Reader" begins with the story of two high-school seniors involved with their Spanish Club. As you read about their experiences, you'll discover the nuances of language and culture right along with the students.

The next section contains a colorful history of Mexico, from the Conquistadors to the present, including vivid depictions of Cortes's encounters with the Aztecs. The last section is comprised of an abridged version of the classic story "Lazarillo de Tormes," which allows you to practice your grammar and vocabulary skills on a great work of Spanish literature. Progressive format makes it easy to quickly build comprehension Marginal word glossaries conveniently present new words and phrases Exercises challenge language comprehension and build reading skills Fully updated new editions, featuring expanded exercises and answer key "

Genres: Spanish Literature, Language, Reference, Nonfiction, History, Self Help

208 pages, Paperback

First published September 17, 2003

Reviews

[Hilary Bush · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel like it served its purpose for me (new vocab and getting used to reading). I think I liked the last part best, but I'm also studying Literature. I got this because I'm doing Spanish on Duolingo and wanted something to use to continue practicing outside of the app.

[Vicky Hunt · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Excellent Resource!"

This easy Spanish reader has three parts. The first section has chapters of modern conversational experiences between high school students. The middle section covers the history of Mexico from the arrival of the Spaniards to the massacre at the Mexican Olympics in 1968, and the modern petroleum economy boom. The last section is a condensed version of the Picaresque novel of Lazarillo from the mid 16th century, which is an excellent Spanish novella that I have read before. As a matter of fact I have read this easy reader before, and still enjoyed reading it again, because its easy practice for fluency.

I recommend this book highly for all beginning Spanish readers. It has a good variety that will give you practice in encountering common vocabulary in print. It is also at a good interest level.

[Scott Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading the Easy Spanish Reader: A Three-Part Text for Beginning Students. The most challenging section of this book for me, (which was also the most enjoyable), was the “Segunda parte: Historia de México.” This was a fun book to read. I highly recommend it!!!

[Heather A. Berg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spanish will be my third language and this time I'm teaching myself. This is a good book to have as one of many tools in your arsenal. Positives: the book is a nice alternatively to a typical grammar book. It presents a lot of good, useful vocabulary that continues throughout. I've actually used some of the vocabulary I learned in this book. It definitely progresses from easy, present tense in Part I to more difficult past tense in Part II and additional tense usage in Part III. I found Part II on the history of Mexico most interesting and Part II the literature was descent as well. I like that there are questions after each passage with answers in the back. These exercises gave me an opportunity to write and reinforce the vocabulary I was learning. Negatives: Part I content is a bit remedial, but you have to start somewhere so kind of as expected. As for the Q&A, I found some mistakes throughout the book and sometimes there were two-part questions, but only one answer. The verb tenses get more difficult as you advance your way through the book, which I liked, but I wish there was some kind of explanation...perhaps I am asking for too much. In any event, I would definitely look for a similar book and this book has inspired me to check out the literature in Part III and continue to learn through reading!

[Markie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gave me the confidence to continue to learn Spanish. Yo leo los cuentos mucho tiempos. Yo estoy muy nerviosa sobre appranendo español. La idioma es muy difícil pero este libro ayuda mucho.

[Honey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is good for beginners. It starts with a basic story that's very easy to read with questions at the end of each chapter. It progresses to get more and more challenging. There are three sections, the first one is a simple story about two students, the second section was about the history of Mexico, and the third section was a shortened version of a famous piece of mexican literature. I found this book very interesting at first but as it went on, I lost interest. The history of Mexico section was pretty interesting.

[Tea73 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've been learning Spanish via Duolingo and Pimsleur for the last three months and was looking for an engaging text that would give me longer chunks to read. (For reference Unit 43 in Duo and 2.12 in Pimsleur.) There are three parts. The first is about two friends. There is no plot. You just go through their daily life. It's in the present tense and is unbelievably boring. I didn't know all the vocabulary, but most of the words I didn't know were either in the marginal notes or the glossary. The second part was a history of Mexico. If I learned any of this in school besides the names Montezuma (or more correctly Moctezuma) Cortez. I tend to associate the latter with Keats who got the wrong man:
"Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes
He star'd at the Pacific—and all his men
Look'd at each other with a wild surmise—
Silent, upon a peak in Darien."
The real Cortez was pretty much a jerk. But back to the book.

This section of the book was at about my level. Past tense and a lot of repetition of words for killing and destruction.

The final section of the book had more tenses, most easy enough to figure out even if I haven't officially learned them yet. It has an abridged version of the famous picaresque novel Lazarillo de Tormes. It's so abridged that pretty much all of the fun has been removed. You'd have to try hard to make something so boring.

I did not do most of the exercises as I don't have anyone to check my work. Another quibble is that not all the words are in the glossary.

I'm going to go back to reading children's books which are at least designed to make you want to be engaging.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book served its purpose: improve my vocabulary with some support. The second portion of Mexican history was very well done. I lost a little momentum in the third portion, but definitely will look for other books similar to this to build my beginning Spanish abilities.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book wasn't really exciting in any way, but it served its purpose as a graded reader well and convinced me that my Spanish is way better than it really is (it's not that amazing).

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend for anyone who is looking for a normal, easy to read Spanish reader.

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably would have been better as part of a class.

[Luisa Fowler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for Spanish learners. Liked the stories and the vocabulary makes it easy to learn and review new words. Highly recommend this book!

[Katrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great progression through Spanish reading. The section on Mexican history was really interesting, which made the learning process much more enjoyable.

[Mariah Ramirez · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best spanish readers. Starts off simple and gets more challenging. Part of the book goes into the history of Mexico which I enjoyed the most.

[Giannina Carlino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy and fun way to learn new vocabulary and a great range of difficulty

[Lilly Bolles · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good way to practice your Spanish!

[Vendla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this book for intermediate students.

[reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

I taught myself Spanish with this book when I was ten years old. There are no grammar explanations or exercises, just basic readings with short vocabulary lists for each one.

I found a copy of the new revised edition (1964) in a used bookstore. It is, as you might imagine, pretty racist and sexist, and the Spanish it teaches is pretty formal and old-fashioned. But I've never found a better way of learning a language - I wish I could find the same sort of book for other languages!

[Wraith Tate · Rating 4 out of 5]

By the time I got to the last section of this book, there was very little that I could actually understand. However, I was pleased to find out that I actually have a larger Spanish vocabulary than I thought I did.

Hopefully, if I actually manage to stick with trying to learn Spanish, in the future I might be able to go through this book and understand a little more.

[Ben Mizrahi · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent graded reader for students of Spanish who have already fulfilled the requirements for A1 level. I personally found the second part, about Mexican history, to be extremely interesting as I am a student of history at university level and this section enabled me to get familiar with the outlines of the history of a nation that I was not very familiar with.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was an excellent resource for my personal studies in Spanish. I loved the way the vocabulary and verb tenses progressed throughout the text. It greatly improved my reading ability in Spanish. I highly recommend this book.

[Doug · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a beginner, but I jumped into this anyway. Great help for my style of learning.

[Tom]

Great book. After years of struggling I found this book. Reading Spanish has helped me tremendously. I read better than I speak, but hey, I also speak better than I did before I found this book.

[a · Rating 4 out of 5]

Look at me, being all studious, working on my es-pan-yole in the summer.

[Irena]

yayyyyyyyyy finished summer homework for this ^_^