Alpha Teach Yourself Spanish in 24 Hours.
(Alpha Books/Penguin Group, Second Edition 2004)
This book explains the workings of the Spanish language in great detail, step by step, one lesson building on the previous one. In addition to mastering the grammar, the reader will learn vocabulary suitable for a variety of situations (social, business, travel, visiting a doctor, etc.). The text speaks to you the way a good teacher would, explaining how the language functions, providing clear examples, and gradually providing you with the grammatical structures and the vocabulary necessary for communicating effectively in Spanish. The text anticipates questions and problems you may have and answers those questions.
Many email messages of praise from users of this book were sent to the author. The following is a short sample:
Mary Ann H wrote:
Dr. Zlotchew, Just a note of appreciation for your "Spanish in 24 Hours"; am currently working through it and really enjoy the readability, lay-out and comfortable size of the lessons. I can't stress enough the "readibility"-studying from it is truly a pleasure!Many thanks for your efforts & I'm certainly enjoying the book. Mary Ann H.
There are TWENTY (20) REVIEWS of this book on AMAZON. The following excerpts are just a sample:
5.0 out of 5 stars The Basics and The Fine Points, August 7, 2009
By
A. Claiborne "educator" (Sonoma County, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: Alpha Teach Yourself Spanish in 24 Hours (Paperback)
The book is extremely clear and not only goes over all the verb tenses and other grammar, but hits most of the fine points of usage too, such as why ya and todavia can easily be confused, or the difference between el viejo amigo and el amigo viejo. I would combine with Pimsleur which gets you speaking and internalizing the sentence structure. But you need this to then learn grammar and additional vocabulary, helpfully arranged in categories like "Dining Out," "At the University," "The Medical Field," etc. Spring for the new addition, because the older one has no answer keys for the quizzes.
From Amazon review by Erikamd
“The text has a nice conversational tone to it, as though you are speaking to your own Spanish teacher. Whenever the author introduces a grammatical point which might be confusing he follows it up by breaking it down into layman's speech and giving several examples.”
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
Logical, sequential and complete!, July 24, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Alpha Teach Yourself Spanish in 24 Hours (MacMillan Teach Yourself in 24 Hours) (Paperback)
I have never written a review before, but the outstanding quality of this book compels me to put my enthusiasm into words. I find learning foreign languages very difficult because it is hard to try and cobble together the real overview of the language from the usual series of books and tapes. I always feel that I am coming in somewhere in the middle and that I am expected to intuit the rules and structure of the new language. I have often wondered why someone doesn't just lay it ALL out with full, logical and sequential explanations so that one can build a solid understanding of the new language BEFORE the author runs off into mythical dialogue and selective explanations? Well, this book is the language book of my dreams! A light has gone on!
From Barnes & Noble:
Anonymous
Thorough and Easy to Understand
Reader Rating See Detailed Ratings
Posted January 17, 2008, 10:43 PM EST: After reading the first chapter I could speak any Spanish word. There are 24 chapters that cover basically everything you need to know. There is an explaination for nearly everything and there are many examples which makes it easier to remember things. I can now understand my coworkers and watch movies in Spanish and I'm only on chapter 7!