I love the whole line of IDIOT’S series and this course is no exception. Granted there ARE some typos in this edition but not so many as to negate learning.

From the very first page I find this book well organized and definatley set up for the beginning language learner. The first chapter is short and just gives reasons to bolster your wanting to learn the language. By the end of Chapter two she already has you covering the correct pronunciation of vowels and consonants in Spanish. But therein lies the first and really only complaint which I have about the second edition of this book. The author suggests practising your Spanish by reading aloud Spanish newspapers, etc and even recording yourself to re-check your pronunciation. Now, there is NO audio accompanying this book. So, you are checking you pronunciation against what? (by the way, the 4th edition of this book DOES have audio with it)

By the end of Chapter three the author has bolstered your confidence in your ability to learn the Spanish language. She has shown that there are a lot of Spanish cognates (words with quite similiar spelling and the same meaning in both English and Spanish) which you already know. And by Chapter 3 you are translating simple sentences (answers are in the back of the book). These simple excercises really ad to your knowledge as well as giving you positive feedback to let you know that you ARE learning.

In Chapter four the author starts going over grammar. It is here that she suggests that you start to use a bilingual dictionary. She also instructs on how to use the bilingual dictionary to look items up with the correct meaning. Trust me, you WILL need your own bilingual dictionary. For my money the Webster’s bilingual dictionary is the most thorough at the price. And it’s small enough to fit in one’s bookbag (unlike the huge Vox bilingual that I find no more thorough).

The rest of the book is well laid out in fairly short chapters each covering one area of language learning.

I find this book very well laid out and simple for the beginning student to understand. Each subject also has a short exercise area covering the part of language which you have just studied. The answers are all in the back of the book.

Like I stated, I gave this book 4 stars. I’d give it 5 if it had an audio tape or disc with it.

Rating: 4 / 5