Survival Spanish For Educators (Speakeasy's Survival Spanish) (English and Spanish Edition)

The good thing is that this book is geared primarily for teachers, librarians, school administrators, etc. and includes words and phrases that you will definitely come across in an educational setting. The bad (and there are a few points)... The book says it's for people without prior Spanish, but the book is far too advanced for most users, especially because THERE IS NO CD! There is no way for you to hear the accent or pronunciations, and that is just ... hard. It is very difficult to learn without a CD, and even more difficult because NONE OF THE EXERCISES HAVE ANSWERS! What?! I am not sure what the author or editor(s) were trying to do here. The book becomes pretty useless because you cannot even check your work and see if you are learning anything. It was very discouraging. The only useful thing about the book is some of the vocabulary, but nothing else. There are so many of these programs to choose from that I'd suggest trying another. Spanish for Gringos is a very good program. Anyway, this SpeakEasy book is a waste - not helpful at all.

If you know a little Spanish and need a solid overview of the language to refresh your memory, this book is perfect - whether you are an educator or not. I speak very limited Spanish and have been using the book to teach my home-schooled children. With the book, I can share a list of Spanish words that sound a little like English words (such as "Banco" and "Restaurante", so they know there are some similarities between the two languages. The book also provides several expressions that are easy to learn and will be used often; tells how to pronounce the alphabet; and covers main grammatical themes such as the proper use of "ser" and "estar." It's laid out well and is very easy to use, and you can skip around to whatever pages you need most. I'm combining it with Rosetta Stone to teach my kids, and this book gives a terrific "helicopter view" of the language that other books (and even Rosetta Stone) don't.