Many language books are boring - this one is not.
Written by a native English speaker who learned Spanish the hard way - by trying to talk to Spanish-speaking people - it offers English speakers who have a basic knowledge of Spanish hundreds of tips for using the language more fluently and colloquially, with fewer obvious 'gringo' errors.
Writing with humour, common sense, and a minimum of jargon, Joseph J. Keenan covers everything from pronunciation, verb usage, and common grammatical mistakes to the subtleties of addressing other people, 'trickster' words that look alike in both languages, inadvertent obscenities, and intentional swearing. He guides readers through the set phrases and idiomatic expressions that pepper the native speaker's conversation and provides a valuable introduction to the most widely used Spanish slang.
With this book, both students in school and adult learners who never want to see another classroom can rapidly improve their speaking ability. Breaking Out of Beginner's Spanish will be an essential aid in passing the supreme language test - communicating fluently with native speakers.
By:
Joseph J. Keenan
Imprint: Texas University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 152mm,
Spine: 23mm
Weight: 367g
ISBN: 9780292761933
ISBN 10: 0292761937
Pages: 240
Publication Date: 20 January 2015
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
College/higher education
,
Undergraduate
,
Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Foreword and Forewarning Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Ten Ways to Avoid Being Taken for a Gringo 2. Minding Your Verbal Manners 3. Tricksters 4. Our Fellow Human Beings 5. The Secret Life of Verbs 6. The Twilight Zone 7. Sixty-four Verbs, Up Close and Personal 8. Cranking Up Your Spanish 9. Snappy Answers 10. Invective and Obscenity 11. Which Is Which? 12. Say It Right 13. Spanish Roots 14. The Big Mix Appendix A. Spanish's Anglicisms and Barbarisms Appendix B. Nuances, Translation Tips, and Words and Phrases Influenced by English Appendix C. English's Hispanisms
